When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he started making a lot of promises to users and advertisers to keep them on the platform.
One of these ideas has been an Ad revenue sharing program that will rival that of YouTube's and make Twitter not just a platform where you can go and fight with strangers but get paid while at it.
For a while, it felt like this was just one of Musk's pipe dreams, and he had many. But unlike many of his other promises, he actually delivered this time to the surprise of many, myself included.
In this blog post, we will explore this new program and show you how you can also get your piece of the pie.
I. Understanding Twitter's Ad Revenue Sharing Program
Twitter's Creator Ad revenue sharing program monetization system that allows users to earn a share of the profits from the advertisements displayed on their profiles. In essence, Twitter shares a portion of its revenue with qualified profiles, allowing users to profit from their engagement on the platform.
The program just initiated its first payouts, and moving forward, users will receive their share based on the number of ad views they generate each month. However, to participate in the Creator Ads Revenue Sharing program, you have to meet certain requirements.
1. Eligibility
Users must be subscribed to Twitter Blue, which costs $8 a month, or be Verified Organizations.
2. Human Review
Prospective participants need to pass a human review process that assesses whether they meet the Creator Monetization Standards.
3. Minimum Impressions
Users must have amassed at least 5 million impressions each month for the last three months, totaling to a minimum of 15 million impressions.
4. Payout Account
Participants are required to have a Stripe account to receive their earnings.
Also, for your ad impressions to count towards revenue sharing, specific conditions must be met.
1. Verified Users
Only impressions generated by other verified Twitter users will be considered.
2. Eligible Ad Formats
Twitter will only share revenue from ads that appear in tweet threads or replies.
II. How Does Twitter's Ad Revenue Sharing Program Work?
In order to be a part of Twitter's monetization program, you must meet certain requirements. First, you need to be a verified user on the platform. Additionally, you must have accumulated a minimum of 5 million impressions on your posts within the last three months and have a Stripe account.
Once you meet these eligibility criteria, you can choose to opt into the monetization program. By doing so, you become eligible to earn revenue from ads that are displayed in the replies to their tweets.
Keep in mind that this if you meet all requirements that doesn't make you automatically start earning money through the program. You will still have to register.
It's still unclear where users can apply since Twitter has yet to update its help centre article on this.
The amount of Twitter ad revenue that creators can earn varies based on several factors. These include the number of impressions their posts receive, the type of ads that are shown, and the overall engagement on their content.
Twitter has not yet disclosed the exact percentage of ad revenue shared with creators, but they have mentioned that the payout per impression ranges from "a fraction of a cent" to a few cents, depending on the level of engagement. We will have to wait and see on this one.
To provide some context, Twitter paid a cumulative total of $5 million to over 8,500 creators for the month of February.
III. How Much Can You Earn from Twitter's Ad Revenue Sharing Program?
High-profile Twitter users are excitedly sharing their substantial earnings from Twitter's ad revenue share program's first round of payouts. Some users have even made a whopping five to six-figure sums from the program. However, before you get too carried away, there are several important points to consider about this new incentive scheme.
As we discussed, to earn money on Twitter you must maintain an average of 5 million tweet impressions per month over a three-month period. This level of engagement is far beyond what most users achieve, significantly limiting the number of people who can monetize their content through this program.
There are also concerns about the program's long-term sustainability and the possibility of receiving large payouts continuously. In the first payment, Twitter owner Elon Musk revealed a total sum of $5 million, covering a five-month period starting from February, when the revenue share scheme was announced.
However, to get an accurate idea of the monthly payments, you need to divide each initial payment by five, as they cover multiple months. This means the initial figures may seem inflated compared to what you can actually expect to receive each month.
Examining the reported payouts it becomes evident that a few of the bigger names of the platform like MrBeast have taken a big chunk of the 5 million dollar payout. Some of these creators received substantial amounts, like $20k, $25k, or even $100k in the case of InternetHOF, which reposts popular content from across the web.
Highest payout so far is 6 figures at over 100k! pic.twitter.com/A249cdxPQV— T(w)itter Daily News (@TitterDaily) July 13, 2023 Embedded JavaScript
Nevertheless, when considering all the significant payments, the average payout among these high-engagement profiles is $2,275 per month. If we exclude the top four earners, the average drops to $1,500 per month. While the large numbers being shared might be impressive, it's unlikely that this program alone will enable you to quit your day job.
IV. How Does Twitter's Ad Revenue Sharing Program Compares to YouTube's Partner Program
To put things into perspective, here's a quick comparative between Twitter's Ad revenue sharing program and YouTube's Partner Program.
1. Eligibility Criteria
- Twitter's program requires creators to be verified users with a minimum of 5 million impressions on their posts within the last three months and a Stripe account.
- YouTube's Partner Program (YPP) requires creators to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months.
2. Monetization Mechanism
- Twitter's program allows creators to earn revenue from ads displayed in the replies to their tweets.
- YouTube's monetization primarily revolves around ads shown on the videos and Shorts.
3. Revenue Sharing Percentage
- Twitter has not disclosed the exact percentage of ad revenue shared with creators. Therefore, it is unclear how much creators can expect to earn per ad view.
- In YouTube's Partner Program, creators typically earn 55% of the revenue generated from ads displayed on their videos. YouTube pockets the remaining 45%. YouTubers can earn around $0.01 to $0.03 per view with AdSens. The exact number depends on whether their content is family friendly among other factors.
4. Payout Amount
- Twitter paid a cumulative total of $5 million to over 8,500 creators. However, without additional data, it's challenging to determine the average or individual earnings for creators.
- On YouTube, the earnings of creators can vary significantly depending on factors such as the number of views, ad engagement, the type of content, and the audience demographic. YouTube has reported that they paid out $30 billion to creators.
To be fair, there's no comparing the two as of yet. Twitter has just barely launched and it's still in the early days. But one thing is for sure, to earn money on any platform you must have engaging content and be consistent. As a final advice, use social media management tools like Nuelink to get your share of the money from both platforms.
