After previewing them at its recent Analyst Day overview, on Thursday Twitter started testing its redesigned profile for businesses that allows owners to display more information potential customers can see. The Twitter Business account announced the launch of “Professional Profiles” and posted a photo showing what it would look like. As you can see, it still displays the owner’s website and their following/follower number, but it now also features an “About” section that’s somewhat similar to Facebook’s.
The social network moved businesses’ address information inside the About section, which also contains a map and their operating hours. At the bottom, potential customers can tap a button to get directions to the establishment’s location and another button to contact the owners directly through Twitter.
The company says the new profile type will allow businesses, non-profits, publishers, creators, and anybody else who uses Twitter for work to display specific information they want customers to see. It could help make it easier for people to find local establishments to visit and, hence, help small shops regain the business they may have lost during the pandemic.
Kayvon Beykpour, the social network’s product lead, said this just the beginning — the website will likely allow business owners to add other kinds of information in the future. Twitter has started testing Professional Profiles with a small pool of business owners in the US, but it will roll out access to the feature to more accounts in the coming months.
It’ll be interesting to see where, exactly, Twitter goes with it. eCommerce, via in-stream product displays, seems like a no-brainer, given the broader shift towards online shopping, which pretty much every other platform is working to align with (and Twitter is also experimenting with other in-stream eCommerce options). But as noted, there’s a range of other potential opportunities here.
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