What Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Means for business accounts

Elon Musk taking over Twitter has certainly made a lot of people nervous. Within hours of the deal closing, key people had been fired, from the CEO Parag Agrawal to Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s ‘moral authority’ in charge of trust and safety, legal and public policy who was apparently responsible for banning Donald Trump. With Musk at the helm Twitter has become much more of an unknown entity so what does it mean for business owners using Twitter for marketing?

A victory for free speech?

This is certainly how some are framing it, including Elon Musk himself who tweeted “the bird is free” after the Twitter deal went through. However, free speech is a concept that has many interpretations and a chaotic social media platform with no clear business objectives isn’t going to remain appealing for long. Elon Musk will, ultimately, want to ensure that Twitter remains profitable, which is why he is going to have to go beyond the ‘social’ goals of free speech and set out business value and a long-term viable business proposition. Don’t forget that Musk is a businessman who (hopefully) still understands the clarity required for people to continue to invest.

Potential changes to Twitter advertising

Musk has already publicly stated that he wants to make Twitter the most respected advertising platform in the world so it’s clear that this is going to be a priority. He has mooted a subscription strategy that could cover everything, from subscription for exclusive experiences to interactive engagement. If the approach of turning Twitter into a civic town square works for the platform, then this could create a bigger audience for advertisers to engage with. Personalised advertising is something that Musk is already a clear advocate for and ensuring that advertising is relevant. One of the key challenges the platform is likely to face in the near future is businesses that are on tight innovation and media budgets and so are focused on short-term wins that Twitter may not yet be able to deliver.

Fake accounts and moderation

The number of fake accounts on Twitter has done a lot of damage to the brand and also those who use it. However, it is demonstrably harder to remove fake accounts from Twitter than other platforms like LinkedIn and this is going to be a big challenge to credibility in the coming months. There will also need to be very clear new guidelines on what content moderation on Twitter is going to look like now Musk is in charge, if advertisers are going to stay on the platform.

Security concerns

Twitter has already been fined for allowing the personal data users provided for two-factor authentication to be used in targeted ads and the security policies that were criticised in a whistleblower report this year were actually the reason Musk tried to renege on the deal. So, security is going to be a big challenge going forwards, ensuring digital safety and security alongside trustworthy visibility into metrics.

No one really knows how Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is going to impact the platform but these are some of the biggest concerns shared by those with business accounts.To find out how Iconic Digital can help you with your social media strategy, get in touch today, call us on 020 7100 0726. Find out more about our Social Media Marketing Agency in London.