Elon Musk’s X is making a big push to sell ads around vertical videos as it looks to reverse declining advertising revenue and seemingly compete against more popular social apps such as TikTok, a pitch deck obtained by Ad Age revealed.

The deck also touted the platform’s brand safety tools, which comes as the company, formerly known as Twitter, struggles to combat wartime misinformation on the platform. It was created in August, when X, under the leadership of CEO Linda Yaccarino, announced it was bringing back its Client Council that Musk disbanded. The Client Council held its first meeting in September with partners including the NFL and Integral Ad Science.

“We’re empowering our communities to live more of their lives on X,” the deck said. “A place where people congregate, watch and transact—all in one seamless interface.”

X said in the deck it had 540 million monthly active users, driven by Gen Z, between April and June 2023, and saw a more than 20% increase in user active minutes year-over-year during that time, citing internal research that was not verified by Ad Age.

The big sell in the deck is around new vertical videos, seemingly a way for it to compete against short-form video app TikTok as well as Meta’s Instagram Reels. Features promoted in the deck include its new immersive media viewer, which allows users to expand videos to full screen and makes it easier for them to swipe and discover new content.

X seems to be pushing videos to attract advertisers as it gears up for the holidays, per the deck. Its other highlighted moments include sports events including the NBA and NFL, as well as BravoCon, the convention hosted by Bravo, and The Game Awards, which honors achievements in video gaming.

“Brands on X are more relevant, entertaining and driving a greater ROI than one year ago,” the deck said. “In Q4 we focused on helping brands tap into the growth of video on X, while strengthening our performance offering for the Holidays season.”

One ad buyer said that X had “massive holiday discounts” last year and expected the platform to do the same this year. Price cuts have been one way X has been trying to woo advertisers back to the platform.

One political advertising strategist had told Ad Age that X is offering $5 for the cost per thousand impressions for political ad campaigns, another big focus for X recently, which is three to five times cheaper than comparable ad opportunities on Meta’s Facebook.

X also seems to be making a push for long-form video and posts as well as live streaming, timeline personalization, direct messaging and audio and video calling. New features promoted in the deck include XHiring, which allows verified companies to post open jobs on their handles, as well as keyword targeting for ads, which it brought back earlier this year.

The deck also touted advertisers’ ability to send money and pay creators directly within the app, with more features to come on that.

The focus on videos

The deck claimed X’s immersive media viewer is its “fastest growing surface” with more than 100 million daily users, primarily Gen Zers.

“X has been heavily pushing video on the platform and the Immersive Media Viewer is part of this effort as it touts full screen, sound-on vertical video ads, which they claim generate higher engagement," said Prerna Talreja, Crossmedia managing director of digital activation.

Talreja said Amplify, its program for brands to run ads against videos premier publishers post, “is the other important video ad format” for X. “We have used this to align with key moments and have seen good engagement previously. As X struggles to retain and gain advertisers, it makes sense for them to look at more avenues,” she said.

On Amplify, the deck promoted new formats including “blockbuster highlights to vertical video, audio, live commerce and more. X is a video powerhouse. We are seeing massive growth in video views across sports, music and entertainment.” Citing internal research, X said in the deck that “81% of unique sessions on X now include video.”

It makes sense, given her background as NBCU’s former ad sales chief, that Yaccarino would focus heavily on video, said Christine Merrifield-Wehrle, head of investment for Crossmedia. 

“But as X looks to get clients that spend on video, there needs to be a clear demonstration of safety and stability on the platform for video advertisers looking for premium experiences,” Merrifield-Wehrle said.

An X spokesperson did not return a request to comment on the deck. 

Brand safety

The deck promoted various brand safety tools from its Client Council, including pre-bid advanced controls that allow brands to identify words and authors they don’t want their ads to appear next to; post-bid adjacency measurement to categorize the content ads appear next to; new sensitivity and suitability settings; and its brand safety technology deal with the IAS, which was announced in August.

It also cited internal research measured by the IAS, that was not verified by Ad Age, that said X’s average brand safety score was around 99% and its average brand suitability score was around 97%, “up from the low 90s.”

But advertisers remain skeptical about X’s efforts to address brand safety issues, especially as misinformation around the Israel and Hamas war plague the platform. 

“Our goal is to give you control,” the deck said. “The safety of people and brands on X is our number one priority. We want to provide a safe and trusted platform where conversation, advertising and commerce can thrive.”