This is a follow-up to yesterday’s virtuous post extolling the sanctity of social networks and keeping it real. post to You might be surprised to read that it’s a 180 degree turn-around from what I wrote. Here’s why…
My buddy @NeilMarsh told me about a new Izea service called Sponsored Tweets that resulted in some interesting discussion on his blog. As you might guess from the name, it’s a broker service where twitter users can sell tweets to advertisers based on the followership of the tweeter or the number a clicks it receives.
Contrary to what I wrote in my previous post, I have 4 reasons why I think it is ethical:
1. It’s transparent
There is a big flag saying ‘sponsored tweet’. It’s more transparent than an affiliate link with no attribution.
2. It’s smart
As an advertiser it’s a good way to leverage someone else’s reputation and reach. Maybe it offers a nice ROI, but to be honest, I don’t plan to test it.
3. It’s controlled
Twitter is littered with spam. This idea was always going to happen – at least this way, we’re controlling real ads.
4. It’s honest
The advertiser values his product enough to pay to promote it which could lend authenticity to the campaign.
You might disagree but just maybe, sponsored tweets could signal a drop in outright spam in exchange for some real clear-cut advertising. Sure, the user sending the tweet has probably never even heard of the product, but most marketers who tweet affiliate links all day cannot truly endorse a product they promote.
But what do I know?….
Actually tried it out – if I’m gonna write a blog post about it, I ought to know what I’m talking about right?
How it works
I signed up using a secondary twitter account and within 48 hours, I received an offer to post a tweet about a Kmart sale in return for $11.49. Of course I took it and was credited the cash – you can see the tweet at the top og this post.
My verdict
The Sponsored Tweets website is easy to use – it has a slick interface and works seamlessly with no learning curve. Since my tweet, I haven’t had another offer in a week so the service may be struggling to gain some traction. I suspect it might take a while to reach the $50 cashout threshold. I don’t expect to cash in my Jaguar account in the near future.
As a service, it’s well implemented and (ethical issues aside) it could be a simple model to monetize twitter, afterall it really is pretty harmless. However, from an advertisers standpoint I suspect that your message will probably be drowned out in the noise unless you’re really smart and push the right buttons. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a great use of the medium – the ads are not contextual so without any targeting, it’s not going to interupt your customer.
I don’t plan on selling my twitterstream anytime soon. Social media sites are just way too useful a resource and I wouldn’t want to risk my reputation for the sake of a fast buck, but who knows? everybody has a price.
Would you sell your tweetspace? Have you tried? or you just think it’s just selling out? I’d love to read your comments below.
