Twitter today announced that all businesses with professional accounts can now display their location addresses, hours of operation and other contact information on their profiles through its “Location Spotlight” feature. The social network said the feature also provides a way for customers to contact 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 being rolled out to all professional accounts worldwide.
Businesses with professional accounts can now also use Google Maps to add a map of their location to their profile. Twitter’s Location Spotlight feature is similar to the Business Information Card on Google Maps, which displays information about a business, including its location, hours of operation and contact information. By launching Location Spotlight globally, Twitter may want to provide business information directly to users on its platform to prevent them from clicking through Twitter and finding that information on Google.
Twitter also teased some upcoming features for professional accounts, including a resource center called the “Pro Home. The social network said the center will provide professionals with the ability to track performance, discover products and drive performance. The center will be geared toward users who want more insight to improve their performance on Twitter, and Twitter said the “Pro Home” will be available to all professional accounts worldwide in the coming weeks, with additional updates throughout the year.
In addition, Twitter is offering a new monthly live work session series called “Taking Care of Business. The series, which will debut this month, is designed to help professionals who are just getting started with Twitter better understand the resources available to professionals on the social network. Twitter will also launch 10 courses at the Twitter Flight School, which will cover several topics, such as learning how to create a community of engaged followers.
The social network first launched its professional profile last year and made the option available to all users at the beginning of March this year. Professional accounts, or “Twitter for Professionals” as Twitter calls them, provide brands and creators with additional tools to differentiate their profiles, and Twitter classifies anyone who uses Twitter for work as a professional.
