As part of Twitter’s attempt to be relevant in online advertising while slowly falling by the wayside, they have announced a new way to promote products on their platform, copying once again the Facebook model as much as possible. Just like Moments, the new Promoted Tweet Carousel features a swipeable carousel of multiple rich media tweets from multiple sources, allowing brands to craft an engaging narrative that gets the brand message across.
In related news, Twitter is also opening up its Ads API to make it easier for brands to purchase pre-roll video ads on its network. The company first opened up its pre-roll video ad marketplace in October, allowing brands to buy pre-roll ads before videos tweeted by popular publishers such as Buzzfeed or Tastemade.
This new carousel ad product enables brands to escape Twitter’s 140-character limit and use multiple photos and videos to tell an interesting brand story or highlight different aspects of a product. Brands can also use it to incorporate fan-generated tweets into their campaigns to add a touch of authenticity and enhance online community management.
In terms of video ads, Twitter obviously still has a lot of catching-up to do compared to Facebook or Snapchat. While the new API tweak is a step in the right direction, it does little to improve Twitter’s existing video ads. Still, it enables brands to buy Twitter’s pre-roll ads through third-party, automated ad buying platforms such as AdParlor and TubeMogul, which should be a welcome addition for media buyers and planners.
Big news! Curate multiple Tweets in a single swipeable ad unithttps://t.co/l0WTGVtI4O
— Twitter Advertising (@TwitterAds) June 3, 2016
