Twitter Tests New, Interactive Ad Types as it Seeks to Boost its Promotional Appeal

Your Twitter feed is about to get a lot more interesting, with three new ad formats on the way that, for advertisers, look very impressive, but for users, it could make your feed feel a little more commercial, which could take a little bit of getting used to.

First off, Twitter’s rolling out a new format called ‘Interactive Text Ads’, which will enable advertisers to connect landing pages to chosen words within their larger ad copy.

And as you can see here, the new display looks a lot different to your regular tweets.

As explained by Twitter:

“These ads will appear with a larger, bolder typeface than the standard Twitter font in the timeline. Advertisers can highlight up to three words in their ad copy that, when clicked, will drive consumers to landing pages chosen by the brand.”

Brands will also be able to choose from 10 highlight colors for their chosen terms, which will make this a very eye-catching, and potentially scroll-stopping consideration.

But it’s a big change, which Twitter users will no doubt have opinions on. Still, it’s a good looking, innovative solution, which could generate big interest.

A small number of US-based brands are testing the new Interactive Text format at present.

Next up is ‘Product Explorer Ads’, which is probably the most impressive new format of the three.

As shown here, Product Explorer ads will present your products in 3D within your promoted tweet, with users then able to swipe and rotate the item to see it from different angles.

Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat already have similar offerings, but it’s the first time that Twitter has taken the next step into a fully interactive, 3D display. And it looks great, and will no doubt be a popular consideration as it becomes available to more brands.

Lastly, Twitter is testing ‘Collection Ads’ which enable brands to display a range of images to accompany the main tweet focus.

“Brands can display a primary hero image with up to five smaller thumbnail visuals below. The primary image remains static while consumers can browse through the thumbnails via a horizontal scrolling experience.”

Even more interesting, each image within your Collection can drive consumers to a different website or product landing page.

Twitter’s currently testing Collection Ads with a selection of advertisers in the US.

All three of its new ad formats will be visible to people on iOS, Android and the Web, with the interactive elements working across all versions of the app.

They’re certainly interesting experiments – some of Twitter’s most ambitious ad formats yet, and with the platform seeking to boost usage and revenue significantly over the next two years, it needs to do all that it can to introduce new options, and lure more advertisers with its offerings.

Which these will no doubt do – though they’re not ready for a full launch as yet:

“As we kick off early experiments, we’ll aim to understand how the new formats resonate with consumers and drive results for advertisers. We’ll test, learn, and iterate based on performance and customer feedback.”

So no set date for a full release, but Twitter will be looking to bring its new ad formats to all brands and regions soon, providing more ways to engage your tweet audience.

You can learn more about Twitter’s new ad experiments here.