Tag: twitter

Twitter Adds Bloomberg TV Shows To Its Live-Streaming Lineup

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Right on the heels of striking a deal with CBS News to live stream the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions, Twitter is adding more content to its live-streaming lineup with an announcement that it will be carrying three daily news programs from Bloomberg TV starting this fall. Moreover, Twitter will be sharing the ad revenue with Bloomberg.

What Brands Need To Do
As Twitter continues to build out its live-streaming capabilities, it is also actively courting media owners to cover high-profile media events to attract an audience and monetize through ads. Since scoring the simulcast rights for ten NFL games in April, Twitter has reportedly already sold over 60% of its NFL ad inventory. This Bloomberg TV deal sets a precedent for splitting ad revenue, which gives media owners more incentive to distribute through Twitter to explore live video content. For brands, Twitter’s ad-friendly approach toward live streaming presents a viable channel to connect with an online audience that can be hard to reach via traditional media buys.

Source: AdAge

Twitter Partners With CBS To Live Stream Democratic And Republican Conventions

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following up on its quest for more live sports events, Twitter has announced that it is partnering up with CBS News to livestream the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions later this month. Similar to its live coverage of the Wimbledon games last week, the live streams will be enhanced with convention-related tweets. This is not the first time Twitter has worked with CBS to cover the election as Twitter used the CBS News’ feed for its live coverage of two presidential debates in November and January. The stream will be available globally to any visitor to Twitter’s site or apps with no log-in required.

Why Brands Should Care
As Twitter continues to build out its livestream capabilities, it is becoming clear that it is taking a different approach than its archrival Facebook. Whereas Facebook is paying publishers and celebrity to use its live video products and encouraging user-generated live content, Twitter is mainly focused on courting media owners to cover high-profile media events, be it political conventions or sports games, and leverage those events to attract and engage with users.

Naturally, the differing approaches of the two platforms resulted in different ways of monetization. Live content on Facebook is more suited to product integration and sponsorships, whereas Twitter’s live streams rely on ad sales for now, functioning more like a digital and social extension of the traditional broadcasting system. Despite the differences, there is no denying that live video content is exploding, and it would be beneficial for brands to understand the nuances of different live-streaming platforms and choose the ones that best fit their campaign goals.

 

Source: AdWeek

Twitter In Talks With Sports Leagues And Turner For More Live Sports Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following its entry into live sports streaming with a test Wimbledon broadcast on Wednesday, Twitter is reportedly in talks with the NBA, Major League Soccer (MLS), and Turner network to seek more live sports content. Turner, in particular, holds the broadcast rights of games from several popular sports leagues, including the NBA, MLB, and the NCAA.

What Brands Need To Do
It should come as no surprise that Twitter is doubling down on its quest for live sports content, given it is the kind of premium content that the microblogging network needs to expand its stalled user base and make a compelling case for its ad products. As more and more audience turns online, media owners and sports leagues will have little choice but to follow along and embrace live streaming. Even ESPN, king of sports broadcasting, is reportedly considering launching OTT streaming packages to deliver live sports content directly to viewers so as to capture the cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Therefore, brands targeting sports fans need to closely follow the developments in this field and start exploring live-streaming channels to see if it provides a viable channel to reach your target audience in a cost-effective way.

Source: Re/Code

Twitter Enters Livestreaming With Wimbledon Broadcast

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter officially entered the world of live sports streaming with a high definition broadcast of the ninth day of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The microblogging social network set up a dedicated page where users can watch the live broadcast brought by ESPN alongside a stream of real-time tweets tagged with #Wimbledon. The livestream works on both desktop and mobile. There are currently no in-stream ads running during breaks, and Twitter does not seem to be selling Promoted Tweets specifically for the Wimbledon stream.  

Earlier this year, Twitter inked a deal with the NFL to stream ten games live this fall, and this Wimbledon broadcast can be seen as a warm-up test for the company. Although Twitter is not selling ads for the Wimbledon broadcast at the moment, it is definitely selling ads for the NFL streams and has been reported to be hawking their NFL ad packages for as much as $8 million.

What Brands Need To Do
Twitter is not the only social network dipping its toes into live sports broadcasts. Earlier this week, Formula E announced that it will be broadcasting its upcoming finale through Facebook Live. While the new live-streaming model may undermine the lucrative deals major sports leagues have with broadcasters, media owners and sports leagues will have little choice but to embrace live streaming as its audience continues to grow. With live sports broadcasts gaining momentum, it brings a new way for brands to reach a wider range of viewers online. Therefore, brands targeting sports fans need to take heed of the developments in this field and start exploring live-streaming channels to see whose ad products best fit your campaign goals.

 

Source: AdWeek

 

Twitter Introduces Stickers To Make Photos Searchable

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter announced on Monday that the newest addition to its service will be stickers that users can add to their photos in tweets. Similar to the way stickers work on Snapchat, users on desktop and mobile devices will be able to add an unlimited number of resizable stickers to their photos to add some flair. Twitter is planning to roll out this new feature over the next few weeks, and those stickers will be searchable just like its hashtags.

Twitter stickers

Why Brands Should Care
This addition came on the heels of Twitter allowing marketers to target ads based on emojis that users include in tweets. Since the stickers will be searchable, it seems quite likely that brand marketers will soon be allowed to target by stickers as well. Moreover, this new feature opens the door for branded stickers that marketers can use to drive engagement, similar to Twitter’s branded emoji product. For now, however, the stickers simply offer brands a new way to jazz up their photos on Twitter and make them more discoverable through organic search.

