LinkShare Twitter Tool Helps Publishers Monetize Twitter Feeds

With the holidays around the corner and seasonal online shopping on the rise, the LinkShare TweetShop Tool comes at an opportune time for publishers to share more online and take advantage of increased interest among online shoppers.

In the advent of the Twitter-adoption explosion, this new tool brings a host of new possibilities to our affiliate network that is easy, fun and effective at driving revenue.

LinkShare, a leading performance marketing network provider, today announced the LinkShare TweetShop Tool that enables anyone with a Twitter following to monetize their Twitter feeds, and easily turn customized tweets into an effective shopping tool. Generally available to publishers in its network, this innovation further demonstrates the company’s commitment to creating applications that are Easy, Fast and Open – easy-to-use, fast-to-market, and open across channels – and is the latest feature in LinkShare’s Bento Box, a showcase of new tools and applications.

More than 50 million live Twitter accounts exist today with approximately 4.6 million people using Twitter on a daily basis, according to recent research by RJMetrics and Quantcast. These numbers represent a massive demographic with huge market potential that is largely untapped as few companies today have successfully created ways to monetize Twitter feeds.

Additionally, nearly half of all “value hunters” – a new market segment identified in a recent survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates – are searching online for the best deals and promotions. Since this growing segment of online shoppers purchase something online once a week or more(3), they represent a growing consumer base that will be using tools like Twitter to find new products, search for deals, and satiate their everyday retail needs.

“With the holidays around the corner and seasonal online shopping on the rise, the LinkShare TweetShop Tool comes at an opportune time for publishers to share more online and take advantage of increased interest among online shoppers,” said Mark Kirschner, CMO, LinkShare. “In the advent of the Twitter-adoption explosion, this new tool brings a host of new possibilities to our affiliate network that is easy, fun and effective at driving revenue.”

With the LinkShare TweetShop Tool, publishers can easily customize tweets through the user interface which automatically creates a shortened URL that directs an online shopper to the landing page for the recommended object of affection.

Through three easy steps, publishers can turn their Twitter stream into a new revenue channel. Just Pick, Point and Post.

• Pick the item to tweet about.
• Point out the cool-factor.
• Post as an updated tweet without the hassle of having to both find the webpage of that item and shorten the URL to fit into his/her tweet.

In light of the recent FTC rulings regarding full disclosure for endorsements, sponsorships and the terms and conditions that apply to any special offer, LinkShare recommends following common sense guidelines when using its new LinkShare TweetShop Tool, such as those developed by the Performance Marketing Alliance:

• Avoid tweeting false or unsubstantiated product claims
• Never create a fake/spam twitter account just to post new advertisements
• Clearly and conspicuously disclose any connections with the advertiser and/or the affiliate network
• Be creative! If it is an ad, it should sound like one, but go beyond a product pitch
• Don’t abuse it. Daunted followers will stop following you and this will undermine your credibility you have built up in your online community

To check out the buzz on this new LinkShare TweetShop Tool, hear what industry experts have to say and add to the conversation, search and/ or tweet on the following hashtag: #TweetShop.

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