Ever wondered what it would be like to make purchases online simply by submitting a keyword or phrase into Google or Twitter? According to the latest reports, Twitter and American Express are making that dream a reality by enhancing its Sync program, permitting users to make purchases via promotional hashtags on the microblogging social media site. For example, users can purchase a $25 AmEx gift card for $15 by adding the hashtag #BuyAmexGiftCard25 to one of their tweets. A couple of other products including the Kindle Fire will be part of this promotion starting next Monday. Users making purchases with these hashtags will receive verification from the @AmexSync official account, enabling them to redeem the limited time offers.

Unlimited Promotion for American Express

Indubitably, AmEx Sync users all across North America will be anxious to try this latest feature put forth by both companies. For American Express, this provides amazing opportunities to increase brand recognition and top of mind awareness. Most, if not, all hashtags will incorporate their brand name to some extent, allowing the AmEX branded hashtags to flood users’ Twitter feeds. This ingenious marketing promotion will keep their name at the top of most feeds, providing them with organic exposure that some ads simple cannot provide on social channels.

Evolution of Social Commerce

Additionally, this case exhibits the growing power of this social media sites and the untapped potential of tying e-commerce with the worlds top social networking platforms. Companies have already been able to monetize Facebook traffic via shopping pages integrated into their business profiles, and with this latest “t-commerce” feature, brands will be able to sell products via Twitter, reaching a new base a consumers.

How Can Your Brand Take Advantage? 

While impressive, this campaign is a shining example of something that can only be done by a few major brands. On a smaller scale, however, marketing professionals can leverage the viral power of social media sites such as Twitter to launch buzz marketing campaigns focused on hashtags. This provides advertisers with a cost effective option to push promotions onto users and increase consumer purchases via social media channels.

Source: Mashable
Image Source: BrandChannel