March 6, 2023
Musk’s takeover of twitter enraged, engaged and enthused many – but after threats of boycotts and major brands taking a step back, twitter is still alive and – for now – well. What have we learned, if anything, from this? And should brands be making a return in earnest?
The layoffs were bad – the sudden nature of them – the unexplained purpose of them. That was what riled many. Musk’s reputation before joining twitter was marmite, but if anything, we’ve just seen an example of riding out the storm still reaps rewards.
Crawling back
We saw (temporary) boycotts from major brands, who refused to run paid ads and post on the platform – Apple being one such company. But this positioning from major corporations was testing the water. Musk’s daily musings – odd at times – kept people on the platform for sheer intrigue alone – and thus remained the foundation for advertising.
As the old adage goes; ‘be where the people are’. And people were – and still are – on twitter. In the millions.
Months after Musk’s takeover – and after countless posts from ex-employees explaining how badly their dismissal process actually was – the initial PR battle for stepping back and ‘taking a stand’ had all brands looking across at one another waiting for one to make the first move to take a step back into the water. The consumer/customer pool party was still alive and kicking after all.
The fear of missed opportunity – a competitor getting gains ahead of your own – is probably what has led to many brands returning to twitter. But, for how long?
Trouble on the horizon
For all the attendance on the platform, outages remain prominent, advertising revenues continue to drop, and after another round of job cuts – twitter employees just 2,000 people (they had a 7,500-strong workforce just four months ago).
This recent Financial Times article further explains how the future looks somewhat bleak for the platform – this was predicted following Musk’s original takeover. We also touched on how developments back in December would prove a real test for twitter in early 2023 – this appears to be bearing fruit.
But – despite all the bad news and doom predictions – there are still millions of users on the platform. It may be that its reputation and integrity is in question, but while there is an audience to play to, will the show just go on?
If you’re unsure on how to take your next steps on/off twitter – contact us.