NEW YORK – A Twitter executive at Mobile Marketer’s FirstLook: Strategy 2015 conference said that brands should be equipped to anticipate spontaneous moments on social media related to live events so that they can capitalize on them and create a buzzworthy yet authentic connection with consumers.

During the “Social Media: Where Content, Commerce, Advertising and Conversations are Headed” session, executives from Twitter and Meredith Xcelerated Marketing discussed their expectations for the directions social media will take in 2015 and highlighted the rising popularity of video advertising. Honing in on live events and creating a resonating mobile moment, such as Oreo’s impromptu “You Can Still Dunk in the Dark” Tweet during 2014’s Super Bowl blackout, is a tactic that can yield invaluable brand awareness and sales.

“We own live moments,” said David Patillo, industry director at Twitter. “For advertisers to really embrace and do well with Twitter, they have to plan and have an always-on strategy with us.

“It’s about anticipating moments at scale.”

The panel was moderated by Mickey Alam Khan, editor-in-chief of Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer.

Monetization from social
In 2015, Twitter plans to focus more on video advertising as the strategy continues to gain popularity on other social networks, such as Facebook, and clips from mobile services such as Twitter’s Vine platform permeate users’ timelines.

“The roadmap is pretty robust as it relates to video,” Mr. Patillo said.

The popular social networking mobile application and site is looking to optimize log-out users: the 500 million of users that visit Twitter monthly in addition to the 300 million monthly users that have accounts. Facebook is currently reaping about 60 percent of its revenue from video ads, proving that the platform may end up being the hot topic of 2015.

“Monetization is the big game right now for social networks,” said Joe Gizzi, director of strategy, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing. “Everyone is building out ad platforms, like Facebook’s Atlas and Twitter’s MoPub.

“There’s a video war going on right now — between Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.”

Twitter was not able to share specific plans for the upcoming year, but highlighted its previous content deals with the National Football League, which results in the NFL offering exclusive content on Twitter during games. Users have responded very positively to receiving timely updates and highlights during the sporting events.

Moments of scale
Twitter is an optimal social network to leverage for brands attempting to create moments of scale. Marketers that are not necessarily affiliated with a certain brand can also jump into the conversation surrounding a mobile moment, therefore optimizing chances of augmenting brand awareness or sales.

“At the end of the day, Vine is an amazing creative execution,” Mr. Patillo said. “Someone like Dunkin’ Donuts, that is not an official NFL partner but wants to associate with the National Football League, can use a Vine or three to four series of Vines throughout the game with implied endorsement.”

As Twitter receives two billion Tweets every two days, there are countless opportunities for brands and marketers to intercept these major live moments and embrace the conversation happening among millions of fans.

Other events, such as premieres of highly anticipated television shows or films, pre and post-football game discussions and award shows such as the Golden Globes, also see high levels of user engagement.

“Twitter is a great second-screen addition to premieres,” Mr. Patillo said. “It’s a great opportunity for brands to utilize us to support what they’re doing on television.”

Social media is also changing the face of mcommerce, following several mobile applications’ recent integrations of “Buy it now” buttons. In 2012, Twitter partnered with mobile app Tweet-a-Beer to enable users to order a beer to their exact seat in a sports stadium to ensure that they would not miss any of the game.

Consumers could also Tweet from any location to send a beer to a friend in the stadium and simply needed their PayPal account synced to their Twitter account to facilitate the purchase.

Mr. Gizzi advised marketers to look more closely at their social audience and understand what other brands their core consumers tend to gravitate towards. This may spark an idea for a potential partnership that will ultimately drive commerce back to the original brand.

“For other brands, it’s more about the 200+ mobile moments when we might look at our phones throughout the day,” Mr. Gizzi said. “As app developers and mobile marketers, we have to make sure that everything has personalized utility.

“We’re not looking at time spent in-app as a necessarily positive metric anymore; we’re thinking about monthly active users and trying to get people to come back to our apps more frequently.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York