Twitter has purchased ad targeting firm TellApart for $532.6m (£345.5m) in stock, in an effort to strengthen its cross-device retargeting and direct response capabilities, making it more appealing to marketers.

The purchase was first announced during the firms Q1 earnings call yesterday, as Twitter announced disappointing results for the first quarter of 2015, with below-expected revenues and a larger overall loss than it saw in Q1 2014.

The acquisition will enable Twitter to more effectively target ads at more precise groups across its various channels, as well as through TellAparts ad specialists, as the social network aims to make itself more appealing to marketers.

“Consumers now move fluidly between apps, devices and platforms, and performance advertisers are in need of more effective targeting and measurement tools that work seamlessly if, say, someone browses for products on a mobile device but ultimately makes a purchase on a desktop device,” said Kevin Weil, senior vice president of product for Twitter. “Offering this seamless experience is an ongoing priority for us, as it is for the advertising industry as a whole.”

“One of the biggest challenges facing marketers today is the fractured nature of the consumer experience – across devices, between the web and apps, and between the digital and physical worlds,” said Josh McFarland, co-founder and CEO of TellApart. “While there are no silver billets to solve this problem for advertisers, we believe that by working together with Twitter we can considerably improve the experience. On desktop, advertisers on our platform reach the right consumers at the right moments, and working with Twitter, well be able to do more for our advertisers to find the right consumers on either mobile, desktop or both.”