Twitter Inc. wants to be a one-stop-shop for marketers looking to target consumers with ads within mobile apps.

The social network it is now selling ads, including its lucrative autoplay promoted video ad unit, inside other mobile apps that use its MoPub mobile advertising marketplace.

The platform, a mobile ad network Twitter calls Twitter Audience Platform, enables a marketer to buy ads on Twitter. They can also use the same targeting tools to purchase ads that consumers will see on other mobile apps. For example, a retailer can use Twitter’s Tailored Audiences tool—which leverages browser cookies and other information, such as consumers’ email addresses—to retarget shoppers on mobile apps.

The move, announced Thursday, is the latest evolution of Twitter’s advertising tools off of the social network as it seeks to find ways to mitigate the effect of  slow user growth. Audience Platform is the latest iteration of Twitter Publisher Network, which Twitter launched last year to enable advertisers to use a single interface to run campaigns that ran on both Twitter and the sites and apps of publishers who work with MoPub. However, that platform initially focused on driving mobile app installs and re-engagements. In renaming Publisher Network, Twitter is signaling it has h bigger ambitions for the platform, says Omar Akhtar, managing editor for business research and advisory firm Altimeter Group. “Audience Platform expands Twitter’s reach and makes it a more attractive advertising tool,” he says, adding that it gives marketers and publishers an incentive to sign up for MoPub.

Because Twitter’s ad formats are largely native ads meant to blend in with the rest of Twitter’s content, Audience Platform transforms the promoted tweet into other formats that aim to better engage consumers when a retailer chooses to target its Twitter ads to consumers off of the social network. For example, promoted video ads turn into in-app video ads and app install or re-engagement ads become interstitial or banner ads.

Twitter says the platform helps brands extend their reach and can provide access to roughly 700 million consumers across Twitter and Audience Platform.

Macy’s Inc., which ran a brand awareness campaign to test the platform last month, says Audience Platform drove incremental reach and delivered a strong performance.

“We achieved an engagement rate of 7.85%, which surpassed industry benchmarks for mobile display campaigns,” says Serena Potter, the retailer’s group vice president, digital media strategy. “The Twitter Audience Platform allowed us to easily connect with our audience throughout their day. Expanding the reach of the Promoted Tweet into apps made for a unique ad unit that drove strong engagement with our brand.”

Audience Platform will compete with Facebook Inc.’s Audience Network, the ad network that Facebook launched last year. To distinguish its offering, Twitter will have to figure out a way to make its ads more effective, Akhtar says.

“Twitter has to figure out how to make its ads compelling,” he says. “That may mean incorporating the Buy button. Rather than presenting consumers with an annoying video ad, it might be appealing to have a Buy button that spurs someone to make an impulse buy. That would be powerful.” 

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