With 255 million active monthly users, the bluebird of Twitter Inc. officially landed in Israel on Tuesday. Although Twitter has not yet opened a local sales office, but today it launched its self-serve advertising accounts for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), to reach their followers.
Twitter did not disclose its data about active Israeli users in Israel, who reportedly number just 150,000. This is an insubstantial number for businesses to jump on to the Twitter bandwagon and advertise on it.
"We are delighted to have launched Twitter’s self-serve advertising platform in Israel," said Twitter SMB EMEA director Barry Collins. “With over 500 million Tweets a day and 255 million active users, people turn to Twitter to bring them closer to the things they care about, whether it’s the news that affects their lives or the businesses down the street. This gives Israeli SMEs a powerful context to connect their message to what’s most meaningful to customers in real time, be it in Israel or anywhere across the world.”
In addition to the self-serve advertising products launch, which until now was closed to Israeli businesses, last week, Twitter launched its Accounts service for Israeli businesses to help them take their first steps in advertising on Twitter. It offers tips and suggestions. However, Collins says that the support is only in English at the moment.
In February, Twitter announced that it was seeking Israeli salespersons with experience in managing customer portfolios and proficient with digital advertising. The jobs will be in Twitter's Dublin offices, which will support Israeli businesses on Twitter. However, there does not appear to have been any hiring yet. Twitter's move resembles that of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) when it sought to expand its Israeli advertising market and announced that it was opening an Israeli sales office.
As at Facebook, Israeli start-ups are expected to be at the forefront of Twitter Accounts and advertising. Some start-ups already advertise on Twitter through American Accounts, and will likely intensify their activity to contact users worldwide. "Part of our focus will be the Israeli technology industry," confirmed Collins.
