X pitch deck—inside Twitter’s push for political ad dollars

Elon Musk’s X touts itself as the “most-used social platform for politics” in its efforts to reel in political advertising dollars as the 2024 U.S. election cycle heats up, according to a pitch deck from the company formerly known as Twitter that was obtained by Ad Age. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The pitch deck was created in August, when Musk reversed the company’s ban on political ads put in place by former CEO Jack Dorsey in 2019. It details how political advertisers can reach voters during presidential debates, boasting that there have been 213 million total posts about primary candidates, year-to-date, on X. The deck noted that 59% of social media users use X for policy and advocacy engagement, compared to 33% that use Facebook, 20% Instagram, 11% TikTok, 4% Snapchat and 31% that don’t use any platform. X’s claims could not be independently verified. X’s push to woo political advertisers comes as the platform struggles to regain ad dollars it’s lost since Musk took over last year and changed content moderation policies, among other things. ‹ › × (Click image to enlarge) X’s pitch deck to win over political advertisers. Credit: X Corp The deck details five key ways political advertisers can use X during presidential debates to reach voters, including by using “subscription notifications to ensure that interested voters receive notifications of your posts on their locked screens before, during and after Debate Day.” Political advertisers can also pay to have their video ads part of key highlights from “accredited news outlets covering the debate with a pre-roll curated categories utilizing X-Amplify,” its program for brands to run ads against videos premier publishers post, according to the deck. The deck also promotes political advertisers’ ability to link to more information within its Carousel Ads, which allows brands to curate multiple tweets within a single, swipeable unit that can include videos, images and text. X advises in the deck: “Consider having one for each core campaign platform or issue. Carousels can drive voters to your website or additional posts on X.” Finally, political advertisers can “drive donations in the moment” through Website Cards, a one-click way for users to donate to a campaign, the deck said. An X spokesperson did not return a request to comment on the deck. One political advertising strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Ad Age that X is offering $5 for the cost per thousand impressions for political ad campaigns, which is three to five times cheaper than comparable ad opportunities on Meta’s Facebook. X’s relaxed policies on content moderation that have other brands steering clear of the platform are attracting some politicians because they’re fostering the heated political debates in which they want to participate. “X is the most effective direct response ad platform in politics right now,” Ethan Eilon, president of GOP-focused digital political ad agency IMGE. Political advertising spend is expected to top a record $11 billion and X has been making a big push for those dollars to help turn around its declining ad revenue, although there is some skepticism as to how much a short-term boon from political ads will help long-term, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Price cuts have been a big part of X’s pitch to woo advertisers and politicians including presidential hopeful Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who is running for Senate, have so far bought hundreds of ads, according to the Journal. There are some political strategists that are going to be hard for X to win over. One is Megan Clasen, partner and co-founder of Gambit Strategies, a digital persuasion agency for Democratic politicians. “Twitter is an interesting place to consider trying to reach political insiders or raise money, but for persuasion and mobilization campaigns, it's really not worth it because it's not a platform where you can reach the general population,” Clasen said. “People who spend a lot of time on Twitter are not the average voter base, they are people who are incredibly informed. We like to say ‘Twitter is not real life’ and that's what we mean by that—the topics discussed on Twitter are not representative of what the average voter cares about.”

X pitch deck—inside Twitter’s push for political ad dollars

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