Twitter has announced that it has launched an advertising API which will give brands better control over their campaigns via API partners, instead of having to go through Twitter directly.

Alongside the launch, the five API partners – Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT and TBG Digital – have unveiled their own products, each allowing marketers to manage campaigns at scale alongside their existing marketing programs.

So what are the nuts and bolts of the new feature? At a basic level, marketers will be able to spend more time on their Twitter campaign itself and less dealing with the technical side of things. Instead of uploading one promoted tweet at a time, marketers can carve out and upload long-term strategies for these messages, and also get added benefits such as help with ad copy, headlines and targeting criteria.

Security is also stepped up. Marketers using Salesforce’s product will be able to give employees and agencies access to publish content without giving away their account password – an important consideration given some of the horror stories of late.

Plus, the feature is likely to offer value for brands pushing campaigns in cash-strapped times. Adobe’s early findings indicate that it was able to increase Twitter followers by 63% while saving $2 (or 60%) of the cost of each follower gained by paid-for promoted tweets.

The API has been in test mode since January, and it’s likely the number of partners involved with grow rapidly, with Twitter inviting potential partners to apply directly.