After months of speculation and anticipation, Twitter finally announced the introduction of its advertising product, Promoted Tweets, in April. Though the platform is in its infancy, and only a handful of brands have been invited to test it so far, agencies and brands are already evaluating the opportunities and potential uses the service may present.

The Promoted Tweets model has been likened to search advertising in terms of its self-service platform, and the fact that advertisers target by choosing keywords and terms. However, agency execs suggest the format has more in common with earned media in the social media space, and will likely only be of use to those already investing heavily in wider social media activity.

"Promoted Tweets crosses the bridge between earned and paid media, and the brands that will get the most value out of Promoted Tweets are those that are already active on Twitter," said David Berkowitz, senior director of emerging media and innovation at digital agency 360i. "Far more important than racking up some body count of followers is understanding what works for them. What content and links do people like to share? Do followers want to be the first to know about some exclusive, do they want a great deal, or do they only respond to solve customer service issues?" he added.

Starbucks, for example, is extremely active across a range of social networks, and uses Promoted Tweets to drive traffic to content on sites such as YouTube and Facebook. One of the company's sponsored Tweets also refers users to its campaign on location-based social network Foursquare, through which users can earn discounts by frequenting Starbucks stores. That particular post has been re-tweeted by over 100 users so far, demonstrating that users are showing interest. It's this type of behavior that will inform what Twitter describes as a "resonance score," which aims to judge the viral potential of individual tweets.

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