• by Colin Kirkland , May 8, 2023

When Twitter launched its global "Verification for Organizations” program in mid-April, critics were concerned that small businesses -- especially those in developing countries -- would not be able to afford the monthly $1,000 charge.

Now, CEO Elon Musk has announced the development of a cheaper option. “We will have a lower-cost tier for small businesses, but need to manage the onboarding of organizations carefully to prevent fraud. The $1,000/month is meant for larger organizations,” Musk recently tweeted in response to a user who called out the price for being “pretty steep for small business owners.”

Based on the program's original announcement in December, Twitter Verification for Organizations allows an organization to link any number of their affiliated individuals, businesses and brands to their account.

When they do, affiliated accounts get a small badge of their parent company's profile picture next to their blue or gold checkmark.

According to the updated feature list posted by Owji, organizations are now able to identify the personal accounts of employees, which will subscribe them automatically to Twitter Blue and give them a brand icon attached to their username.

Organizations' affiliated accounts will be listed on the brand profile and will be removed when they no longer work for the organization. Their blue checkmark will also be stripped.

It is uncertain why Twitter did not include this lower-cost tier for small business during the program's original announcement or the subsequent global launch, as it would have potentially persuaded more businesses to join.

But seeking verification in the app has become controversial enough under Musk's leadership to deter organizations from paying the large monthly sum in order to receive business accounts, affiliation badges and increase reach on a platform under duress.

“The problem is, the incentive just is not there for people to pay,” writes Andrew Hutchinson from SocialMediaToday. “Especially when you also consider that the majority of users don't tweet, meaning that reach boosts hold virtually no value to them.”

Musk’s original plan to increase Twitter's overall revenue with subscriptions isn’t panning out, with organizations failing to pay as well as less than 0.33% of Twitter users signing up to Twitter Blue.

However, smaller brands who want to access Twitter ads––which are now only available to verified accounts -- may find it worthwhile to explore the lower-cost tiers, depending on how much Musk decides to charge.