Twitter announced today that all businesses with professional accounts can now display their location address, hours of operation and additional contact information on their profiles via its Location Spotlight feature. The social network says the feature also gives customers a way to reach businesses directly via phone, text, email or DMs. Prior to the expansion, the feature was only available to users in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia., but is now rolling out to all professional accounts globally.
Businesses with professional accounts can now also add a map of their location to their profiles using Google Maps. Once a customer clicks on the map, they’ll be given directions to navigate to the business’s physical location.
Twitter’s Location Spotlight feature is similar to business info cards on Google Maps, which display information about the business, including its location, operating hours and contact info. By launching the Location Spotlight feature globally, Twitter is likely looking to supply its users with information about businesses directly on its platform in order to prevent them from clicking away from Twitter and finding that information on Google.
Twitter also teased some upcoming features for professional accounts, including a resource hub called the “Professional Home.” The social network says the hub will give professionals the ability to track performance, discover product offerings and drive performance. The hub will be aimed toward users who want more insights to improve their performance on Twitter. Professional Home will be available to all professional accounts globally in the coming weeks, with additional updates to come throughout the year, Twitter says.
In addition, Twitter is offering a new monthly live worksop series called “Taking Care of Business.” The series, which will debut this month, is designed to help professionals who are just getting started on Twitter get a better understanding of the resources available to professionals on the social network. Twitter is also rolling out 10 courses on Twitter Flight School that will cover several topics, such as learning how to create a community of engaged followers.
“We are proud of the foundation we’ve laid with the initial suite of products we’ve unveiled to date and
we’re excited to continue introducing new ways to help professionals achieve business success on Twitter,” the company said in a statement.
The social network first introduced Professional profiles last year and it made the option available to all users earlier this year in March. A professional account, which Twitter refers to as “Twitter for Professionals,” gives brands and creators access to additional tools to distinguish their profile. Twitter classifies anyone who uses Twitter for work as a professional. To qualify for a professional account, users must have no repeated history of violating guidelines, and they must be authentic, with an account name, bio and profile picture. Parody and fan accounts are not eligible for professional accounts.
Today’s announcement comes as Twitter has released several shopping-related features over the past few months, including virtual storefronts to display items for sale and product drops that allow merchants to tease their upcoming product launches.
Twitter now allows local businesses to display location, hours and contact info on their profiles
Twitter’s ‘Professional Accounts’ profile setting is now available to all users
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