Twitter is a social networking platform and giant microblogging site that allows users to send and read “tweets,” which are text-based posts of up to 280 characters in length.

Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in San Francisco, California.

With the iconic blue bird logo, Twitter is one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. Many influencers use Twitter to make money, but what about Twitter? How does Twitter monetize?

How Twitter makes money is a question many people have, so let’s dig in. We’ll talk about how Twitter does it and ways you can use Twitter to make money, too.

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How Does Twitter Make Money?

As one of the biggest social media companies in the world, how does Twitter make money?

The Twitter business model is primarily through two primary sources of revenue: advertising and data licensing agreements.

Advertising services

89% of Twitter’s profits came from advertising in 2021. There are seven different models of advertising on Twitter. Using a mix of ad formats increases ad engagement and awareness.

  1. Promoted Ads
    • Text Ads
    • Image Ads
    • Video Ads
    • Carousel Ads
    • Moment Ads
  2. Standard Features
    • Conversation Button
    • Polls
  3. Follower Ads
  4. Twitter Amplify
  5. Twitter Live
  6. Twitter Takeover
  7. Branded Hashtags

An individual account or company can run any combination of the above advertising services to promote their product or business to potential customers by targeting their account to their customer base.

Twitter also offers mobile advertising exchange services through MoPub which draws rich data from daily active users. The mobile ad exchange can be used to target ads for customers for a higher return on investment.

Data licensing agreements

11% of Twitter’s revenue came from data licensing and other revenue opportunities. Twitter sells access to its massive trove of user data to third-party developers and companies to research customer trends, target marketing campaigns, and develop Twitter-based apps or other services.

This is a significant source of revenue for the company, and it’s only likely to grow as more businesses look to tap into the power of Twitter’s data.

So how can YOU make money on Twitter? We will discuss this below.

How do people make money out of Twitter?

There are several ways people can make money on Twitter.

If you’re a developer or research firm with access to Twitter’s data, you can monetize that access by building apps or conducting studies based on Twitter’s data. This can be used for targeted marketing ads, analyzing historical trending topics, and more.

Companies will pay for the data and guidance on utilizing it for their business. This is done in various industries, with retail, software, and automotive being the most significant segments of using Twitter analytics.

Many individuals can monetize their accounts and make money from Twitter on a smaller scale. Typically, the more followers you have, the more money you can make. This is due to more extensive reach with your account and platform to reach more people. However, some smaller accounts can make money on Twitter by having a highly engaged audience and building trust with their followers.

  • Promoted Trends & Tweets
    • Depending on your account size and reach, a company may collaborate with a social media influencer or business account to post information on their behalf and pay them to do it. This could be anything from a sale they are running or information about a service they provide. The options are endless for what companies will pay influencers to post about.
  • Affiliate Marketing
    • You can join different affiliate marketing websites to receive a commission off of products you post links to on your Twitter page. The more that people purchase from your links, the more you make.
    • This is a common tactic for influencers who post links to clothing items or other products they are promoting. If you click on a link from an influencer, there is a 99% chance they are receiving a small commission from it. The more clicks and purchases the account has, the more money they make.
    • No matter the size of your account, it is beneficial to sign up for affiliate marketing. You never know who will click your link and purchase items.
  • Advertising services
    • You can buy ads on Twitter to promote your business and direct potential customers to your website. This is a huge benefit and component of Twitter. Specific advertising formats are described above.

How much does Twitter earn per year?

Twitter revenues for the twelve months ending June 30, 2022, were $5.229 billion, a 17.45% increase year-over-year.

How much does Twitter earn a day?

Factual data on how much Twitter earns per day could not be found. However, you can calculate $ 5.229 billion divided by 365 for a very rough estimate of $1, 432,602 per day.

Does Twitter make a profit?

Not currently.

Twitter had posted a net loss every year, except in 2018 and 2019, when it made a profit of just over $1 billion.

Interestingly enough, Elon Musk has insisted that buying Twitter wasn’t an economic move for him. At the TED 2022 conference, he said, “This is not a way to sort of make money. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important”.

He has further stated he wants to see better transparency by Twitter regarding their business practices and censorship and believes it should be an open-source algorithm.

Does Twitter pay for followers?

No.

The Twitter business and revenue model does not include paying for followers. Twitter’s revenue is made primarily through the sale of advertising and data licensing.

In 2021, Twitter rolled out Super Follows, which allows users with over 10k followers and other parameters to charge others for access to subscriber-only content.

So, while Twitter doesn’t pay for followers, there are still ways to make money on Twitter.

Is Twitter losing popularity?

Possibly.

Although Twitter remains one of the most well-known social media platforms out there, it is currently in a state of transition. Due to reports of Elon Musk buying and acquiring Twitter and now backing out, causing a legal feud, many are wondering about the platform’s future.

Q2 data was released in June of 2022, announcing its overall revenue declined by 1% ($270m) in the same period last year. Twitter has blamed an ongoing slowdown in ad spending in critical sectors as one cause for the cash-flow decline.

How many people are on Twitter each day?

Twitter measures its user base by a calculation called monetizable daily active users (mDAU), broadly defined as the total number of user accounts logged in and accessing Twitter on any given day. Twitter maintains millions of daily active users (around 200+ million).

Twitter’s average monetizable daily active users in the fourth quarter of FY 2021 rose approximately 13% YOY to 217 million.

Many people are waiting to see what happens with Elon Musk and if any changes are made to the platform. It is widely agreed upon that Twitter is in a state of transition and change.

How can I make money on Twitter?

Plenty of people have found successful ways to make money on Twitter. As mentioned above, many people make money on Twitter by promoting products or services.

  1. Companies may be willing to pay you to tweet about their product or service by promoted tweets if you have a large following. Payment for these types of things does not come from Twitter and instead is brokered by you and the company.
  2. Others make money by providing content that is valuable to their followers. For example, if you are an expert in a particular field (real estate), you could start a Twitter account where you share tips and advice with your followers. You could then sell access to this valuable content through paid subscriptions or other content your followers pay for.
  3. If you own a business, Twitter is a great social networking platform to try and leverage for more exposure for your business and revenue.

What other ways can I make money online?

There are several ways people can make some extra cash online. Some common ones are:

  1. Loyalty and Consumer Rewards Apps: Swagbucks was established in 2008 and is a reputable company for loyalty and consumer rewards. Members can earn free gift cards or cash for everyday activities like searching the web, playing games, scanning receipts, or shopping online. They have currently paid their members over $780 million.
  2. Freelance: If you have writing, graphic design, resume, research, or editing skills, you may be a good candidate for freelance work. Popular sites like Fivver or Upwork are reputable sites to which you can post your services, and people can purchase them, and you get paid.
  3. Etsy: If you have an eye for design, art, and graphics, Etsy may be a great way to make money. Top Etsy sellers can make thousands of dollars monthly and create entire companies off the platform.

Conclusion

Twitter can be a handy tool in propelling your business forward, whether you are a freelancer or a small or large company. You can create income off Twitter by having an authentic connection with your audience and utilizing Twitter’s advertising tools and other means to produce income (affiliate marketing).

Twitter makes money primarily through advertising services and data licensing, the two main components of its business and revenue model. They will be a company to keep an eye on as they navigate potential leadership changes and see if they change their platform in the coming year.

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