How Twitter’s Approaching Video - Highlights from Twitter’s #VideoNOW Event

Last week, Twitter held its #VideoNOW event in New York, showcasing the platform's efforts on video content and where they're headed. And while there were no major product announcements linked to the session, there were a few interesting pointers and notes weaved into the presentations that social media marketers should be aware of – here's are the highlights:

This stat is somewhat in-line with the wider trend towards video content in social, with Facebook now serving more than 4 billion videos to users every day. The increased capacity of mobile networks and connectivity have made it easier than ever for users to share video content – and not surprisingly, Twitter users have also moved in-step with this trend.

To meet this increasing demand for video content, Twitter is working to develop better video tools and functionalities – they introduced Twitter's native video option back in February, Periscope in March and have just recently taken steps to push Twitter's video platform to the next level with publisher monetization options. That video content is also being incorporated into Twitter's new big offering, 'Moments', which aims to showcase Twitter's ability to position as the leader in real-time events and discussion, which was another aspect highlighted as part of #VideoNOW.

New Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took the opportunity to highlight Twiiter's advantage over other platforms in regards to real-time news, something that was also reiterated by Matt Derella, VP, US and Canada Direct Sales at Twitter, who noted in his presentation that when President Obama wanted to voice his thoughts on the US Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage, the platform he chose to do this on was Twitter.

Definitely, Twitter can lay some claim to being the leader in real-time discussion – it's widely recognized as such – but the platform has had trouble communicating the value of that utility to wider audiences, as has been reflected in the gradual slowdown of new user uptake. While Dorsey's claim that Twitter is ahead of all other platforms by a good 10-15 minutes may seem somewhat grandiose, there's plenty of evidence to support this – just recently, Twitter released a blog post which showed how the US Geological Survey team now use Twitter to track earthquakes across the world, with tweet data often proving a faster indicator of seismic activity than traditional means. Twitter's one of the best and most accurate indicators of real-time events, which, when used well, makes it an invaluable tool – but it's how to actually use it that's proved a difficult sell for the platform over time.

Jason White, the Vice President of Marketing at Beats by Dre, noted that the immediacy of Twitter is crucially important to their brand and keeping them on the cutting edge of popular culture. He makes an interesting point, and no doubt one that will resonate with a lot of marketing teams – having the ability to be the first on the scene, to get in with relevant messaging in real-time, can be of major value, and Twitter provides that capacity.

This becomes more relevant, too, when you consider the reach some of the major brands have via the platform – Vishal Shah, the Vice President of Media Strategy and Business Development at the NFL, noted that the league now has a combined Twitter audience of 118 million direct followers through their main handle, the clubs and individual players.

"If Twitter was a distribution channel similar to how cable companies are distribution channels, they'd be a top 5 distributor of NFL content right now"

Shah noted how video plays an important part in how the NFL uses the platform to reach these audiences (which is also no doubt part of the reason Twitter has been cracking down on handles using NFL GIFs of late).

Twitter's video product director Baljeet Singh talked about Twitter Amplify, and the new opportunities being offered for video content creators to monetize their content through the new Amplify structure.

The new system also enables advertisers to place their ads on live and trending content, generating better reach for their message.

"Because it's live video, because it's unfolding in the moment, you're reaching users as their watching this content, as it's unfolding – in fact 80% of views on a video happen within the first five minutes"

The new platform aims to give advertisers a way into that content stream and maximize viewer attention.

There was one interesting announcement from Periscope CEO and co-founder Kayvon Beykpour. Beykpour discussed Periscope's growth, with 40 years of Periscope live-streamed content being watched every day, and their recent efforts to introduce web profiles for Periscope users. Beykpour also announced the addition of a new Periscope widget which can be added to your website which will turn red whenever you're streaming Periscope content.

When you're not broadcasting, visitors will be able to click on your Periscope widget and be taken to your Periscope profile. When you are broadcasting, website visitors will be able to click on the red 'Live' icon and be taken direct to your Periscope stream. This is an interesting addition, giving Periscope users and additional way to highlight and drive traffic to their streaming content.

Beykpour also noted that Periscope is working on better integrating live-streaming content into the native Twitter experience.

Twitter also highlighted the benefits of their Niche influencer platform, which enables brands to partner with influential content creators, and detailed how brands will soon be able to add 'Promoted Moments' to their new 'Moments' product offering.

While there were no major new announcements at #VideoNOW, there were some interesting notes, particularly around the direction of focus for the platform and how they view the evolution of video content. What was definitely made clear at the event is that Twitter is taking video very seriously, and is looking to better integrate and maximize video content reach to improve both user and advertiser experiences.

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Original source: How Twitter's Approaching Video - Highlights from Twitter's #VideoNOW Event.
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