Social media are taking an even bigger role in the everyday lives of billions of people across the globe. New reports show that social media are being used by more and more adults than ever before. Because of these kinds of studies it is up the social media companies to tailor how their sites are used to their and everyone else’s advantage.
Social media sites like Twitter (News - Alert) are leading the charge in both good and bad ways when talking about new and exciting ways to use social media. Most recently the NFL’s New York Giants have found a way to use Twitter to advertise their very specific product while engendering wider use. While what the Giants are doing is fairly indirect in getting users to tweet their reactions to plays and join contests, Twitter is getting ready to launch a far more direct advertising platform. Coming in October, Twitter will be launching advertisements from several different partners in the UK.
Marketing Magazine is reporting that Twitter has been in talks with several UK centric retailers but wasn’t able to provide a whole lot of details as to what the ads would look like. Vodafone (News 
- Alert), Sky, Sony and O2 are among the companies that will have their promotions featured on Twitter first. Details of the deals in place are sketchy but reports are saying that Twitter is selling ad bundles and looking for six figure payments in exchange for putting the products front on center on their social media site.
This is actually an extension of something Twitter started this summer. If Twitter users were following specific brands, promotions would show up inside their Tweets. What is being planned in the UK appears to be more unsolicited than those that have been used so far. This particular program has actually been going on since 2010 in the United States, but this appears to be a ramp up in the United Kingdom. Other reports are speculating that in addition to country specific ads, Twitter might delve into offering up regional promotions as well. These highly tailored promotions could catch on quick depending on just how successful they are in the early going.
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Edited by
Rich Steeves
