Twitter plans to launch the self-serve ad platform it has been testing with small businesses within weeks. The company announced the platform is open for registration. It is offering a $100 inducement in the form of free advertising credits for the first 10,000 eligible businesses—a category that includes being an American Express cardmember–that register.

Twitter partnered with American Express for the offer.

Taking Aim at SMBs

Announced in early December, the self-serve ad platform is seen as Twitter's way of targeting small and medium sized businesses. Self-serve adds account for some 60% of Facebook’s global advertising revenue, and Twitter should be able to make inroads in this business constituency "since companies will be able to buy ads with a credit card with no human involvement," eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The self-serve platform takes electronic payments from advertisers instead of invoicing them via a sales team.

The Lure of Twitter Recommendations

Twitter is a viable platform for small businesses to invest precious resources, even without the self-serve ad platform to facilitate placements. Twitter brand followers—by a count of 6 in 10—are either more likely to recommend many (18%) or a few (42%) brands as a result of following them, according to a study released by Chadwick Martin Bailey.

Also, the study noted, 50% of Twitter users go online more than once an hour, compared to 34% of Facebook users and 29% of overall online users. Facebook users are slightly more likely to go online once every couple of hours (46%) than Twitter users (40%) or overall online users (45%).

Self-serve Ad Platforms' Growing Appeal

Twitter is hardly alone with embrace of self-serve ads: in general, small and mid sized advertisers are finding more choices available to them as platforms expand their self-serve platforms. The Kelsey Group points to Facebook opening its Ads API to qualified developers as one example.

Facebook has always collected much of its advertising revenues from small and mid-market businesses via the self service platform—some 60% of its global ad revenues, in fact. "Now it has opened up its Ads API to all qualified developers, it will enable more partners with local audiences (agencies, media, etc.) to manage scaled ads campaigns on behalf of a fleet of clients," it concluded.

Project Devil

AOL is also working on building a system for agency holding companies to build Project Devil ads in-house, according to ClickZ.  "We believe most clients could extend the amount of content they run in advertising," said CEO Tim Armstrong. "The system we have been working on is an enterprise system that could go inside the holding companies. We're taking our software and user interface and white labeling it."

Publicizing What They Have

Companies that already have self-serve platforms are doing their best to play them up to their intended audience. Last November, Reddit launched a campaign to give local businesses free advertising—free self-serve ads–targeted at localized subreddits. The ads, which ran for three days, had a value of about $100, Venture Beat said.