AS TWITTER prepares to launch its paid ads platform in the UK, brands are readying themselves for the opportunities it presents.

Twitter is estimated to generate £92m in ad revenue this year and expects it to rise to £153.6m next year, making its decision to expand into the UK a no-brainer.

Sky, Sony and Vodafone are just some of the big brands clambering to trial Twitter's ad platform.

Up until now, the beauty of Twitter has always been that there is no hierarchy when a tweet is sent – they all enter the stream equally and disappear just as quickly. It didn’t matter if you were Stephen Fry with thousands of followers or somebody with just 10.

However, with paid-for tweets, Twitter is offering businesses the chance to make sure they are seen and an ability to stand out from the competition.

Brands will now be able to pay for a tweet to appear in a user's timeline, and for subjects to appear as trends. It will also ensure that the tweets are targeted towards relevant users on its network of 160m registered accounts.

As the Twitter Ad grows, it will become more precise as they are planning to roll out ads on a regional basis. When this happens, the localised opportunity will be highly beneficial to SMEs and local businesses. A Promoted Tweet that resonates with consumers could generate retweets, replies and ongoing dialog between the company and existing or potential customers.

By treating Promoted Tweets as an opportunity to directly converse with consumers, there is the potential to create a solid relationship and build a positive consumer experience whilst reaching a mass audience.

Brands who are savvy and remain wary of overloading consumers with too many Promoted Tweets have a real opportunity to expand their customer base.ŠŠTwitter ads have great potential to boost a company’s reach to intended audiences.

INTERNET entrepreneur Ben Hatton is founder and managing director of Liverpool agency Rippleffect. Link to Rippleffect on Twitter @rippleffected