Once the scene of political discussions and amusing threads: a platform on which users engaged in intense debate. However, since the takeover by Elon Musk, the platform Twitter, which has since been renamed X, has itself become part of a discussion and many users are leaving the sinking ship. What impact does this have on Twitter Ads, Twitter Advertising and Performance Marketing? We take a closer look.
Although the X platform is known worldwide, it is more American in character. In the third quarter of 2020, the USA was the most strongly represented nation with 77.75 million active users. It is followed by Japan with 58.2 million and India with 24.45 million active users. Twitter had a total of 347 million active users this year.
In Germany, however, Twitter's successes are much more manageable. At the beginning of 2022, Twitter in Germany 7.75 million users, which is a high number, but pales in comparison to the success of other social media platforms in Germany. In the same year, LinkedIn alone had around 13 million German users, Facebook had 25.75 million and YouTube even had 72.60 million.
Just like on other social media platforms, Twitter advertising in the form of ads can be used to pursue different performance marketing campaigns and objectives. This may involve optimizing brand awareness in general, specific traffic or local target groups that are to be reached.
However, since not that many users in Germany are on X, the former Twitter is not very high up on the priority list of many companies when it comes to performance marketing.
The situation is different in the USA, where X has repeatedly been the subject of intense political debate in the past. Advertising on Twitter was very popular there before the presidential elections in order to attract more voters to their own camp. From 2019, political advertising was therefore banned worldwide. On August 29, 2023, X announced in a blog article that political advertising should be allowed again in the future.
According to information published by Musk on his platform X, advertising revenue fell by around 50 percent after the takeover. This in turn confirms the perception of many private individuals and companies who see the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk as a loss of respectability.
Musk had already laid off numerous employees, who were responsible for moderating content on Twitter, among other things, at the beginning of his takeover. For companies that advertise on Twitter, this has increased the likelihood that their ads will be placed in an inappropriate or inadequate context.
Musk is also known for his rigorous decisions, which put Twitter's former image to the test. Not least, he had irritated with statements that seemed to throw all the basic principles of the old Twitter completely overboard.
In addition to the lack of planning security, it is also the political nuance that has been attached to social media platform X since Musk's takeover, which for many companies does not seem compatible with the own brand. For example, the formerly banned former US President Donald Trump now has an account on X again. The now personalized platform has lost its neutrality and therefore also its clientele due to its owner.
Interesting: In a recent poll, Elon Musk asked the entire Twitter community whether he should step down as head of Twitter. More than 57.5 percent of the 17.5 million survey participants voted in favor. Elon Musk complied and appointed Linda Yaccarino as CEO. However, it can still be assumed that he is pulling the strings in the background.
Now that many users have left platform X because it no longer corresponds to the user experience of the former Twitter, other tech giants see a market that needs to be served. For example, Meta has already launched a platform that could fill the gap created by the fall of X in the future.
This is an app called Threads, which has so far only been launched in the USA. This social media platform is intended to bring text back into the spotlight as a form of presentation, just as Twitter and X once did.
It remains to be seen whether X will regain relevance for the performance marketing industry or whether the market will shift to alternative, new apps in the future. We recommend continuing to maintain your organic presence on X and will stay tuned for you.