Bye, bye birdie. Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as “X,” bidding farewell to the iconic blue bird that represented the app for 17 years.
A new name, a new logo
The new logo, a stylized white X on a black background, signals a shift towards building an all-encompassing “everything app”. Musk’s vision includes offering users a range of services beyond social media, like peer-to-peer payments, drawing inspiration from China’s popular WeChat app.
Advertisers go where the people are and if people are leaving, so will advertisers.
From an ad spending perspective, the rebrand may cause people to wonder if it’s still a safe space (given it’s still under controversial ownership). However, following the announcement that Linda Yaccarino (previous head of advertising at NBCUniversal) would be his replacement, speculations were made about certain changes.
- Musk’s replacement CEO, was an attempt to soothe nervous advertisers who left the platform.
- Twitter will start paying creators for ads shown in their replies, but only verified creators and ads served to verified users are eligible.
While we acknowledge the desire to shift to a super app and its functional benefits, the uncertainty, may outweigh a willingness to accept.
Speaking of short form text social media apps…
Now in the Metaverse
Meta’s new Twitter alternative, Threads, experienced a nearly 70% drop in daily active users since its peak on July 7. The decline has tarnished their explosive launch just two weeks ago, leaving them far behind Twitter, the social media giant they aimed to challenge.
During the app’s popularity, curiosity sparked among users about potential upcoming features. One feature that generated significant interest was the introduction of online advertising for the platform. Speaking of, Threads did launch the highly requested, following feed on the app a few days ago, proving that Meta is listening and will continue to deliver more in-demand features soon.
Zuckerberg said:
…We want to make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point,”
Marketers don’t need to wait for Threads to run an advertising program in order to use the platform for sponsored content and influencer marketing.
According to a source from Axios, Instagram has intentions to introduce its branded content tools to Threads. Think: Instagram posts with “Sponsored post” tags.
Our tip for the interim: Disclose any paid partnerships through text or hashtags and create buzz with organic content that can go viral.