Twitter has announced that it will be adding full-screen ads to Fleets. The company first introduced Fleets last year, where it allows users to upload ephemeral content similar to Snapchat or Instagram Stories that lasts for up to 24 hours.
Twitter has been trying to diversify its revenue sources, and this is just another step from the company in that direction.
Ads Will Show Up Between Fleets
Twitter will show ads between Fleets, which the company is calling “full-screen billboard for advertisers.” Fleet ads will have a 9:16 aspect ratio, with both images and videos of up to 30 seconds being supported.
Just like ads on Instagram Stories, brands will be able to assign the “swipe-up” gesture to an action in Fleet ads. They will also have access to usual advertising metrics like impressions, profile visits, clicks, and more.
Twitter Testing the Waters With Ads in Fleets
Twitter is testing the waters with ads in fleets and will see how users react to it and what kind of engagement they can garner. This is perhaps also why the company did not detail how frequently it would show ads between Fleets.
In its announcement on Twitter’s business blog, the company says that it wants to “understand how this content performs for customers not just for Fleet ads, but for future iterations of full-screen formats on Twitter.”
For now, Twitter is launching a pilot program in the US for Fleet ads with 10 advertisers onboard. The ads will initially be visible to a limited number of Twitter users in the US on iOS and Android.
Twitter also confirmed that it is working on launching new stickers and backgrounds for Fleets so that users can make their content more interesting.
Twitter Is Expanding Rapidly Across Different Verticals
After years of remaining stagnant, it seems like Twitter is expanding rapidly across different verticals. The company launched Fleets in November last year. Since its launch, Twitter has updated Fleets with “twemojis” support, thereby allowing users to add animated GIFs and stickers to their fleets.
Unlike tweets, it is not possible to retweet or share a fleet. It is meant to make sharing more comfortable than tweeting, which feels more public and permanent to some.
Then, late last year, Twitter launched its live-audio platform Twitter Spaces to take on Clubhouse. It has quickly developed Spaces and opened it for everyone with over 600 followers. It is also bringing a ticketing system to Spaces so that creators can sell tickets for their Space and generate revenue.