 

Source: AdWeek

Images courtesy of @Twitter

How Twitter’s New Location Tags May Be Useful For Brands

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is encouraging users to check out aggregated tweets from specific locations and venues by adding Foursquare-powered location tags to tweets in the main timeline and on profiles. Previously, Twitter’s location tags only narrowed down to the neighborhood level and were tucked away with the finer details under the body of tweets, which means users had to expand a tweet and then click on the location tag in order to see the location feeds.

What Brands Need To Do
Now that users are clued in by the conspicuous location tags included at the end of tweets, they will be more likely to explore Twitter in a location-based manner. Although Twitter hasn’t officially announced their plans for monetizing location feeds yet, it is clear to see that this new addition could bring new targeting opportunities for brand advertisers by allowing them to surface their promoted tweets in the appropriate location feeds to reach their desired audiences. The more granular location tags also generate more data to help businesses and event organizers better understand their audiences on Twitter and improve its interest-based, hyperlocal targeting.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

Guess How Much Twitter Is Selling Its NFL Ad Packages At

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter, which struck a deal with the National Football League (NFL) to exclusively live stream 10 games this season, has been reportedly hawking their NFL ad packages for as much as $8 million. The 10-game bundle is said to include in-stream commercials with sponsorships of NFL highlights. Brands and agencies can also go for a $2 million package which does not include ad spots during the game, but instead gives advertisers pre-roll spots on other NFL content shared on Twitter. So far, it has sold half the live-stream inventory to sponsors, including Sony, Budweiser, Ford, and Nestlé, and it is promising category exclusivity to the big spenders to sweeten the deal.

Why Brands Should Care
It is interesting to see how Twitter is essentially acting like a TV network as it tries to figure out the bundling and pricing of its valuable yet limited NFL-related ad offerings. The microblogging service reportedly paid around $10 million to secure the simulcast rights for the 10 Thursday night games, a cost that should be easy to recoup if it manages to sell the ad bundles at their reported pricing. As Twitter pushes for more video ads, brand advertisers and agencies should keep an eye on this development as it may set a precedent for future ad buying in sports live streams.

 

Source: Digiday

Twitter Partners With Innovid To Offer Marketers More Stats On Video Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is teaming up with digital video marketing firm Innovid to provide advertisers with more data on its pre-roll video ads. With this new partnership, marketers buying video ads via Twitter’s Amplify program can now access some advanced metrics, such as completion rates and viewability, to gauge how their pre-roll ads are performing. Innovid’s clients, which include Disney, Mondelez, and Toyota, will also gain access to those detailed stats. The microblogging service introduced pre-roll video ads last October and set a viewability standard of at least three seconds with the videos 100% in view.

What Brands Need To Do
This partnership between Innovid and Twitter is just one of the latest examples of social media companies like Pinterest and Facebook teaming up with third-party ad analytics firms to appeal to advertisers’ demand for better measurements. Snapchat, in particular, forged a partnership with analytics firm Moat to also track the viewability of its video ads. Overall, these partnerships should come as welcome additions for brands as they make advertising on social channels more accountable and transparent.

 

Source: AdWeek

 

Twitter Now Allows Users To Start A Periscope Live Stream From Its Apps

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is experimenting with new ways to incorporate its live-streaming service Periscope into its mobile apps in the hope of fending off Facebook’s strong push into live video. Now users can tap a “Go Live” button to start a live stream right from Twitter’s iOS and Android apps provided they have installed the Periscope app. Moreover, Twitter also plans to roll out web-embed support for Periscope content in the coming weeks, making the live streams viewable outside the app.

What Brands Need To Do
Facing mounting pressure from Facebook Live’s rapid growth, Twitter is smart to start integrating Periscope into its main apps to make it more accessible. At a time when live-streaming platforms are quickly growing and increasingly drawing consumer attention, brands and publishers such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Tastemade are also rushing to this emerging medium to connect with customers in real time. For brands that are looking to try their hands at live video, it is important to keep an open mind and choose a platform that best suits your need and, perhaps more importantly, matches where your audience is.

 

Source: Engadget & IBTimes

Twitter Launches New Carousel Ad Unit, Opens Up API For Pre-Roll Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is launching a new ad unit that borrows some elements from its “Moments” feature to help brand advertisers curate a collection of tweets. Just like Moments, the new Promoted Tweet Carousel features a swipeable carousel of multiple rich media tweets from multiple sources, allowing brands to craft an engaging narrative that gets the brand message across.

In related news, Twitter is also opening up its Ads API to make it easier for brands to purchase pre-roll video ads on its network. The company first opened up its pre-roll video ad marketplace in October, allowing brands to buy pre-roll ads before videos tweeted by popular publishers such as Buzzfeed or Tastemade.

What Brands Need To Do
This new carousel ad product enables brands to escape Twitter’s 140-character limit and use multiple photos and videos to tell an interesting brand story or highlight different aspects of a product. Brands can also use it to incorporate fan-generated tweets into their campaigns to add a touch of authenticity and enhance online community management.

In terms of video ads, Twitter obviously still has a lot of catching-up to do compared to Facebook or Snapchat. While the new API tweak is a step in the right direction, it does little to improve Twitter’s existing video ads. Still, it enables brands to buy Twitter’s pre-roll ads through third-party, automated ad buying platforms such as AdParlor and TubeMogul, which should be a welcome addition for media buyers and planners.

 

Sources: AdWeek & Marketing Land