Twitter Enters The Newsletter World With Recent Acquisition Of Revue
Source: Revue
Twitter has acquired Revue, a service that allows people to start and publish newsletters and generate revenue through subscriptions.
Twitter announced the acquisition via a blog post, stating:
"Revue will accelerate our work to help people stay informed about their interests while giving all types of writers a way to monetize their audience – whether it’s through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter, or elsewhere."
Revue Will ConTinue To operate As A StandAlone Service But with New Twitter integrationS
Revue will continue to operate as a standalone service; however, Twitter plans to support Revue writers and readers by integrating tools and new experiences that will:
Help improve writer and content discovery
Allow people to sign up for newsletters directly via Twitter
Enable writers to further communicate with their subscribers
Twitter is also immediately making Revue Pro features free for all users and lowering the fee for paid newsletters to 5%, which will help writers keep a larger portion of their subscription revenue.
Twitter Was Previously Exploring An Acquisition Of Substack
Twitter's entrance into the newsletter world isn't necessarily a surprise. In November, there were reports that Twitter was exploring an acquisition of Substack, another newsletter service. However, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie shut those rumors down quickly.
Why Newsletters?
Newsletters have become quite popular again this year especially individual-powered newsletters. Many journalists and writers are leaving full-time positions at publications to launch their own paywalled newsletters, and many people are starting newsletters to share content around a niche topic.
Through Revue, Twitter now has a way for its users to share long-form content and potentially generate revenue, which can help keep current Twitter users happy while bringing new users to the platform who are looking for new ways to monetize their writing.
What This Could Mean For Influencer Marketing
With Facebook also reportedly exploring a newsletter feature, there will likely be a deeper relationship between social media platforms and newsletters in the near future. Newsletter services such as Revue and Substack help to birth a new wave of creators, especially in the B2B space, while also encouraging traditional influencers to revisit newsletters as a platform to share or amplify content.
Due to this, I expect to see brands explore newsletters as a channel for their influencer marketing efforts. Like blogs, newsletters enable influencers to do a deep dive on brand/product messaging and get in front of a targeted audience without having to worry about algorithms.
TwitteR Is Making Investments In Trending Spaces
Overall, Twitter's recent investments have been impressive. In addition to Revue, it recently acquired podcast app Breaker and video chat app Squad, helping Twitter enter the video chat, audio chat, and newsletter spaces in just a few months. Although Twitter has a history of unsuccessful acquisitions in Periscope and Vine, its newest investments are promising and are worth keeping an eye on.
For more social media and influencer marketing news, follow me on Twitter, and connect with me on LinkedIn.
