"What if your Tweet is only relevant for a subset of your followers? What if you want to make an offer just to New York Twitter users?" asks Twitter. Good questions, and yesterday the company unveiled targeted Tweets, an enhancement that enables brands to reach specific audiences without sending a Tweet to all followers (e.g., boring a Nebraska audience with a localized New York offer). Twitter has tested the targeted Tweets for some weeks, and with a group of current advertisers including @British_Airways, @CocaCola,The Washington Post (@wpsocialreader), and @Wendys. The feature is now available to all advertisers globally who use Promoted Tweets. The above graphic shows a targeted Promoted Tweet that British Airways sent to UK followers.

Now global brands that have different launch dates for several countries can send tailored messages at different times, customized for the users in each country. Mobile app providers who only want to reach customers on one device can do so without also sending the message to desktop users. As with all Promoted Tweets, advertisers pay only when users engage with it, and Tweets that generate the most engagement are likely to appear more often. Hence, a New York restaurant does not pay for a bored Nebraskan who demands "@PizzaPlace what in hell good is this to me?"

Some 2011 research by Lab 24, reported via eMarketer, found that 48% of Twitter users have seen Promoted Tweets from brands relevant to them, and more than two-fifths of users have gotten a discount or found out about a brand through a Promoted Tweet. 27% have retweeted a Promoted Tweet.