X integrated with Google Display Network last September, letting advertisers buy X as part of a larger media spend. Following that, X announced earlier this month that advertisers can run ads against a “curated list of premium content creators via Creator Targeting.”
Despite these easier ways to purchase, X is currently grappling with a demand and supply issue, said Marcus Krzastek, president of VaynerMedia’s SMB arm, The Sasha Group.
One of the opportunities is to go against the curve and look at where demand might be decreasing.
Marcus Krzastek, president of VaynerMedia’s SMB arm, The Sasha Group
“X has promised solid products and has a real consumer base across a variety of topics and demographics,” Krzastek said, adding that the cost of ads is relatively low. “We see an opportunity for brands to come in and, because we’re running biddable media, we can buy impressions that are disproportionately valuable [compared with] what we’d have to pay for them.”
VaynerMedia is in talks with clients to resume testing on X. Currently, 1% to 5% of its SMB brands run ads on the platform.
“In the SMB space, one of the opportunities is to go against the curve and look at where demand might be decreasing,” said Krzastek. “There’s an opportunity for brands to test more in the coming months. However, not every brand will specifically see performance.”
Others are noticing enticing, lower CPMs on X.
“We are seeing much more efficient CPMs on X,” said Nathan Byrd, vice president, paid social at Media.Monks. “From a small business perspective, that could be an appealing aspect of advertising on the platform compared to Meta.” Byrd didn’t share CPM specifics.
Beyond just paid media, brands still find success on X for building awareness, interjecting into conversations and ultimately driving interaction and engagement.
However, content moderation feels alarmingly lax under the veil of free speech, said sources. This has led to verified bots taking over replies on popular posts, as well as timely, relevant content being downplayed in favor of clickbait-style video content with little context, said Moore.
“This doesn’t tend to make for a brand-friendly platform,” he added, “and those SMBs that are still active are having to work harder to ensure that the negative elements of X don’t encroach on their platform presence.”