What Marketers Want From a Twitter Reimagined by Musk

Brands and agencies are currently mulling whether advertising on Twitter is still worth the potential brand safety risks that come from the new ownership of Elon Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist.” Something that makes that calculus easier? For most advertisers, Twitter wasn’t a “must buy” platform to begin with, as it lacks the performance capabilities and ad tech of its competitors, six media buyer sources told Adweek. Still, with a new owner who is already shown to shake proceedings up, new opportunities are certain. “Candidly, Twitter as a platform simply exists,” said Kevin Renwick, media director at Plus Company-owned agency Mekanism. “When you look at other platforms like TikTok, brands have to be there. When we look at Twitter, we don't.” A Musk-owned Twitter could be inhospitable for advertising. Several holding companies have advised clients to temporarily stop advertising and its liaison to advertisers, chief commercial officer Sarah Personette, resigned Friday. But the opportunity remains huge: Twitter is only anticipated to make up 4% of U.S. ad spend this year, per Insider Intelligence. Twitter has become less and less of a need and more of an ‘if it fits and makes sense.’David Mirsky, group director, MMI Agency “Personally, I’m actually really excited by the Elon Musk takeover,” Renwick added. "Twitter is long overdue for an advertiser evolution.” On their wish list for Musk, buyer sources want more precise ad tech, more flexible buying terms and better controls to avoid brand-unsafe content. Musk, and Twitter, might grant some of these. This week, the bombastic new owner is meeting with ad executives in New York. Representatives from most of the holding companies have told Adweek they’ve been in contact with Twitter reps since Musk forked over $44 billion to take the company private last week. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Making it easier to buy and measure ads In its early days, Twitter was an advertising juggernaut for brands. In the early 2010's, Twitter was the only major social platform to compete with Facebook, said a media buyer from a major advertising firm who asked for anonymity to protect industry relationships. “Twitter used to be huge. I used to not have a single client that was not on Twitter,” said David Mirsky, group director at MMI Agency. “The evolution of ads products within Twitter doesn’t compete in scale and targetability with the other social platforms. Twitter has become less and less of a need and more of an ‘if it fits and makes sense.’” Twitter Makes a Play for Performance Ad Budgets and Indie Agencies Facebook was able to out-maneuver Twitter not just with its larger user base but with powerful technology that helps direct response advertisers precisely target and measure their ads. Twitter in recent years has tried to devote resources to the lower funnel, with performance products first launching in 2020. The company’s goal was to eventually have 50% of its revenue come from performance marketers, whereas historically the lion’s share had come from brand marketers, a Twitter executive told Adweek this summer. But Twitter's performance efforts still lag behind other platforms, sources said. “What they have from a performance perspective is relatively nascent and isn’t at market parity to re-energize advertisers,” the media buyer source said. The new performance tools offer new ad formats but are less helpful at making the platform better at finding relevant customers, said Avi Ben-Zvi, vp of paid social at performance marketing agency Tinuiti, who added that less than a quarter of his clients regularly spend on Twitter. “It comes back to the problem of measurement and attribution,” he said. "Twitter isn’t getting the best credit for driving that optimization.” Twitter could also be easier to buy, two buyers said. Unlike some platforms, Twitter forces some advertisers into a contract committing brands to spend for a certain time period rather than making it easy to turn payments on and off. “Let me freely optimize between platforms, and stop trying to lock me in,” Renwick said. A Vine revival and WeChat alternative Marketers also want Twitter to make it easier to ensure their advertising doesn’t appear next to the wrong content, something the platform’s new emphasis on free speech will likely make all the more necessary. The media buyer source said Twitter offers some brand safety controls, but they’re not consistent across the entire platform. Content moderation has long been a problem for Twitter. In September, the platform found itself in hot water after blue chip brands like Walt Disney and Coca-Cola had their ads placed on Twitter accounts peddling links to child sex abuse, according to a report in Reuters. But Twitter also proved itself capable of responding. After the debacle, the platform introduced a toggle to include or exclude ads from appearing in user profiles, the media buyer source said. TikTok Unveils TikTok Works Set of Third-Party Measurement Studies Equally important is having the right content that makes users return to the platform. Buyers are particularly excited about a potential Vine revival, given the popularity of short-form videos. Musk’s vision for an “x, an everything app,” an idea he's tweeted about that could attempt to mirror China’s WeChat—a place where brands can marry social with ecommerce transactions—has also piqued interest. And subscription product Twitter Blue, with its proposed $8 per month fee for users to keep the blue check verification, is another source of revenue. Most important for advertisers is whether Twitter can retain and grow users. If Musk’s idiosyncratic approach alienates users, advertisers will have even less incentive to be on the platform, said Tom Olivieri, group director of creative services at performance marketing agency Within. For Olivieri, Twitter has only around 3% incremental reach over other platforms. “If this is driving out the type of users we want to target, is [Twitter] even worth being worth on?” he asked.

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What Marketers Want From a Twitter Reimagined by Musk

Twitter, and Musk, have an opportunity to regain the platform's previous cred in performance in order to grow ad revenue

Catherine Perloff

Jameson Fleming

Stephen Lepitak

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