Are Social Media Ads Ruining Your Client’s Reputation?

BY Rachel Cagle
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The drama around Twitter is something that your client should probably be paying more attention to. According to multiple sources, the platform may now be more trouble than it’s worth for companies who invest in social media ads.

Are Social Media Ads Ruining Your Client’s Reputation?

Twitter is No Longer Viewed as Trustworthy

You’ve probably seen all the headlines around the multiple forms of chaos that have erupted on Twitter since the company changed hands last year. One of the biggest scandals revolves around the “verified” accounts.

For those who may not know, Twitter allowed profiles to pay $8 a month in order to display a verification check mark on their account. However, there weren’t many background checks on that system. So, random users were taking advantage of the verification to impersonate not only celebrities and other public figures, but also companies. This trickery makes it difficult to distinguish which Twitter profiles actually belong to the person or company they claim to be.

As a result,” according to Morning Consult, “major advertising conglomerates like Omnicom Group Inc. and Interpublic Group of Cos. have deemed Twitter ‘high risk’ and recommended their clients pause all paid advertising until company leaders clarify the site’s commitment to brand safety.” Additionally, according to a study by Integral Ad Science (IAS), one of the top media challenges of 2023 is how to deliver ads alongside risky or misleading content. The best way to overcome this challenge is to rethink where your client posts their social media ads. If they choose social platforms that are more trustworthy, they won’t have to worry about their messaging being mixed up with untrustworthy sources.

Consumers Avoid Chaos

Chaos may be fun when your client’s potential customers have no skin in the game, but when it comes to spending money, they don’t want to make decisions amidst chaos. According to Morning Consult, “Americans said they’re not particularly fond of brands that advertise on platforms synonymous with chaos.”

Traits of Social Sites That Lower Consumer Fondness

According to Morning Consult, social media platforms that allow or are synonymous with the following types of content are ones that increase consumer doubt:

  • Extremist Content: 53% of U.S. adults consider this content very unfavorable
  • Hate Speech: 52%
  • Misinformation/​Conspiracy Theories: 49%
  • Numerous Fake Accounts and Bots: 49%

Unfortunately, at the moment, Twitter is dealing with many of these content types. So, if your client posts their social media ads there, they could be met with a decline in consumer trust and motivation to make purchases.

An Opportunity for Your Client

Even with all this data against advertising on Twitter for the foreseeable future, not many advertisers seem to be changing their social media ad strategies. According to IAS, 46% of organizations planned to advertise on Twitter, and 46% plan to continue to do so in 2023. This means that, while your client’s competition is still advertising on Twitter, your client can focus on more favorable and reliable social platforms.

What are those? Well, it differs per target audience. To find out which types of social media platforms your client’s target audiences prefer, research their profiles on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. There, you can discover which social media platforms have the highest percentage of engagement from each audience. Then, you can decide where to place your client’s social media ads.

Twitter may bounce back to being the social powerhouse it once was. However, for now, it’s in your client’s best interest to back away from the platform. Their social media ads can be better placed elsewhere, such as quickly evolving platforms, like TikTok. Just keep an eye on the news to see when it would be wise to return to Twitter.

Photo by Tim Gouw


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