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Many business have incorporated PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising campaigns – such as using Google AdWords and adverts on Facebook – into their online marketing budgets, and while these are popular with companies of most shapes and sizes, they now have a new rival on the scene: Twitter.

What’s New On Twitter?
Last week, Twitter announced that they were changing the ways their ads worked. In the past, advertisers could target users by physical location, interest filters and mobile devices, but now they’ve added keywords to their arsenal. These will be based on the recent tweets of users (it isn’t yet known exactly how far back they mean by ‘recent’) and will allow brands to specifically target people who will be interested in their products and/or services. For example, a fast food chain could target users in their area who have tweeted about being hungry, especially if they’re using a mobile device and are already out and about looking for somewhere to eat their next meal.

Who Will Benefit From It?
If you’ve got a budget for online marketing, it doesn’t matter what size or type of company you have, as long as you know which keywords you want to target (if you already run PPC campaigns and have ads on other social network sites, you will have already done all the research you need). Large brands such as Walgreens and EE have trialled Twitter’s new advertising campaign, but it can work just as well for small, independent businesses. The users themselves will also benefit from this new upgrade; they will only be shown ads that are targeted to their tweets, meaning they won’t have to put up with an endless supply of irrelevant adverts. As with promoted tweets, they can also dismiss the ads if they do happen to get ones that aren’t relevant to them, keeping everyone happy.

Looking At The Future
In order to keep up with the likes of Google and Facebook, Twitter are looking at updating the way the site works in several ways in the future. With the introduction of Twitter #Music, we can already see the different ways in which the site is expanding its functions and therefore its user base, and there will no doubt be many exciting updates in the months and years to come that online businesses should watch out for. 

Businesses who use Twitter shouldn’t just rely on ads, however; tweeting, retweeting, and engaging with customers and potential clients on an individual level will help boost your profile. With the amount of users that are signed up with sites such as Twitter and Facebook, you can’t underestimate the power of social media sites when it comes to advertising, building up your online presence, and expanding your brand in general. In 2013 alone, Twitter is expected to generate over $580,000,000 in global advertising revenue, reaching up to $1 billion in 2014, so get in there now and start targeting your ads.

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd