While Facebook Live has seen the platform pay influential brands to produce video content, we’re seeing a slightly different approach from Twitter with their Amplify programme. Targeting individual creators, will this help the site see further success with video too?

Late last year, Twitter launched its Amplify programme, a scheme to help publishers and advertisers roll out video content. Until recently, Amplify has only been available to brands and publishers, but this will mean individual creators can now use the feature. So now, the platform wants to get creators on its side, enabling them to earn revenue from the videos they produce. According to Twitter, the number of video tweets had risen by 50% since the beginning of the year, so now is the perfect time to encourage further production and views, especially since creators will be able to bring in 70% of ad revenue they generate, with Twitter taking the additional 30%. To compare, YouTube and Facebook’s share with creators is 50% each, so Twitter certainly looks like a more attractive option.

Creators will also benefit from a new media library, which will be able to house their video content, as well as gifs and images, and they will also be able to manage these to enable scheduling for instance. This is clearly also an extension of Twitter’s Engage app released in June which enables creators to manage their content via mobile- now, this will give them the option for management on desktop too.

We might note too, that Twitter has already paved the way for influencer targeting, shown by its acquisition of Niche, last year. Start-up firm Niche is known for connecting advertisers and creators, especially on Vine. Therefore, might their experience with video content come into play for improving Amplify? Twitter already has a strong database of influencers from Niche who could possibly use Amplify. To date, the service has signed up around 35,000 content creators who have been connected with brands especially for Vine content- giving the option of Twitter and Periscope too only seems like a natural progression.

And already, Twitter has seen success with brands using Amplify. Last year for instance, Wimbledon, in partnership with Stella Artois, used the feature to highlight live moments from the event, and align videos to trending topics and real-time conversations. The feature will also be used in conjunction with Periscope videos- brands will now be able to sponsor Periscope content by incorporating their branding into live video highlights, as well as adding pre-roll ads. This is something that Vodka label Grey Goose hopes to try later this month. The drinks company is partnering with Andy Roddick for their #MasterTheOpen campaign, which will see live-videos broadcast on Periscope, and video content appear on Twitter as Promoted Tweets.

With Amplify now open to influencers, we imagine this will encourage brands to not only partner with celebrities, but also individual creators for live broadcasts and videos which make it easy for them to include their own ads and branded mark. For all parties including Twitter, this seems like a winning situation- companies will be able to monetise from ads, influencers will be able to earn revenue from their video content and the brands themselves, while Twitter should experience a boost by luring creators to the site with attractive monetisation options.

Do you think Twitter’s Amplify programme will appeal to influencers who want to monetise from their videos? And do you think this will mean the rise in video content appearing in our feeds? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.