Twitter has a new feature useful for businesses that can put essential information at the top of their Twitter profiles. The new Location Spotlight feature, widely launched today, allows businesses to add information such as store hours and address, a Google Map with directions, and a quick-touch option to contact a business via phone or direct messages on Twitter.
Location Spotlight can make it easier and faster for customers to, say, decide if there’s enough time to walk three blocks for coffee before a store closes. While it may be faster to search for a business directly in a maps app, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the information may not be accurate or up-to-date.
Businesses had to adjust hours on the fly to comply with local laws or protect their workers, so social media became the de facto way to know what a business’s status was. Places like Instagram and Twitter provided facilities where businesses could quickly connect with their customers, while sources like Google Maps and Yelp would give businesses less control.
These features already existed in the About Module that Twitter introduced last year, which was only available to a limited selection of professional accounts. Now called Location Spotlight, it’s available worldwide to businesses with it professional Twitter accounts. It’s all part of a broader set of business-focused features Twitter has been working on, including its new Shop module that allows some brands to sell items within Twitter, subscriptions to the Revue newsletter, Shopify store integration, and streaming live QVC style.
Twitter also has other services in the works to expand professional accounts. There’s an upcoming “Professional Home” feature to track performance, a planned expansion of profile spotlights, and the company will begin running training sessions on how to use its platform.
If you’re interested in adding Location Spotlight to your Twitter business account, follow these steps on your smartphone:
- Go to your Profile in the Twitter app and tap Edit Profile.
- Finally, tap on Edit Professional Profile. (You will only see this if you already have one professional account.)
- You’ll see a section called Profile Spotlight, which you’ll need to tap.
- Tap the toggle location switch, then enter the business address, hours, website, and contact information. (This will appear publicly on your Twitter account page.)
- Once you have entered everything correctly, tap Publish in the upper right corner. Customers now have access to all the information you’ve provided, a clear indication of whether you’re open or not, and are just a tap away from getting directions or contacting you.
Correction, August 4, 2022 12:42 PM ET: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the About Module is now a part of Location Spotlight. The About module and Spotlight Location are the same thing. We are sorry for the mistake.
