In its recent presentation, #VideoNOW, Twitter showcased the latest updates to its Amplify product and its new Moments tab, and it shared how its video product and real-time nature is differentiated from other social platforms.
During the event, which took place at the Highline Studios in New York, and which notably was the first public presentation led by newly named CEO Jack Dorsey, senior leadership at Twitter pulled out all the stops for its brand and marketer-heavy audience. During the presentation, Twitter touted that video views within the platform increased over 150 times in the past year, and that 90% of those views are from users on mobile devices.
With the continued surge in mobile video, and given all the recent updates on the platform, it is important for marketers to adjust their strategies accordingly to take advantage of new opportunities to deliver video content to a larger user base, and target the appropriate demos to make their media dollars work harder.
To make the planning a bit easier, we’ve identified the most important updates shared during the presentation that will change how marketers plan and execute both organic and paid video content on Twitter.
Twitter Scales its Amplify Network
The most interesting update from #VideoNOW was the announcement of significant changes to Twitter’s Amplify product. The Amplify product, that was once limited to a select number of publishers and brands, is now available to more than 50 partners, including both major media outlets and popular creators on the platform. Advertisers can seamlessly run six second video ads against preferred content categories instead of depending on sponsorship deals with specific publishers.
Advertisers will be able to simply upload their videos to Twitter Amplify and the system will pair their content with more than 200 TV networks, sports leagues and digital publishers. The six second pre-roll ads will be priced on a cost-per-view (CPV) basis, with a view being charged at the three second mark with 100% viewability – identical to Twitter Promoted Video. The change to Twitter Amplify makes the process much easier for publishers and advertisers alike, with estimated revenue split at 70/30 in favor of the publishers. Advertisers will have the ability to blacklist specific media partners and can choose to run video content through specific publisher partnerships the “old” way, if they so desire.
From a creative standpoint, there is a six second time limit for Amplify ads, which could make it difficult for brands to repurpose their current pre-roll or promoted video content, which tends to be 15 to 30 seconds long, seamlessly into the Amplify network.
If a brand has Vine content already created that is in line with campaign objectives and the brand’s social tone of voice, this could easily be repurposed for Amplify ads. However, if not, brands may be challenged to find ways to cut video content down to a short six seconds, while still maintaining brand messaging. Since many brands have yet to master storytelling in six seconds, this new marketing opportunity may result in more brands leveraging Vine influencers’ expertise in short-form video.
Twitter Banks on Moments & Enhanced Video Content
Twitter’s Moments, which was officially released prior to #VideoNOW, brings trends and topics to life via visual media. This new tab on the Twitter app pulls in about 8 to 10 topics of interest per day outside of Twitter’s Trending Topics, via Twitter’s internal editorial staff. You can check out Moments today in your Twitter app by clicking on the lightening icon located on the bottom toolbar.
Twitter is hoping that Moments will help build its user base and provide easy entry to consumers who have found the platform previously difficult to navigate. The ability for users to follow these ‘Moments’ and have the content pulled in automatically to their feeds during high volumes of conversation – but not permanently – lets users maintain consistency. Promoted opportunities within Moments will likely follow in Q4. The content will primarily look and feel the same, and will allow advertisers to create their own Moments to share with users engaging in certain Moments content already on the platform.
Twitter also announced plans to implement a GIF finder and generator, which will attract more users previously spending time browsing on sites like GIPHY. As a format, GIFs perform very well on Twitter, especially “Reaction GIFs” used in response to live events. Twitter tested this technology recently at the VMAs, and saw strong success.
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Twitter’s suite of video tools, focused on instant sharing and livestreaming, are changing the game for users, as well as advertisers. Twitter’s real-time nature allows brands and users to partake in news and events sooner than any other platform. During Twitter’s presentation, Dorsey referenced a stat indicating how Twitter was on top of news and events 10 to 15 minutes before any other platform.
Twitter is constantly updating its platform to provide better user experiences and through these improvements, the platform is also making it easier for its advertisers to scale, while helping its fleet of influential creators monetize and extend their reach.
Cover photo via Twitter.
