Twitter Fleet ads are the platform’s first-ever vertical format ad offering.
Six Months or so after their launch, Twitter says it’s time to monetize Fleets.
Related | Instagram Expands Its Reels Ads Test To New Markets
The announcement came on the same day Instagram says it is expanding its Reels ads test to 4 more markets. The test for Fleet ads will be conducted among a limited group of Android and iOS users in the US.
While Fleet ads will be the opportunity for brands to utilize more vertical formats, it is unclear what the potential audience size for these ads could be. Twitter never shared data on how many people use Fleets or anything on behavior, click-through rates, or engagement. When prompted, a spokesperson simply said, “We’re continuing to invest in Fleets and give people more options to express themselves on this new surface.”
Global product marketing manager Austin Evers and senior product manager Justin Hoang wrote in a blog post on Tuesday, “Fleet ads are all about connecting your message with the everyday. Fleet ads are a space for brands to be creative: Go behind the scenes, have a creator take over your account, or share a hot take.”
Fleet ads will support both images and video with a 9:16 ratio. The maximum length is 30 seconds and the ads have an optional swipe-up call to action. Advertisers will be able to analyze the standard Twitter ad metrics: clicks, impressions, profile visits, website visits as well as completes, quartile reporting, six-second video views, starts, and views for video Fleet ads.
Wendy’s is one of the early brands to take part in the test:
Twitter research found that 75% of respondents like ads in the vertical, full-screen format, and those using Fleets are also browsing what others are sharing, Evers and Hoang said in the blog post.
“As we experiment on this new surface for ads, we’ll take a close look at how vertical, full-screen ads perform on Twitter,” they wrote, explaining that “we want to understand how this content performs for customers not just for Fleet ads, but for future iterations of full-screen formats on Twitter.”
“We also believe that ads should be non-intrusive and bring value to people, so we’re focused on learning more about how people feel about and engage with this new placement,” they added.