SingTel adopts Twitter's 'promoted' advertising platform

Twitter announced at an exclusive media preview last Friday that the telco group would use the social network’s promoted products suite to connect with its audience on Twitter.

Based on interest, geography and demographic, the promoted product suite allows advertisers to target followers and follower lookalikes with tailored Tweets and a cost-effective community building platform, according to Twitter.

Miguel Bernas, SingTel’s director of digital market, said currently more than 9,000 followers engage with SingTel through its two Twitter accounts, @singtel and @singtelsupport. With the social network’s advertising service, SingTel will be able to reach out to a larger audience of potential customers with relevant content.

“Twitter enables users to interact on a human level,” he said. “It’s turning conversation into an advertising canvas.”

Shailesh Rao, Twitter’s vice president of international revenue, agreed, saying the platform is “driving deep conversation while offering advertising opportunities in the market”.

Rao said there are two categories of promoted products on Twitter: promoted tweets or accounts and promoted trends. The first category is based on a bidding system to set the price, depending on the targeting parameters that advertisers select and the market demand, while there is a fixed rate for the second category every day.

Last November, Twitter introduced its promoted products suite in Southeast Asia through its ad sales partner, Komli Media, which will help expand the availability of Twitter’s advertising service to marketers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines through a series of education and training programmes.

Rao is confident about the future of promoted products suite in Southeast Asia, as the region has one of the largest user bases in the world, as well as Singapore, home to many multinational companies’ headquarters in the region, gives impact on business across Asia.