social media platform Twitter has introduced a new internal team to its structure called ‘Twitter Write’ and they’re combining this with the test-launch of a new feature called ‘Notes’ which will allow users to create articles and publish them on their profiles.
This new addition is currently only available in four countries (the US, the UK, Canada and Ghana), however published Notes will viewable from all other users across the globe. Initially, the Notes tab will only appear on the desktop version of the social media platform, but progressively, as the company continues to test it out and fix any potential bugs, it is expected to be rolled out to mobile users as well.
This is a first initiative by Twitter’s new “Write” team to provide users with a platform to share their thoughts on a wider spectrum. As the company itself points out, the tools they provide aren’t just meant to be used by journalists or authors, but anyone between bloggers and content creators all the way to community managers, poets or screenwriters.
Looking at it from a blogger’s perspective, this new platform does seem to borrow a lot of elements from other online blogs or creative websites, such as Medium or Ghost. Which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, considering how easy they are to use and how simple they make a writer’s life.
Apart from Notes and the introduction of the “Write” team however, Twitter took the opportunity to announce a number of other additions which will be coming to the platform and are listed below.
- Branded Likes: Branded Likes lets advertisers customise Twitter’s Like button. An advertiser can select a set of hashtags and for 24 hours, any time someone likes a Tweet that includes those hashtags, the Like button turns into a custom animation. After seeing exciting results in the beta testing, Twitter will be making Branded Likes available to all advertisers in the US, UK and Japan next week. Advertisers who sit outside of those markets but want to reach people in those regions can also take advantage of Branded Likes.
- Location Spotlight: The Location Spotlight is currently available to all professionals in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Next month Twitter plans to make it available to all professionals globally. The Location Spotlight allows businesses to display their location, hours of operation, and additional contact methods such as phone, text, email, or DM – , making it easier for customers to find them and learn more about their brand. Ultimately, the Location Spotlight can help get a customer further down the path to purchase.
- Twitter Business Settings: Twitter Business Settings will be a central hub for Twitter advertisers to manage their accounts, assets, employees, and permissions in a single, secure space. More to come later this year.
- Dynamic Product Ads: Last year Twitter introduced greater customization through Multi-Destination Carousel, a flexible and engaging way to showcase a variety of products through swipeable creative. On average Twitter has seen a 20 percent increase in click through rate across all objectives compared to a single asset ad format through this format. Multi-Destination Carousel is foundational to Twitter’s plans to launch Dynamic Product Ads later this year, which will allow brands to personalise the creative they show in their ad by featuring the most relevant products to the right user.
- Conversion Optimization: Will help run campaigns to reach people most likely to take a lower-funnel website action, such as adding to cart, purchasing, or submitting a form.
- App Purchase Optimization: Currently in pilot, App Purchase Optimization will help brands deliver app ads to people most likely to make a purchase.
All these features are scheduled to come to Twitter by the end of the year.
