Twitter Advertising Has Arrived: While many have speculated about Twitter and it’s potential paths to revenue, I was never concerned with how they might monetize.  They have audience, they have data, they have velocity, they have immediacy, they have a social graph. They will have advertisers. They can add value at several intersecting points that advertisers would be pleased with. The options for Twitter to connect, add value, relevancy and build audiences are built in and provide several profit intersection points.

I would like to point out 3 areas of prime real estate and value opportunities where Twitter is likely to offer advertising for businesses. These areas are of significant marketing value that could add value for Twitter, users and the advertisers. All of these examples bring value to all parties involved; win, win, win across the board. None of these concepts/executions are very intrusive and have proven to be models that have worked for years for advertising giants like Google. You can click on any of the images to see larger illustrations.

1. Friend recommendations area is a premium advertising spot that is ideal for movies, business, brands, music, etc. The screen shot below is an actual screen shot, it has only been altered by highlighting paid sponsors in yellow. These “Suggested Users” could easily be paid placements. At this point I can’t confirm or deny that these are actual paid placements. But our exhaustive research across multiple Twitter accounts would indicate that these suggestions are coming from a fairly limited list of less than 200 accounts to follow. Britney Spears shows up more times than I can even mention. I can see how this would work well for promotion and marketing; thus facilitating buzz around movie launches, product launches, new cars, album releases,  etc.

2. Twitter could also provide recommendations for people to follow on users home page with a “People You Should Know” section. Algorithmically correct and relevant people intermixed with paid sponsors that are relevant based upon tweets that I have published or information from my profile would prove valuable to users. This could work as it would passively allow users to find new people/businesses/brands to follow and interact with. Twitter knows most users locations so this information could also be geo targeted for local businesses. (ie. the local Pizza Port Brewery in Solana Beach, CA).

Distribution = Audience = Awareness = Revenue.

NOTE: Facebook also uses a very similar model for the “Free Gift Of The Day” and it has been reported that this is Facebook largest revenue stream.

2A. Twitter could also wrap a social context element and tell me when someone I follow happened to follow one of the sponsors; thus generating extended reach and “endorsement” from my trusted network. (ie. Steve started following HRBlock)

3. We could also draw from the Google/Yahoo proven models of paid placement and sponsor placement based upon relevancy. Any time you can provide relevant information and facilitate connections and valuable information to users,  it generally will be accepted by the marketplace. The example that I have illustrated is an example for search results for the keyword Cars.  The Sponsor Results on the right of page are all actual twitter accounts that would draw awareness and readers/followers that could very well be interested in the relevant topics/content that these brands tweet about. This could help them grow their audience, distribution and influence. It could also help users find other people that they might have a common interest with.

3A. The relevant tweet is an actual tweet from GM Volt and could easily be placed in the results column and identified as a sponsored placement. (Yahoo does exactly this)

None of these advertising models are confirmed by Twitter. I will say that this could very well be the near future, it is not a stretch in the slightest. They could be paid placement with a Cost Per Click Model or a Cost Per Impression Model that goes to the highest bidder/most relevant/ highest performing advertisers. This is the model that Google created and it is the Goose that lays the golden egg of over 95% of Google’s revenues.

The reality is Twitter will offer some advertising models in the near future.  So having a legitimate and engaging presence with an audience on Twitter will only solidify your future opportunities in this eco-system. You can learn more about how business can use Twitter from our Book “Twitter as a Business Tool” as well as by following us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/tweetbizbook