What Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover Means for Advertising

The world is just over a month into the Elon Musk takeover of Twitter, which has struck an emotional chord with many. 

Some are for the takeover and many are against it - all seem to have a very strong feeling one way or another, and few are on the fence or indifferent about the change. 

Time will tell how things play out for Twitter in this new world, but for the sake of this piece it's less about a new regime and a hyper-focus on media decisions companies are making in their constant chase for more eyeballs and brand awareness. 

As CEO and co-founder of OH Partners-one of the nation's fastest-growing independent advertising agencies my fascination with all things Twitter-related is geared towards the attention the much-talked-about social media platform is currently garnering. 

Our job as an agency is to help brands generate awareness and interest, while getting as many eyeballs on their products or services for the smallest ad spend-which means consistently having a finger on the pulse regarding the latest trends and cost-effective opportunities. 

Despite one's emotional reaction and macro-level opinion on Musk's takeover, brands and agencies know that more people are currently watching, perusing and paying attention to Twitter than ever before-which at minimum warrants a conversation. 

The platform is ripe for opportunity regarding any brands willing and able to negotiate the rugged social and cultural terrain, yielding solid results as they capitalise on this current landscape and industry shift. 

Understandably, many brands are going to draw social or political lines in the dirt, choosing to give Musk and his new-look Twitter the metaphorical middle finger, based on core values and social currency. 

Those with this mindset will take their ad spend elsewhere and seek other avenues to promote their products and services to their audiences. 

If that means spending more or missing out on golden marketing opportunities, they're willing to die on that hill. And for some brands that makes total sense, as the potential backlash for spending ad dollars with a social media platform their enthusiasts aren't in favour of could have a very negative ripple effect. 

Of course there's a flip side to that argument. If their target audience actually sees these advertisements on Twitter, it confirms they're still on the platform-which negates any shaming that would come from ad buys on the currently-controversial social media giant in the first place. 

Where some brands will retreat from Twitter, rest assured others will sprint towards the opportunity-some for shared core values, while others are keenly aware of an ad-buying opportunity where the numbers are simply too good to pass up. 

To be successful in the ad game, it's an agency's job to find the best format for a client's audience at the cheapest price and with certain brands pulling out of the Twitter sweepstakes, it creates a stellar buying opportunity for those who are still on board. 

Twitter also offers an audience opportunity that some other social media platforms simply cannot, especially in regards to elevating perspectives. For many, Twitter has become the go-to social media channel for today's thought leaders, savvy business people and politicians amplifying their message. Twitter has won out as their conversation-starting, platform-of-choice that Instagram, Facebook and TikTok have not been. 

In addition, Twitter is gearing up to make some big moves in the content creation space, which could be game-changing in the long-term. Musk is on a mission to generate revenue and one exciting avenue is through gaming and e-sports, which could be incredibly profitable if appealing to a generation raised on Reddit and YouTube. 

In a recent Tweet-storm between Musk and Ryan Wyatt, the current CEO of Polygon Studios and former head of YouTube Gaming referenced 350-million users logged into YouTube daily for gaming content during his time with the platform-which certainly piqued Musk's interest. 

There's also been whispers that Musk and his team are looking to reboot Vine, a video-looping app that Twitter shelved in 2016, four years after its acquisition. 

Bringing back the once-popular Vine would not only entice video creators; it could also tap into the US market share for the controversial-yet-popular TikTok, as many are concerned about the app's inability to protect American users' data from Chinese authorities. 

While there's no timeline or even any real confirmation on Twitter's growth strategy, there's enough brewing to keep Musk's newest acquisition in the public conversation. People on both sides of the aisle remain interested in seeing what's next-which bodes well for Twitter's engagement rate and overall growth. 

From an agency's perspective, it comes down to evaluating opportunities based on audiences and not personal feelings towards the heads of social media platforms, difficult as that might be for some. 

The news of the evolution of Twitter ads could also be music to agencies' ears, as these types of ads haven't always engaged and converted as well as other platforms. 

The possibility of major change to an underperforming platform positions Twitter perfectly within the buy-low, sell-high opportunity for bands as Twitter is currently a strong buy with ad impressions trading lower than before. 

That might not equate to seeing overnight conversions, but when something is on sale that plays to a good audience with some much-needed format changes around the corner-it's the marketer's job to forward-think, spot trends and responsibly deliver for their clients. 

Image credit: Souvik Banerjee