So your company has a Facebook page, a Google Plus page and of course a YouTube channel. Obviously, you have a Twitterfeed with all the latest news and an active discussion going on with fans and almost-fans. You tap into trending topics and actively monitor what the discussion is. Basically, you’ve got it all sorted. And then, along comes the latest possibility, a Twitter Brand Page. Here we go again.

So what is it exactly? And are their already some best practices to learn from? Let me take you through what’s happening.

Official launch Twitter Brand Pages March 2012
It is good to know that Twitter Brand Pages will only be available starting March 2012. Before that date, Twitter are working with a selected number of companies that have proven to invest heavily in Twitter advertising such as Promoted Tweets / Promoted Trends. So, that gives you a couple of weeks to come up with a solid strategy before you actually dive in, right? Let’s take a look at the options.

What can you do with your Twitter Brand Page?
First of all, it is good to realize that a Twitter Brand Page is an ‘upgrade’ to your existing Twitter Profile. So in actual fact, there is not much more you need to do to get things going (that is, if you already have a business profile up and running). There are a couple of additional features however that will be made possible once you set things up:

Adding creative materials to your page, such as banners, headers and a larger avatar
In other words, you can create a much more branded look & feel to your page to ensure the right tone is set. You will also be able to link through to other touch points and ensure that Twitter is part of the user-journey within your framework.

View YouTube video’s directly in your timeline
YouTube video’s are displayed through the embedded player directly in your timeline, so you can ensure that your fans stay on the page whilst viewing your great content. The same goes for images by the way. Pretty neat feature.

Make Tweets ‘sticky’
We all know of the possibilities that Blogs have to ensure that specific content generates enough attention from first-time (or returning) visitors and now you can do so with your Top Tweets as well.

Separate @replies and @mentions
Not an exciting functionality from a user perspective, but much more for a marketer / community manager as you can now easily wade through the clutter and make it a whole lot easier to respond and engage with your fans.

There will be a lot more coming, but for now I believe these are some pretty cool functions to start playing around with. Again, it will not be made public until March 2012, so plenty of time to think your options through.

Launching companies 
Need some inspiration? Let’s take a look at a few of the first companies to have launched a Twitter Brand Page:

@CocaCola

@Dell

@DisneyPixar

@Heineken

@HP

@McDonalds

More information on Twitter.com
Of course, there is more information available from Twitter. Visit the page Twitter: Let your brand take flight for more specific info on the Twitter Brand Pages.

So, what do you think? Will you be looking at activating the possibilities that the new Twitter Brand Pages host? More info needed? Let me know in the comments!