Twitter is Preparing Geolocated Tweet Advertisements That Will Show Deals in Your Local Area

Twitter is reportedly joining Facebook and throwing its hat into the targeted marketing ring. Sources tell Ad Age the popular mico-blogging service is working on geolocated tweet promotion in an effort to help retailers target specific customers based on where they are in proximity to their store.

As early as the end of 2013, anyone who launches Twitter on their mobile device could start to see some adds come up telling them about a deal happening right down the road. Ad Age cites "two people briefed on the product" as the source of this timetable and information.

The new ad service is designed to drive foot traffic into physical store locations by tempting people with a digital deal. For example, if a CVS Pharmacy had low in-store traffic, they could promote a tweet offering discounted drinks on a hot day, thus driving in any Twitter user trying to beat the heat on a budget.

Although Twitter declined to comment on the matter, they have been on a recent kick of introducing new ad products into market to compete with Facebook, which has been using targeted ads for quite some time, such as keyword targeting and targeting for TV advertisers from people who have tweeted about a specific show.

TechCrunch believes the new ad service is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Twitter can do with this hyperlocal geotagging. The company has such a strong mobile community that this could be a way to make discovery of a local area even easier. Imagine if people could know, not only which stores with deals are around, but what local events are happening as well.

"Specificity can only help with recommended content when it comes to location, across all verticals," TechCrunch writes. "Still, the appeal for advertisers will likely be the biggest part of the puzzle, especially as Twitter continues to grow its revenue engine. The question will be whether tweets or FB ads prove a better sales conversion tool for brands to leverage when it comes to getting people into local shops and stores."