Twitter, which pioneered hashtags on the net, has launched a visual hashtag. It is called #Stickers, and can be used to connect images.
The hashtag has been launched primarily to benefit brands. Companies can now create slick, funky #Stickers that can be associated with their brand.
According to Twitter, #Stickers will be “a fun new way for Twitter users to add a pop of creativity to photos and connect them to the world on Twitter”.
According to Twitter, members can “Use them to share what you’re doing or how you’re feeling, to show support for a cause, or to just add some flair. You can use multiple stickers on a photo, resize and rotate them, and place them anywhere on your picture.”
To launch #Stickers, Twitter has tied up with Pepsi as the exclusive launch partner. Within hours of the launch, the software giant put out tweets showcasing some of its stickers. Importantly, India is one of the 10 markets where Pepsi is rolling out the stickers.
Twitter had unveiled the visual hashtag idea on June 27, and launched it formally on August 17 in India. In its blogpost titled Introducing Promoted #Stickers, Twitter has urged companies to get in touch with Twitter’s accounts team to create and launch their customised stickers.
How will #Stickers help brands
Brands can now design a maximum of eight stickers that will raise brand recognition, and brand appeal. Once they are published in the #Stickers library, customers can insert/paste them on their photographs. The modified photographs carrying the stickers can then be tweeted.
The customers need not add any keywords with hashtags. The #Stickers will work as keywords, and connect all tweets.
For brands this opens a completely new world of advertising. They can now use #Stickers to:
- Create new brand recognition images
- Propagate these images
- Analyse customer interests, and take suitable marketing decisions
The greatest benefit comes from the way brands can spread. Every time a customer tweets a photograph with the brand’s sticker it will reach all the followers of that user. The brand’s reach will multiply exponentially.
The challenge lies in creating stickers that can become a fad. The danger is that unlike emojis there may be millions of stickers available in the #Stickers library. This will make the task of smaller brands very difficult.
How to add #Stickers to a photograph
The challenge lies not only for brands, but also for individuals when it comes to imaginative use of #Stickers. Twitter has allowed its iOS or Android app users to add as many as 25 stickers to a photo. This is a large number. It can ether make a picture look cluttered or make it real fun.
Stickers can be added to a photograph by using the following steps:
Step 1: Tap on the Tweet icon.
Step 2: Tap on the camera icon. You can now add a photograph from your camera roll or you can shoot a fresh photograph.
Step 3: You now need to tap on the sticker icon. This will give you access to the #Stickers library, and you can select the sticker that best suits your photograph. Now, you can drag the sticker across the photograph to the desired position.
Step 4: You can decide to enlarge, tilt or even shrink a sticker. All that you need to do is to place two fingers on either side of the sticker and turn the sticker clockwise or counter-clockwise.
In case, you realise that you have selected the wrong sticker, you can drag it to the bottom of the picture and trash it.
#Sticker clearly is an exciting tool. It is now for the companies to give it a life.
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