One of the biggest challenges of Elon Musk in front of Twitter it is to make the company profitable, and it is not a minor detail. Around 90% of the social network’s income comes from advertising, but some controversial measures by the magnate —such as the return of suspended accounts, such as that of Donald Trump— have caused an exodus of advertisers. And the platform now searches offer strong incentives to mitigate or reverse the exit of the main companies that invested in sponsorships.
As reported The Wall Street Journal, Twitter claims to incentivize advertisers to increase their ad spend. To the point that the Californian company would be willing to match the investment of the most important brandsas long as certain requirements are met.
According to the information available, Elon Musk’s company will offer up to “100% added value” for investments in ads of at least $500,000. What does this mean? That the companies that allocate from said sum receive twice as many ads and impressions as usualup to a spending cap of $1 million.
Those who spend less than half a million dollars to buy ads on Twitter will also receive benefits, but at a lower percentage. As published by the journalist Zoe Schifferof Platformeran executive assured that This is the most aggressive ad spend incentive in company history.
It is worth mentioning that the campaign will be valid only for investments in ads that are displayed before the end of the year. At the moment, it is unknown if Elon Musk’s intention is to extend it to 2023. Although it is likely that everything depends on how successful it is at launch.
Elon Musk wants to win back Twitter advertisers
Twitter’s incentive offer is the latest move by Elon Musk to prevent more companies from abandoning their advertising investments on the social network. In recent weeks, at least 50 of the top 100 advertisers on the platform have decided to suspend or limit their spending.
The most notorious case has been that of Manzana, since it led to one of the classic tycoon tantrums. But he has not been the only one. Other firms with an important presence on Twitter —Pfizer, General Motors, Volkswagen Group, General Mills and Mondelez, for example— also turned their backs on him. And some even did so in the days before the businessman took control of the company.
One of the biggest reasons behind the exodus of advertisers was the fear that their brands would be associated with potentially offensive posts and accounts. The lack of content moderation, added to the possible pardon —later confirmed— for suspended accounts, was a combination to which many corporations preferred not to be exposed. Not even despite the plea of Elon Musk.
Recall that, one day before completing the purchase of Twitter, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX published a letter trying to win over advertisers. “I strongly believe that advertising, when done well, can enchant, entertain, and inform you. It can show you a service, product, or medical treatment you didn’t know existed, but it’s right for you. For this to be the case, it is essential to show Twitter users ads that are as relevant to their needs as possible. Low-relevant ads are spam, but highly-relevant ads are actually content!”
However, the message did not have the desired impact. When mass layoffs began on the social network, Elon Musk said the platform had suffered a “massive drop in revenue,” and accused “activist groups” of putting pressure on advertisers. Will his new incentive plan be enough to change the look of brands and attract their money? Twitter needs ads more than anyone, and even its new owner can’t be unaware of that.