Twitter is making its next big push for Twitter Blue subscriptions. Elon Musk and Co. are looking to build Twitter Blue into a more significant revenue driver, in hopes of getting the app out of deep financial water. Don’t mistake things now, despite a relatively commendable number of experiments, Twitter has a long way to go before it clears all obstacles.
Bluer
To start, Twitter has recently expanded Twitter Blue access to France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Spain, which would allow millions more Twitter users to potentially sign-up for their lauded verification tick. Based on what most of us have seen and heard so far, it’s likely that most won’t go for it anyway, but it’s not a 100% guarantee. At most, it should help up-seel Twitter Blue sign-up by another few thousand, which is still some extra cash for Twitter.
Twitter’s also looking to incentivize Blue sign-up by offering revenue share ads for ads in reply threads. So, the idea is that if users write interesting Tweets, they would get compensated for discussions they generate, but only if they’re subscribed to Blue first. Musk has yet to share further info regarding the potential revenue split or process.
Twitter’s also looking to bring back an improved Space/podcast experience, as a Twitter Blue exclusive. Musk has also hinted at allowing some users to avoid paying for basic API access if they sign-up. Oh, and the gold Twitter checkmarks will also likely cost a fortune if you want them. $1000 a month for a yellow tick, along with $50 per ‘official’ staff member you want to add? Talk about a cash grab.
Then again, maybe Musk and his team have something up their sleeves. They might be simply waiting for the perfect time to reveal more incentives to encourage more businesses to sign-up. Also worth noting, ‘legacy’ check marks will be completely phased out over the next few months.
Combined, all of these elements could improve Twitter Blue take-up, though it’s still difficult to see it become a major contributor to Twitter’s revenue as Musk hopes. Presently, based on third-party tracking, the new Blue program, at 300,000 subscribers, brings in an extra $2.4 million per month, which is pretty good, but still a ways away from where Twitter wants its subscription revenue to be.
The Wrap
In short, Musk is keen on making Twitter Blue a critical revenue component of Twitter’s entire operations structure. Without going too much into the details, Musk wants to make subscriptions account for up to 50% of Twitter’s overall intake – likely the reason why Twitter really wants to jack up its Blue sign-ups. Despite sounding absolutely absurd, it’s also likely that Twitter won’t be backing down from its push anytime soon. Then again, Twitter has to make something work if it wants the company to stay afloat.
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