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| Twitter is looking for subscriptions to reduce the use of ads |
The Twitter platform is jointly developing a product to reduce reliance on ads. Social media has thought about this for many years, and due to the popularity and pressure from energetic investors to accelerate growth, the plan is a top priority.
Most of Twitter's revenue comes from targeted ads that serve ads to specific groups of users.
In recent years, the growth rate of this business has been slower than that of competitors like Facebook and Snapchat, and Twitter's share of the global digital advertising market is still 0.8%.
Twitter has benefited from independent, non-branded revenue streams, and the company's user base has stabilized in America's most valuable market, which means it cannot be relied upon just adding new users.
To explore possible options other than selling ads, several Twitter teams research subscription offers, including subscriptions codenamed Rogue One.
At least one thought to consider is advice. This is the ability of users to pay the people they follow for exclusive content.
Other ways to generate recurring income are through the use of services (like Tweetdeck) or advanced user functions (like unsubscribe or account customization options).
Subscriptions have always been a substitute for advertising, but social media has traditionally remained free to encourage user growth and engagement, which is then supported by paid marketing functions.
Based on user surveys, management feedback, or past product changes, the potential for this recurring revenue has been determined.
Twitter has tested the idea of cheating in the past with its Periscope real-time video service. The idea has become a popular business model for companies wanting to help developers make money from their fans or followers.
The company is also considering billing some premium users for a host of services, including Tweetdeck.
Tweetdeck is commonly used by advanced Twitter users. With Tweetdeck, you can follow multiple Tweets at the same time. It is now free and contains no ads, which makes it attractive as an alternative primary power source for some users.
A recent poll in July showed that Twitter is looking into whether consumers can pay for special features such as the ability to bypass broadcast or custom color, and it is unclear what products Twitter consumers can reach.
According to former employees, the Twitter platform has been delving into subscription ideas for years, and the biggest effort dates back to 2017 when the internal team looked for ways to bill Tweetdeck.
Some users have been asked what types of Tweetdeck features they might want to purchase. The staff discussed various options internally, for example, tools that allow users to manage multiple accounts or bill people to keep Tweetdeck safe from ad snooping.
In the end, the search was canceled and the subscription functionality was not tested.
Twitter suffers from the idea of charging for services, while competitors such as Facebook oppose it.
There are also concerns that subscription services may violate the idea of free and open services imagined by CEO (Jack Dorsey) Jack Dorsey.
As Twitter comes close to testing the actual product, here's a summary of some of the potential features or services the company might charge for:
- There is no ad flow.
- TweetDeck.
- Exclusive content.
- Better quality video.
- The blue badge.
- analyzing.
- The consumer job.