Bold Call: As Musk’s political clout rises, Twitter’s brand exodus could become a X’s brand influx

By Krystal Scanlon • February 5, 2025 •

Ivy Liu

This article is part of a new series in which Digiday challenges industry assumptions and explores why today’s long shots could be tomorrow’s inevitabilities. More from the series →

What was once a brand exodus from Twitter could be turning into a brand influx to X.

Behind the scenes, some advertisers have been inching toward a return for months. According to four ad execs familiar with 2025 media plans, a quiet reconsideration has been underway with some of those advertisers weighing whether the platform’s baggage has eased — or its advantages have grown — enough to make a comeback worthwhile.

“We’ve seen some clients return to advertising on X since November,” said one of those ad execs on condition of anonymity.

For now, this influx is coming from U.S. advertisers — and they’re treading carefully. Or as one exec put it: “They’re dipping their toes back into the water to see just how safe (or otherwise) it is.”

At first glance, it seems like an unexpected twist. Advertisers fled en masse in 2022 after Elon Musk took over, most without a second thought. But now, as ad dollars start trickling back, it’s clear something has shifted. Correction: many things have changed.

Musk now has the ear of President Donald Trump. He’s suing some of the world’s biggest advertisers for cutting their budgets on X. And the content moderation issues that sent brands running in the first place are hardly exclusive to X anymore.

“I think for brands that are really looking to claw out stronger results from whatever their current mix is, [Meta’s shift on content moderation] is going to prompt that conversation of ‘did we walk away from X preemptively?’,” said VML’s managing director Carolyn Rooke.

Suddenly, marketers choosing to fund X doesn’t seem quite so unthinkable.

It certainly wasn’t for Amazon. According to The Wall Street Journal, the retail giant is ramping up ad spending on X now after slashing its budget more than a year ago. Apple, which pulled its ads entirely in late 2023, appears to be following suit, reported the WSJ.

And chances are, more will follow — just as they did when advertisers first started pulling out. CMOs, after all, are herd animals. When one moves, the rest rarely stray far behind. Especially when the risks of staying out start to outweigh the rewards of getting back in.

“Even without any explicit pressure, the political and moral reasons to avoid X have been lifted by key executives,” said Jamie MacEwan, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis. “X could claw back some of the enormous amount of ground it has lost.”

“Could” being the operative word. A lot still has to go right for that to happen. Because let’s not forget — X is still flashing an amber warning. And the reasons are as varied as they are significant. Content moderation remains shaky, even with brand safety guardrails in place. The user experience is unpredictable. And Musk, for all the political capital he’s built, remains a polarizing figure that advertisers are hesitant to align with.

That’s why this influx — if it materializes — will start with the biggest advertisers. The ones with the brand power and financial cushion to absorb any potential backlash from advertising on a platform as unpredictable as X.

“Amazon has plenty of money so they have the ability to test very sensitive platforms and sensitive executions online,” said Courtney Shaw, vice president of social media solutions at Basis Technologies. “It could become a great case study for other smaller e-commerce advertisers to think, ‘OK if Amazon can do it, I guess we can try it now.’”

To the likes of Amazon, it’s a gamble but not a particularly risky one. Get it wrong, and there’s some PR turbulence and minimal financial losses — X is a bargain buy right now, with average cost per follow ranges from $1.01 to $2, per digital agency WebFX.

For now, this influx is limited to the larger advertisers — the ones with the most to gain from being on X. Smaller advertisers stand to benefit less, yet they represent the real financial opportunity for X due to their sheer numbers. So far, X has not shown a clear strategy for bringing them on board.

“The return of big advertisers could spur the long-tail of advertisers who left to start spending as well, but whether they stay will depend on how well those ads perform,” said Jasmine Enberg, vp and principal analyst, social media and creator economy at eMarketer.

Bold Call: As Musk’s political clout rises, Twitter’s brand exodus could become a X’s brand influx

Some of those advertisers have been quietly considering a return for a while.