You’ve heard all the hubbub. Now the big day has arrived and Twitter stock is now available. Twitter began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30 a.m. under the ticker TWTR. Yesterday, the company announced that it had officially priced its IPO.
Twitter says it hopes to sell 70,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $26 per share. That would allow Twitter to raise about $1.8 billion in capital.
It’s fair to say the Twitter IPO has been highly anticipated. But what does it mean for users, and more particularly small businesses?
What the Twitter Stock IPO Means
Well, at first blush, nothing. If you’re a small business person or entrepreneur using social media to market your business or network, you’ll go right on doing what you always have.
The new capitalization may even give the company the ability to invest in additional features that will improve the experience. And certainly, the stock offering would seem to be an indication that Twitter is here to stay.
More Advertising Likely
Of course, more investors mean the need for more profits, most probably through advertising, reports USA Today. Clearly, Twitter hasn’t waited for an IPO to start generating revenue in this area.
The company has already introduced promoted and targeted tweets to allow brands, and sometimes unexpectedly customers, to have a greater voice. Twitter also announced plans to acquire MoPub, a mobile ad exchange startup, for $350 million earlier this year.
All of this could theoretically offer small businesses more opportunity to target messages that reach their audiences effectively.
Of course, there is also the fear that, as with Facebook, Twitter may start charging for the social reach users once were able to obtain for free.
In the end, the IPO suggests Twitter will be a major communications force and so a major way to communicate with customers, clients and partners for some time to come.
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