Should your business stay on X (formerly Twitter)?

Written by Senior Account Manager, Acer Su.

In the aftermath of the UK riots, a flurry of Labour MPs have decided to leave X and brands are re-evaluating their social media strategy. Businesses have been coming to us asking if they should continue to have a presence on X.

Despite reports of an “exodus” as people abandon the platform, app intelligence and website comparison firms did not uncover an actual decline in usage stats, according to TechCrunch and Social Media Today.

What are the alternatives to X?

In today’s social media landscape, X remains the largest microblogging platform by active users. As of 11th August, competitors like Threads, with 1.3 million daily users, and BlueSky, with 67.8 thousand, still have a long way to go before matching X’s reach of 6 million daily users—making X a powerful tool for businesses looking to maximise their potential audience.

The fragmentation of microblogging sites (text-first platforms unlike Instagram and TikTok) means that groups with certain affinities or political affiliations are converging around the same channels, unhelpfully creating echo chambers.

The increasing polarisation of opinions is not unique to X. Our cultural research indicates that we’re living in the Age of Rage. People are fuelled by indignation and paranoia and those themes live in all forms on social media. As such, no social media channel is immune from the volatility of a divided public.

It remains to be seen just how the fallout from the UK riots will impact advertising revenue on X. Big consumer brands concerned with their brand safety have paused advertising on the platform, such as Unilever and Mars.

However, with 6 million daily users on X in the UK, according to Similarweb, it’s unlikely that businesses will be moving completely away from using it as a channel to reach their audiences.

One of the useful targeting capabilities for X ads allows advertisers to reach the followers of other accounts, making it an effective way to tap into an ecosystem of people who share the same interest. At Instinctif Partners, we’ve seen high engagements for our clients by targeting our public policy campaigns at followers of national bodies and political stakeholders.

Five recommendations for businesses

To stay or not to stay on X is both a commercial and brand reputation decision. Our five recommendations help you gain further clarity to inform your social media strategy.

1. Evaluate the value X brings to your business

Have a look at your social media KPIs. How does your content perform in terms of engagement rates and click throughs to your website? Can you quantify the value X brings to your marketing and is that worth more than the negativity and controversy associated with the platform?

Examine why you are on X in the first place and the value it brings for your marketing to help you decide whether that’s worth giving up.

2. Consider the size of your audience on X

Do you have a big following who are engaged with your content? Can you better reach your target audience via alternative platforms?

Use this as an opportunity to map out where your audiences are and assess the current social media ecosystem to identify if there are better platforms for you to continue investing your time and money.

X may continue to be useful for business updates and sharing information about your company. But campaigns with a social issue angle can be hijacked by people who don’t agree with your perspective.

3. Assess if X is becoming too negative for your brand/company value

Some of the largest consumer brands have taken the decision to remove their advertising spend from X due to concerns over content moderation and brand safety. For others though, you will have to weigh up whether continuing to stay on X is aligned with your company and brand values, any ESG commitments you have made that could be in conflict with remaining on the platform, and whether your stakeholders will consider this relevant or important.

The decision for individuals to exit the platform could be to remove the negativity that X often amplifies. But for companies, the motivation to leave X could either be to protect their brand or to take a stand against what the platform has become and the actions of its owner.

4. Examine the benefits of continuing to run paid advertising

Have you seen good results from running previous advertising campaigns on X? How much return on investment do you achieve with paid X ads? If you are targeting political stakeholders in the UK, you may notice a slight drop in performance due to the recent wave of people in government exiting the platform.

Some businesses may wish to stop advertising on X to protect their brand from accusations of continuing to support the platform. For others, they may be seeking to diversify their mix of social advertising channels so they’re more resilient if they ever do have to abandon one platform.

5. Assess the potential for reputational damage for staying on X and align your rationale

With the situation constantly evolving, planning for a potential escalation will help you be prepared. Ultimately, your reputation is determined by the view others have of your business or brand. For example, should public sentiment in X and its management deteriorate further, businesses could be criticised for continuing to have a presence or advertising on the platform.

Understanding the potential triggers for you and your stakeholders and putting processes in place to mitigate and control any hostile scrutiny will be crucial to protecting your brand reputation.

What should you do next?

At Instinctif Partners, we can help you prepare for a crisis, map your audience online and explore the benefits of paid advertising on social media.

Our in-house research agency Truth can also help to unpack the deep shifts or Disruptions that underlie an ever-changing cultural landscape so you can understand the nuances of your audience.

While decisions on your use of social media need to be tailored to your business objectives and needs, they also can’t be viewed in isolation and need to consider the context. Taking a knee-jerk step may itself bring unwanted attention for your brand.

Get in touch at Tellmemore@instinctif.com for advice on how to navigate the constantly changing digital and reputational landscape.