Twitter continues with sluggish growth in Q1 2016
With co-founder Jack Dorsey back in the helm at Twitter, the company has been looking to redefine its approach to monetising. It is still experiencing slow growth in revenue as was witnessed when it declared its first quarter results for 2016.
The tech company’s total revenue in the first quarter reached USD 595 million, up 36 per cent year-over-year, but missed the earlier predictions.
However compared to the 305 million users from the last quarter of 2015, the company saw some respite as there was a sequential growth in monthly active users which reached 310 million, up three per cent year-over-year. Mobile represented 83 per cent of total monthly active users.
“We saw a return to sequential growth in monthly active usage, driven by seasonality and marketing initiatives. We also saw deepening engagement (likes, replies and Retweets) driven by a few important product launches, including the enhancements to the timeline and the Twitter-Periscope integration. We remain focused on disciplined execution to drive sustained audience growth over time,” the company statement said.
Advertising revenue totaled USD 531 million, an increase of 37 per cent year-over-year. Mobile advertising revenue was 88 per cent of total advertising revenue.
“Revenue came in at the low end of our guidance range because brand marketers did not increase spend as quickly as expected in the first quarter. We see a clear opportunity to increase our share of brand budgets over time. We have a strong product roadmap designed to tap into incremental brand-oriented online video budgets, and will deliver additional features for advertisers later this year — including more detailed demographic targeting and verification, and reach and frequency planning and purchasing,” the statement explained.
Mr Dorsey said on an earnings call, “Twitter has always been the best place to see what’s happening now, whether it’s breaking news, entertainment, sports, or everyday topics. Only Twitter lets you connect with people anywhere in the world with live conversation. We made a lot of progress on product innovation this quarter, particularly with live video and our refined timeline, and people love it, with less than two per cent opting out. We remain focused on improving our service to make it fast, simple, and easy to use.”
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