If you were a kid that hated getting up in the morning, you were probably told more than once that the “early bird gets the worm.” Little did you know that all those years ago, Twitter co-founder and CEO, Evan Williams, coined that phrase and receives a royalty fee every time it’s used. Kidding. But given the amount of buzz Twitter’s newly launched @earlybird handle is getting, it’s not all that far-fetched.
Earlier this week @earlybird made its grand debut with an exclusive Twitter-only ad. Followers were offered a two-for-one ticket to the new movie “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” simply by using a promotion code announced through the @earlybird account.
So, if Disney could have simply tweeted this special exclusive offer from its own account, why would it even want to participate in this paid-advertising promotion? Less than 24 hours after the account started tweeting, @earlybird had well over 50,000 followers. Granted, Disney Pictures has more than 55,000 followers on its own, but the potential for the @earlybird account to grow quickly is almost a certainty. For those interested in getting the full rundown on @earlybird, Twitter has compiled a thorough list of FAQs.
In addition, tweeps can now harness the aggregated power of seeing the best, timeliest, most aggressive offers in the Twitterverse by simply following this one handle rather than watching the stream of a multitude of brands. The model of aggregated deals, discounts and resources has worked well for countless others, such as Groupon, or even Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out email list.
So, what’s your take on Twitter’s newest monetizing effort? Are you following @earlybird? Do you think it will succeed, or flop in an epic way? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
