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Twitter launches local video push with First View, puts brand ads on top of feed

Twitter Australia

First View guarantees a brand’s ad is seen first

Twitter Australia has announced a major local video push on its social media platform with the roll-out of its First View video product.

First View allows brands to ensure their video ad will be the first Twitter users see on their home screen when they launch the app.

“This is about enabling an experience that it is a good experience for consumers and for advertisers,” Angus Keene, sales manager for Twitter Australia told Mumbrella. “If they log out, come back a few hours later they won’t see that ad again.”

“The way First View works is that it includes the Promoted Trend on the day and also includes the first view on the day. It’s a package which is really about owning that premium placement across trend and view.

“This is really just another example of how we are innovating in the digital space.”

The move sees Twitter matching rivals such as Facebook in one of the key digital growth spaces – premium online video.

“This gives advertisers premium placement and maximum reach over 24 hours,” he said. “What that means is that when you open Twitter for the first time (each day) the first thing you will see is a video from an advertiser who is utilising the First View product.”

When asked if the ramp up of premium video risked alienating consumers, Keene downplayed the risk to the platform which is seeking to grow its Australian user base and its local revenue.

“We’re not at all (concerned),” he said. “As the name suggests, with First View it is the first view that someone sees when they open Twitter on that day.”

Many social media experts urge brands to try and create bespoke content to better engage consumers on social media platforms. Keene, however, said at this stage most of video ads being pushed were repurposed TV advertisements.

“It is really early days. We have had a number of other advertisers test it in other markets,” he said. “You will have seen we had Samsung launch in Australia and they didn’t create bespoke content but they certainly had a really successful campaign.

“They used First View for mass reach to generate buzz around the launch of the new phone.  There were two key results that were positive for First View – with a 39% more video views and a 30% lower cost-per-view than a stand alone video campaign they had run with us.

“All of the key video metrics increased, which is really, really positive; and we are excited and so is the client.”

Nic Christensen

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