Twitter in transition

Twitter is going through a transitional period. The social media giant recently announced underwhelming earnings Q2, zero user growth and a downward slide in advertising revenues. And while competitors Facebook and YouTube make a killing on video ads, Twitter has been left scratching its head, wondering how to monetise a platform still used by 328 million people monthly.

The firm believes it has found part of the answer in the shape of a $99 (£77) monthly subscription service that auto-promotes tweets to a wider audience. The beta version is being offered invite-only as a 30-day free trial and users will receive an analytics report that details campaign reach and follower growth.

It is hoped the new scheme will inspire user growth and dispel a developing view of the network that it can’t generate revenue in the same vein as its competitors. For the initiative to be successful and generate much-needed ad revenue, invite-
only users would have to continue with their subscription activation once the free trial period has ended. Only then is it likely to become a reasonable alternative to the site’s existing promotion service, Twitter Ads.

Who is it for?

Sharon McFarlane, managing director at Crystal Content, describes the auto-promotion trial as a “Netflix-style approach to social media advertising”. But just who is Twitter targeting with the scheme? “I think it might be popular with small- to medium-sized businesses that don’t have time to advertise,” McFarlane says.

“Large companies that spend loads of money on social media advertising will still need specific employees to monitor their campaigns,” she adds. “This alternative would mainly be for those businesses that don’t have the time or the cashflow to outsource, so they’ll just pay Twitter to do it.”

McFarlane believes the scheme could cause growth in the short term but has reservations about the longevity of the initiative. The majority of businesses that don’t know how to run an advertising campaign, she claims, would look to an agency, instead of a Twitter subscription service.

But what caused the original stagnation to a site that has always promised users the ability to spark a global conversation? Michael Hewitt, content marketing manager at Stickyeyes, adds: “Twitter has such a limited offering: 140 character tweets that only recently allowed media to be excluded from the precious total. As a result, general platform growth and subsequent monetisation is similarly limited.”

Digital business coach Jonnie Jensen has likened Twitter to one big networking event where businesses are involved in the virtual equivalent of handing out flyers on the high street. He believes that messaging services such as Facebook and WhatsApp allow people to have conversations with a select group of people as opposed to Twitter, where users just talk into the Twittersphere in the hope that somebody is listening.
“Facebook chat is more personable and more entertaining than just connecting with strangers on Twitter and hoping something comes of it,” says Jensen. “The only people who want to connect with strangers while hoping something comes of it are businesses, so you’ve got a situation where Twitter is only really interesting now to businesses.”

How does it work?

Twitter’s USP for its new auto-promotion service is that it’s a stress-free approach to advertising. Businesses won’t have to plan and integrate time-consuming marketing campaigns anymore. They will be free to conduct their business while Twitter’s tool does all the promotional work for them.

But very few details have been revealed as to how Twitter will select specific tweets and generate them to a wider audience of potential customers. It seems that individuals can only implement two targeting filters and even then, not simultaneously.

Hewitt says: “Metro [located near advertiser] and interest targeting are only a sample of the much wider capability offered within the full product set of Twitter Ads. Allowing additional options to be used in the trial, such as event or keyword targeting, would have highlighted Twitter’s key USP as the go-to place for ‘in-play’ conversations.”

These in-play conversations could include hashtags during global sporting events or target second screen device users (those who use Twitter while watching TV), which according to Accenture translates to 87% of consumers that are using more than one device at a time.

“If it delivers as suggested, the appetite to upgrade will surely follow among users new to Twitter ads” – Michael Hewitt, Stickyeyes

Jensen agrees, adding that Twitter should be offering the promotion service to accounts that regularly use the same groups or hashtags, by teaching them how to be more prolific in targeting users.

Instead, the scheme encourages accounts to tweet as normal in the hope that Twitter will be able to cherry pick content that could entice customers from an otherwise oversaturated feed. The scheme is aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses but it doesn’t necessarily teach them how to improve their social media marketing because Twitter does all the hard work for them.

“It doesn’t encourage businesses that are already on Twitter to use Twitter more effectively,” says Jensen. “If Twitter said it was only going to boost the tweets that start conversations, businesses would start trying to work out how they can write more of those tweets. Because at the moment they are just offering a pimp-out service to businesses that are lazy and want to give out more flyers. It will cause further interruption to people instead of adding any real business value.”

Will it work?

Criticism of the scheme isn’t too surprising, especially as Twitter has released very little information on the subject. Most were only made aware of the new service when Matt Navarra, director of social media at The Next Web and a former Twitter Ads user, shared his invite with his followers.

But there are analysts that think the new subscription package can work due to the current era of self-promotion.

Social media has further enhanced the need for validation whether users are posting selfies, tweeting thoughts or sharing third-party links. Allowing users to quickly and legitimately enhance their potential audience, for a relatively small fee, could provide too tempting for many users.

“This ‘lite’ subscription option allows entry into an arena with no manual application needed beyond flicking a switch,” Hewitt says. “The report card offering will hopefully provide a positive set of results for users to review and I imagine a key objective here is to dangle a carrot with enough clout to ensure that full sign-up follows.

“That should bring subsequent revenue, so from Twitter’s perspective, they have little to lose and much to gain. If it delivers as suggested, the appetite to upgrade will surely follow among users new to Twitter Ads.”

Twitter seems confident the service can inspire an upturn in ad revenue and an increase in monthly users. If it does, the social networking giant is likely to release more information on the scheme in a bid to attract even more subscribers. Only time will tell if the auto-promotion subscription service works and helps Twitter get back on the path to growth.