Twitter’s push to expand its advertiser base continues today with news that the company will give away up to a million dollars in ad credits to small business owners that haven’t advertised on Twitter before.

In its announcement, Twitter says that it’ll give $100 credits to the first 10,000 qualified small businesses. The signup form details those qualifications: the business must be U.S.-based, have a complete Twitter profile (including profile image), tweet regularly, have at least 20 followers and be a new advertiser.

Twitter says the giveaway is its way of supporting the Shop Small and Small Business Saturday initiatives this weekend.

It’s also the company’s latest attempt to increase adoption of its ad products. Over the years, Twitter has been cautious in rolling out advertising on its platform, but it’s been much more aggressive in courting advertisers in recent months. It’s still an invite-only platform, but regular users (like me) have received a similar $100 credit offer via email, and other users are getting invites via on-site messaging.

EMarketer recently upped its Twitter ad revenue estimate by 50 percent, to more than $807 million in 2014.

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing: Advertising | Twitter: Advertising

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the US. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

Connect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn