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It is undeniable that when things hit mass popularity, advertisers will come and invade. After all, it makes sense when there is a large group of target audience ready to consume the messages they are pouring out. The latest to get hit – Twitter. While I understand the reasons that brands are advertising in Twitter, I think they are missing the point.

The Social Element – Facebook and Twitter

What does these two channel and other countless social media channels have in common? Like the name, the ability to be social. Brands need to go into these channels with the idea that it is a two-way communication. And advertising is pretty much one way.

The whole idea of being present in such channels is the ability to gain instant feedback, or to communicate with your audience. If I needed to see your latest promo without telling you what I think of it, I can stick to radio, TV and the print media. And the chances are the people churning out these twitter ads won’t be able to tell me more because they are just told to tweet what is in the brief.

As long as the 140 characters get out, their job is done. Where is the social element? Pretty much missing from all this.

Its Kinda Annoying Too

Let’s compare the different types of digital advertising to driving. Banner ads, pop-ups and now Twitter advertisement are the different ads you see while driving. Except, there are of course differences. Banner ads in websites and blogs are like billboards. You can have tens of thousands of them but it can still be a blind spot.

Pop-ups are like advertisements boards that are thrown at you when you turn into a road. It doesn’t happen in real life but in online, since it is not life threatening, it is just plain annoying. End of the day, I might even stop visiting a site if it constantly has pop-up ads. Thank god for pop-up blockers, which then makes you wonder why companies still pay for pop-up ads when nobody will see them.

Twitter ads… is like having your friend in the car, talking to you about a whole load of subjects and all of a sudden he plugs for a product. Annoying isn’t it? Worse of all, you don’t know if he actually likes the brand or he is just doing it for the money.

Are You Or Are You Not?

I follow people on Twitter for a reason. Their opinions. And when I don’t know if they actually like the brand, agree with the approach, think an event is cool or not, then what is the point? No amount of hashtags to separate their real tweets from ad tweets will be sufficient because if you don’t believe in it, why endorse it? And are you really endorsing it? You can see the dilemma I am in.

I went on Twitter ads once, and I did a campaign for some cup. I wasn’t a big fan of the cup (I know many people were) but I still posted the Tweet because well, it paid. But I have since stopped because I don’t believe that Twitter will ever be a proper channel for such ads.

So, there you have it, my opinion on why Twitter ads don’t work. Many of you may not agree so go ahead and let me know your views.