Is Twitter Dying?

Over the last few years, concerns about a declining user base have made marketers question the state of Twitter. Is it still a valuable platform for your brand, or are your ad dollars better spent elsewhere? As social media marketers, we’re constantly trying to keep tabs on what channels are best for reaching our audiences. Twitter, though it has experienced some bumps along the way, is not going anywhere soon. Here’s a few reasons why we think Twitter is still a good option for social media marketers.

Those that stay, log on

You might have seen reports that Twitter’s monthly active
users (MAU) have been in decline. While Twitter reported a decrease of 9% in a
recent report, they attribute much of the decline to the elimination of spam
and bot accounts that the platform has been trying to clean up. At the same
time, Twitter announced they’d be switching to reporting
on daily active users instead. That number shows a 9% increase in
daily active users, suggesting that while those who log in monthly is going
down, users that interact daily has gone up. Clearly, Twitter is doing
something right if daily users are on the rise.

Though the number is still behind that of Facebook and even Snapchat, 126 million daily active users certainly represent a large number of people for marketers to reach.

Ad revenues on the rise

If concerns about the platform dying were real, it’s likely that advertisers would start reducing their spend with the platform. That doesn’t seem to be the case, with recent reports of first quarter net income up to $191 million from $61 million in Q1 last year. Q4 2018 came in with a 23% increase year over year in ad revenue as well. With the majority of Twitter’s revenue due to ad spend, these increases are a good sign for the health of the channel.

Innovation and improvements

Historically, Twitter has been
seen as less innovative than some of the larger social channels. With only 140
characters plus a visual to work with, users are limited to the ways they can
engage. Recent changes indicate that Twitter is working to improve the user
experience and evolve the way people interact on the channel. Increasing the
character limit to 280, allowing users to hide
replies to their tweets, and encouraging the use of more video and GIF
content all show that Twitter isn’t content to stay as it always has
been. Twitter has also been cracking
down on spam & bot accounts as well as abusive behavior, a
problem for nearly every social platform. These little tweaks show that Twitter
is still working to ensure its users stay engaged and available for marketers.

While Twitter may not be the biggest social media platform, it still provides valuable potential reach for marketers. Consider how this audience might make sense for targeting for your brand. Need help activating on a platform? Check out our services page to see how we can help.

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