Celebrity+Twitter+Ads

= **Celebrity Endorsements for Twitter **=

= =
 * Overview of Twitter**

[|Twitter] was founded back in 2006 by Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, and Biz Stone. In 2006 Obvious Corp was created by Williams, Biz Stone and other former employees from Odeo.

Twitter has become a revolution throughout the world. People all over the world have joined this blogging site since its beginning. Celebrities have become the biggest supports and users of Twitter.

"What are you doing?" This little sentence has sparked the media revolution of Twitter. Members can create a unique profile with a variety of options for backgrounds and the option to post a picture. You can then follow anyone from friends to celebrities. To follow someone is very simple. You search a name and when the person you are looking for appears, you click the face with a plus sign (button). Once you begin to follow someone you will then see their "tweets" on your profile. A "tweet" is a 140 character statement in which you can share with the world.

"The company has no discernible revenue and, as of mid-2009, about 60 employees." (New York Times).


 * How to Use Twitter**

Heres a cute video about how to use Twitter. media type="youtube" key="J0xbjIE8cPM" height="385" width="640" align="center"


 * Celebrity Endorsements on Twitter**

Twitter has become a growing phenomenon. Ashton Kutcher became the first celebrity to spark the twitter fad among the celeb crowd. Many have followed since which has been said to be the reason Twitter took off. Celebrities are followed by millions and update their profiles daily. Many update pictures of them during work or in their regular life, to keep fans updated. Many celebrities have cleared up some speculations about them using Twitter, informed their fans of big news going on in their lives, and even bashing fellow celebs through "tweets"

Now reports have come out that certain celebrities are being paid big money to promote their sponsors. The most famous case would be Kim Kardashian. She has one of the largest followings on Twitter and updates frequently. Recently, reports have claimed that Kim Kasdashian is being paid $10,000 for each "tweet" that mentions a sponsor. Kardashian has been "tweeting" for companies including Nestle, Kardashian is not the only celebrity that is being paid to "tweet". According to E!Online, other celebs include Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Kourtney Kardashian, Channing Tatum, Kendra Wilkinson Baskett, Lo Bosworth and other //The Hills// cast member, and David Spade are being paid to tweet.

According to E!Online, celebrities must 'fess up when they are tweeting for money. "By new regulations, requires people to disclose whether a blog post or social media post was influenced by any kind of cash incentive—violators could face fines up to $11,000."

Read more: []


 * Advantages of Twitter**

Twitter is used in many different ways. Some people use Twitter to update the world on the unimportant details of their live, while businesses and interest groups use it for something totally different. Now more and more news and media companies are using Twitter to get news into Americas hands faster. Now you can access certain stories before they are covered by the nightly news. This opens the door for reporters, citizen journalists and also average people to become journalists.

Twitter pages for companies let you do research before you inquire about a job they may be offering. This helps you find out more about the company and its employees, things their webpage may not show you. Twitter can now become a new way of advertising ones company in the image that they want.

"Twitter has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal."(New York Times)

For companies who plan to use Twitter to inform people about their products and company, the biggest advantage is that this social networking site is free to join. This way you could spend most of your money on paying a celebrity to hastag your company in their endorsed tweet and not on putting out more information. Celebs who endorse your product can use key words about a product and a follower can search for those keywords and find your Twitter page. (Angelo, F)


 * Drawbacks of Celebrity Endorsements on Twitter**

Since this new form of advertising is still relatively new, there are not very many details about the drawbacks.

Now, new laws are in the works that a celebrity must let people know when they are using their Tweets as advertisement. According to the "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," celebrities who tweet for money must now fess up or they will be fined up to $11,000. These changes will definitely affect the advertising community on Twitter.

"Celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media," (McCarthy, C) The scare of the crackdown began in June of 2009 and was later enforced in October of 2009.

Another drawback to Twitter and endorsements, is that if your client is not as popular of a celebrity, not that many people will follow them. If you want your name out there but cannot spend the large amount of cash to have a major celeb talk about your project not as many people will see their tweets. This drawback is a major difference between this form of media/advertising and the major forms of advertising. (Angwin, J)

Reach and Frequency


 * **Those who Update or Tweet often, get more Friends and Followers. (Reach)**
 * **Those who have more Friends and Followers, get more Replies, Mentions and are Retweeted (RT) more often. (Frequency)**
 * **The more often you receive Replies and RT’s, the more new People you reach, and the more Friends and Followers you acquire. (again, Reach)**

(Karner Blue Marketing)

References

Angwin, J. (2009). //How To Twitter.// Retrieved April 06, 2010 from Wall Street journal : http://online.wsj.com/​article/​sb123638550095558381.html.

Fernando, A. (2009). You're no one if you're not on Twitter!. //Communication World//, //26//(2), 10-12. Retrieved April 07, 2010 from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.

FTC,. (2009 October 5). FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements. Retrieved March 30, 2010 from FTC []

Gornstein, L. (2010, January 4). //Do Celebs Get Paid to Tweet for Products//. Retrieved March 12, 2010 from EOnline! http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/ask_the_answer_bitch/b160341_do_celebs_get_paid_tweet_about_products.html

McCarthy, C. (2009 , October 5). //Ftc to Bloggers: Fess Up or Pay Up//. Retrieved March 25, 2010 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10367464-93.html?tag=mncol;txt

//Reach and Frequency Apply to Social Meida Too .// (2009). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from Karner Blue Marketing Firm: http://karnerblue.wordpress.com/​2009/​10/​14/​ reach-and-frequency-apply-to-social-media-too/.

//Twitter News.// (2009). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from New York Times : http://topics.nytimes.com/​top/​news/​business/​companies/​twitter/​ index.html.

Zeltser, L. (2009, January 21 ). //How to use Twitter for information mining//. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5728