If you have any remote interest in social media news, you’ll no doubt have seen that Twitter has gone through a rebrand (of sorts). Elon Musk has decided to do away with the iconic blue bird and has replaced it with a black and white icon representing the new company: X.
It seems like this rebrand has taken place at breakneck speed and with minimal research behind it. A number of marketing and branding professionals have already spoken about how it may not be wise to undertake such a complete overhaul of a brand while it’s already struggling in other areas.
Twitter (or X) has been up in the air since the end of 2022 when Elon Musk bought the company for a cool $44 billion. As a result, estimates at the time of writing value the company at only a third of this figure.
Marketers all over the world are now wondering how to proceed with marketing on the platform. And if you’re reading this as a small business owner who uses Twitter/X, you’re probably also questioning what you need to do now, if anything.
So, what should you do right now?
It’s often tempting to respond to radical changes like this with equally radical decision-making. But at times like these, it’s often best to stay the course and wait to see what happens.
At the moment, it’s very unclear what the future holds for the platform and how we’ll need to adapt marketing on there.
If Twitter/X is one of your main marketing channels, don’t panic. Keep doing your thing if it’s working or change it if it’s not. However, this whole X saga is a great reminder not to keep all your marketing eggs in one channel basket.
Should we move to Threads?
You may also have seen that Meta (formerly Facebook) recently launched a ‘rival’ Twitter called Threads.
It might be tempting to move to Threads instead of X. But we’d advise caution on a number of fronts:
- You can only set up Threads if you have an Instagram account (and then if you want to delete your Threads account you have to delete your whole Instagram account!). So if Instagram isn’t already one of your primary channels, it’s probably not appropriate.
- Threads is brand new and millions of dollars behind X in terms of features and development. There are no hashtags for searchability and there’s no ability to promote your content easily at the moment.
- Your audience is probably still using X. And if they’re hardcore Twitter/X users, then they’re unlikely to follow you to Threads due to it requiring the Instagram link.
- You’ll be building a new audience from scratch, which is much harder than adapting to platform changes with an existing audience (even if this does feel very disruptive).
What other changes might be coming?
It’s unclear what other changes might be in store for X, particularly as it doesn’t seem likely that Elon Musk knows exactly what the plan is yet himself.
There’s speculation that he wants to turn it into an all-in-one destination for users (like WeChat in China), whereby it’s not just a social media app, but also includes other features such as online shopping. Industry experts are already referring to its potential as the ‘everything app’.
This seems to have bigger implications for B2C brands than B2B brands in terms of features that can be leveraged to reach a wider audience.
There could be a negative impact for B2B brands if these changes make X more of an online marketplace. But equally, it may present new opportunities to sell digital resources and sell in to your target audience more easily and directly.
What has the industry reaction been to the twitter rebrand?
Mixed. There are a lot of industry experts who are questioning such a bold move with seemingly no proper strategy behind it. This is clear from the fact they already seem to be iterating the new X logo live (!).
The idea of creating the ‘everything app’ is interesting, but some are saying that even though WeChat has been very successful, the success came from building strong foundations with their market many years ago (WeChat launched back in January 2011).
On the other hand, there is the potential for X to become so much more than just a social media channel. It might seem crazy to us right now, but there was a time when the idea of the internet was crazy. So who knows?
The one thing we can say for sure is that the quick move to rebrand Twitter as X has certainly shaken up the social media landscape.
What are our team’s predictions/comments?
Catherine: I think it’s a mistake for them to engage in this kind of rebrand with no obvious strategy or change management in place. However, new features such as Instagram reels were also very controversial at the time and now they’re a staple on that platform, so it’s certainly possible that we’ll see X become successful in its own right.
Ben: It certainly surprised me logging into “Twitter” and witnessing a big “X” popping up. Twitter has been a mega social media platform since it was founded in 2006. However, since Elon Musk’s takeover, the platform has been much more unpredictable, which may have fuelled this radical change. Is it a case of ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’? It’s difficult to say just yet, but we’ll soon see! One thing is for sure, it will be difficult to remember to call it Twi… X!
Lucia: Twitter is one of the most iconic social media brands so to rebrand to X is a bold move. Does it still make sense to call them tweets if the bird logo no longer exists?
Maira: Twitter is such a prominent part of social media. An ‘everything’ app is a totally different product that Elon Musk is introducing, so the Twitter we know now will be massively changed, which could be a mistake as people like Twitter the way it is. At this moment in time, it’s hard to predict anything, we just have to see the way things pan out as they slowly start to get introduced.
About us
We’re Freshbat – a strategic communications agency providing integrated marketing services to business leaders who embrace change and value marketing in a proactive and trustworthy environment.
Our goal is to give you more headspace, help you to make stuff happen and build better relationships by taking a fresh approach to marketing. We know you’re the kind of person who wants to be considered an inspiring and empowering leader for your business.
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We believe it’s just plain wrong that business leaders are tasked with keeping up with the rapidly changing marketing landscape on their own. That’s why we provide integrated marketing solutions through our worry-free marketing process.
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