Controversies in recent years are causing marketers to ask: should I stop using Twitter for marketing my business?

The platform has changed quite a bit since it was bought by Elon Musk in October 2022. Over the last few years, Twitter (X) has been plagued by accusations of harmful content and misinformation. News headlines have pointed to mass redundancies without notice, and a no holds barred approach to allowed content.

Matters came to a head recently when the EU launched an investigation into the company under its Digital Services Act.

If all of this is making you question whether your brand should stop using Twitter, fear not! We take a deep dive into whether or not Twitter is still worthwhile for businesses and what the alternatives are.

Major Brands are Leaving Twitter

Concerned marketers who do not want their company’s credibility to be tarnished by association are leaving the platform in droves. Figures suggest that Twitter’s advertising revenue has declined 59% year on year. Major stakeholders including Apple, Amazon and Volkswagen have either reduced their spends or moved away from the site altogether.

Should I Stop Using Twitter for Marketing or is it Still Worth Considering?

It depends.

Twitter has around 300 million active users worldwide. It’s not a number you can easily ignore. But it’s still struggling against other platforms compared to its heyday back in 2020. And recent controversies have had a serious impact.

Key points to help you decide:

• Twitter’s penetration rate in the UK has dropped from 45% to around 18%.
• It’s not typically thought of as a video platform, but 80% of Twitter user sessions now include video.
• According to a YouGov poll, only 40% people have a positive opinion of Twitter.
• Twitter/X has a proportionally much higher number of users in the US than the UK.
• As of 2024, Twitter ranked 12^th out of the world’s social networking sites.

So, whether you should stop using Twitter really depends on who, where and how you want to reach prospects.

Twitter is now leaning much harder into video content than ever before. So if you’re not already testing video performance on Twitter, you may want to start.

Can Twitter Make a Comeback?

Since the Musk takeover, former NBC advertising chief Linda Yaccarino has been appointed as CEO. It still remains to be seen whether the role will become a poisoned chalice for Yaccarino. And only time will tell whether the platform will be able to regain its credibility and reverse its current prospects.

Despite the reservations of many, Twitter remains a powerful platform that still has a base numbering millions of active users. This of course means that it can still have a significant impact on brand visibility and interaction. Let’s watch this space and see how things fare over the next few months. In the meantime, it may be worth exploring some of the emerging alternatives.

What are the Alternatives Should I Stop Using Twitter?

Given that it was such a significant platform, the implications of Musk’s changes to X for the global digital marketing landscape are huge. There now appears to be a gap in the market for a conversation-driven social site. And none of the other major platforms currently offer quite what ex-Twitter users are after.

A number of alternatives to Twitter have cropped up in the wake of the accusations against the platform. If you’re looking to stop using Twitter but want to continue with a similar platform, consider the following sites.

Threads

Meta’s alternative Threads which launched in July 2023 has already gained 30 million active users.

There are currently no advertising options with Threads. But it’s expected that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be announcing advertising space in the not-too-distant future. It’s worth noting that Instagram launched without ads, but advertising is now one of its biggest sources of revenue.

A number of businesses have started experimenting with Threads and gauging its potential as a customer engagement site. Since it is still quite new, perhaps now is the perfect time to start discovering what works well on Threads. It’s an advantage at this early stage before the number of daily active users grows and the stakes become higher.

Substack Notes

Boasting 35 million active users, Substack Notes was founded in April 2023 and may be another one to watch. Substack Notes works on the basis of short form content. Its primary goals according to founder Chris Best are to “inspire, enlighten, and entertain readers.”

A few things to note about this platform is that:

• Clickbait, attention seeking and dopamine hacks are not part of the Substack Notes culture.
• It doesn’t allow contributors whose sole purpose is to promote a product or service, so overt marketing is banned.
• Substack Notes can be used to provide useful content to readers, which might lead to them becoming a subscriber.

Marketers might consider using Substack Notes to share written content that includes helpful advice without selling. In our opinion, thought leadership articles or blogs related to your industry are ideal for this platform.

Deciding on the Direction of Your Marketing Strategy

Are you still left questioning – should I stop using Twitter or not? Perhaps it’s time to do a deeper analysis of your marketing strategy.

Behind every great business success story is a brilliant marketing strategy. But nothing is guaranteed in marketing.

Doing the same thing you’ve always done will not get you new results. Should you stop using Twitter or change the way you use Twitter?

It depends on where you want your business to be in the next few years. The decisions you make now will have an impact further down the line.

Maybe you feel you lack the expertise to develop an in-depth marketing strategy. If this is you, get in touch with Allotts.

We audit and advise on social media, PR strategy, customer journey mapping and more to create a strategy that’s right for you.