Twitter appointed its first chief marketing officer, Leslie Berland, who will spearhead a much-needed marketing push for the social network as it tries to buoy its user growth. Chief executive Jack Dorsey announced the hire on his Twitter account, saying that Berland, previously a marketing executive at American Express, will be charged with helping to tell the stories of iconic product. Marketing had previously fallen under the duties of Twitter's chief finance officer, Anthony Noto.

But the company has publicly been looking to hire its first dedicated chief marketing officer since July. At American Express, Berland has been the executive vice president in charge of global advertising, marketing and digital advertising. She was the company's top pick, according to a Sunday report from Recode.

She will have a vital role to play for Twitter, which is in the midst of a major effort to make itself more palatable to the general public. While Twitter is very popular with its devoted core users, it still doesn't reach as many people as rival services such as Facebook or LinkedIn.