Twitter Buys Niche, Adds More Tools For Content Creators, Advertisers

To better team up advertisers with social media influencers, Twitter just bought a start-up that does just that. Launched in late 2013, Niche started working with Twitter and its Vine unit soon after. In addition to matching content creators with brands, Niche offers free cross-platform analytics.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports put it at around $30 million.

“There were obvious compatibilities in our businesses, and … our growing community of social media creators -- today numbering over 6,000 -- thrived under our relationship,” Niche co-founders Rob Fishman and Darren Lachtman note in co-authored blog post.

With Niche officially in-house, Twitter can provide more tools for content creators and advertises, according Baljeet Singh, director of product management at Twitter.

“As more users and creators use different products as a way to share what’s happening in their world,” Singh said, “brands are also looking to partner with those individuals in hopes of generating moments that resonate with the people they are trying to reach.”

Among other pairings, Niche has brokered deals between Hewlett-Packard and Robby Ayala (who boasts 3.1 million Vine followers), Zach King (2.4 million Vine followers), and Brodie Smith (1.5 million followers on Vine).

Along with matching content creators with brands, Niche offers free, cross-platform analytics.

To date, Niche has raised about $4 million from Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, Advancit Capital and William Morris Endeavor, among other investors. 

While user growth remains an issue, Twitter’s ad business is thriving. During the fourth quarter, revenue was up 97% year-over-year to $479 million on earnings per share of $0.12, the company reported last week.

Among other other business initiatives, the social giant recently announced plans to expand Promoted Tweets to third-party sites.

Marketing executives said the latter effort was particularly significant. “The sheer scale of [the third-party expansion] changes the way Twitter is measured,” said Craig Elimeliah, SVP and director of creative technology at marketing agency RAPP. “Growing outside of the stream and syndicating promoted tweets on other properties is a game changer.”

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