A more brand-friendly Twitter: The roll-out of Enhanced Profile Pages

With Facebook and Google introducing profile layouts exclusively for brands, it is no surprise Twitter followed suit.  Coinciding with the recently redesigned Twitter space, the company announced the December 2011 launch of Enhanced Profile Pages.  Essentially, these are specially formatted pages designed to showcase a brand more effectively.  Previously, brands and regular users shared the same profile format with limited ability to customize beyond a small image and a 160-character bio.  With an Enhanced Profile Page, many elements can be tailored to better visually communicate the brand’s message, and the content feed can be controlled to improve interactions.

Since the initial roll-out…

• Enhanced Profile Pages were introduced in December 2011 to 21 of Twitter’s biggest advertisers including @AmericanExpress, @bing, @chevrolet, @CocaCola, @Dell, @DisneyPixar, @generalelectric, and @Heineken.
• The next wave in 2012 included a few hundred brands such as @nprnews and @TheSandwichBar.  How did they qualify? Rumour has it that brands had to commit at least $25,000 in 2012 advertising spend on Twitter to receive the new layout , however, NPR has disputed they did not shell out for their access to Enhanced Profile Pages.
• Brands can now take advantage of Promoted Tweets by choosing one tweet to “highlight” at the top of their stream, emphasizing a certain message or promotion free of charge. This extends the shelf life of a tweet, preventing it from getting lost in the quick-moving stream.  Even cooler, any photo or video included in a Promoted Tweet is automatically expanded for embedded—rather than external—viewing.  BestBuy used this space to feature their 2012 Superbowl ad, driving views, engagement, and exposure.

• In addition to the customizable background that we all have now, brands can also include a header image to appear underneath the bio.  This 835×90 space can be used to better emphasize branded elements such as a logo, relevant image, or tagline.  Staples makes great use of their header, prompting followers to engage by tweeting what they want to hear about from the company via a branded @mention and hashtag.

• New content feed controls streamlines communication and interaction by separating @replies from @mentions.  This will allow brands to weed out some of the Twitter “noise” and provide better timelier customer service.

Coming down the pipeline…

Expect to see more and more brands using Enhanced Profile Pages in the coming weeks and months.  However, Twitter has stayed mum about how exactly your brand can qualify for access to the new format but we promise to keep you posted.