Twitter Introduces 6s Video Bidding

Twitter is rolling out a new 6s video bid unit to provide advertisers with more accurate metrics around short-form video content.

On August 19, Twitter announced a new six second (6s) video bid unit, charging advertisers after their ad has been viewed at the 6s mark with pixels at 50% in view. The new roll-out will now be supported on In-Stream Video Sponsorships, Promoted Video and In-Stream Video ads for videos of 15s or shorter. A Twitter sponsored study by behavioral research company, EyeSee, found that short-form videos (less than 6s) with clear branding and no sound drove “significantly better ad recall and message association on mobile” than television-style commercials.

With video units being one of the most popular and most successful pieces of content throughout the Twitter platform, marketers have challenged themselves to deliver relevant, engaging and credible content all under 6-10s. Twitter is seeking to test the new wave of short-form video by only charging advertisers when their video has reached 6s, where previously advertisers may have been charged at 1s or 2s of viewing. This can be a great option for advertisers looking to communicate quick, straight forward messaging to compliment story-telling, whitepapers, POVs or other long-form content.

Advertisers may take advantage of this new offering by simply uploading video content to the Twitter ads platform and reporting on the new 6s metric.

Mobile Campaigns Will Benefit Most
As mentioned in the Twitter sponsored study by EyeSee, short-form video with clear branding outperforms longer-form content on mobile. This new feature will be best when developing shorter form content for mobile Twitter campaigns versus Twitter desktop campaigns.

Brands Will Be Forced To Communicate Key Messaging Faster
Brands that typically create longer form content (30s or more) will suffer on platforms like Twitter. This new metric now challenges brands to communicate key messaging in the first 6s of their videos.

Great Option For Driving Retention
When brands are striving to drive mid funnel tactics like consideration and intent, video completion rates may be one of the key indicators of success. Twitter’s new update will be most helpful when shaping insights around the benefit of short-form video to a company’s brand. This gives us the option to bid on longer engagement with video, so clients can tell more of a story than a short-form 2s-3s clip. It’s also an opportunity to optimize towards more video engagement vs a quick view, and drive stronger retention.

The Bottom Line: While not a “game changer,” this update will help measure the success of short-form content and provide a more flexible option for advertisers when developing videos for the Twitter platform.