It’s not uncommon that news or content that comes across my Twitter feed makes me sit up and take notice. But what is uncommon is for the “other stuff”—the mechanics of tweets—to catch my eye.
The unexpected happened a couple of days ago:
What’s unusual about that tweet? It has nothing to do with preseason football—rather it’s “@Etrade invites you to read” being included in an ESPN tweet. It’s a sponsored tweet of a new type. Instead of doing its own sponsored tweet via Twitter, E*TRADE sponsored content via one of ESPN’s Twitter feeds (importantly, the content itself has nothing to do with E*TRADE). I’ve never seen anything like it before, but I’m expecting to see more.
Now, here are more important questions for the purposes of this blog: Will this new type of sponsored post hit B2B? Should HR brands use this new tactic?
My answer to the first question: Probably, since many publications are desperate for revenue, and if the price is right, some brands will buy. To the second: Maybe—it’s new, so it’s hard to say for sure.
Here are the pro and con arguments as I see them at this early stage.
Pro: Advertising in publications’ social posts could be a relatively affordable and reliable way to get some visibility and associate your brand with well-known and respected outlets.
Con: Given the Rule of Seven—the adage that people have to see an advertisement seven times to remember it—and that only a relatively small percentage of followers actually see a social media post, you would need to employ this tactic at very high volume to generate results. So what might seem affordable might actually not be.
What do you think? Do you think this tactic is coming to B2B? Would you consider using it? Interested in hearing your thoughts in the COMMENTS. Or, let us know via social:
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