Twitter continues global expansion
Jinfo Blog

By Nancy Davis Kho

Item

A pair of announcements in recent weeks provide clues  to Twitter's plans for global expansion. Mashable Business reported on  22 September that the microblogging company is rolling out its first UK-specific marketing campaign, which will leverage the company's geo- targeted Promoted Products capability for UK advertisers. The hashtag #gleekonsky and @gleekonsky, designed to promote the latest season of the television show Glee, heralds the introduction of advertising and promotion services to non-US based advertisers - and a roadmap for locking in future revenue streams, something that has always seemed rather a weakness of Twitter.

On his blog, Twitter's UK general manager, says there is a raft of UK brands lining up to use the company's advertising services, including BT, Electronic Arts, Eurostar and Paramount Pictures UK. Who will be servicing those accounts? Why, the brand new six member UK Twitter sales force, which had its first day on 12 September according to - what else - a tweet by Twitter's president of global revenue, Adam Bain.

And it was another tweet, on 25 September, that announced Twitter's decision to open a European office in Dublin. "Ireland is trending. Twitter to establish international office in Dublin" was the message sent by Ireland's inward investment promotion agency, IDA Ireland (@idaireland).  According to a story in the Independent, details on how many employees will be taken on have yet to be revealed, although RTE News /Ireland reported that the company is recruiting for roles in finance, user support and marketing. As reported by the Independent, Irish Minister for Jobs, Education and Innovation Robert Burton called the announcement "a great win for Ireland".

The new European foothold joins Twitter global offices already established in China, India and Singapore. Presuming that the UK pilot in expanding advertising opportunities to global advertising is a success, watch for it to spread - and rapidly. With Google+ breathing down Twitter's proverbial neck, the pressure for the microblogging company to convert their huge reach  into dollars has never been higher.

« Blog