Twitter has come under the spotlight this week, with marketers insisting that the social media giant must work harder to prove its worth to companies if it wants to convince more UK brands to advertise via the platform. Despite 140 companies having advertised in the first year since Twitter established its UK office, marketers argue that this number is quite low, considering its confirmed UK audience of 10m active users.
“Marketers have doubt sover the level of cut-through that can be achieved via activities such as sponsored tweets, as it’s currently hard to measure whether users are really paying attention or being motivated to make purchases,” comments Christine Joyce, Marketing Director, CJAM Group. “Clearer links are needed between connecting with followers and specific business goals such as generating sales and driving brand awareness.”
A spokeswoman for Twitter has said that the company is working closely with advertisers as they develop campaigns, and provides a variety of real time analytics dashboards to track engagement rates. Twitter is also holding its first London conference for brands to further assert the benefits of advertising on its platform. Meanwhile, suggestions as to how the company could improve its service to increase brand interaction with consumers include creating premium services or greater customisation.