Pitch deck: X leans on AI and performance in a bid to win ad dollars

"X is making the same pitch every other platform is making: scale plus AI equals performance. As ever, the proof will be in the ad spend (or lack of it) given this isn't the first time the platform has tried to reinvent itself with advertisers. Since Elon Musk's controversial acquisition of the platform in 2022, the platform has watched major advertisers walk, rebranded from Twitter to X, hired advertising doyen Linda Yaccarino who left after two years and cycled through enough ad product relaunches to lose count."

"The first few slides focus on X selling X as a premium audience platform, noted by the audience breakdown of affluent users, higher household income, with a typical user age range between 25 and 44. Next, is a clear attempt to show marketers how the platform has evolved beyond a social network. It has effectively moved through a series of intra-group restructurings, first being folded into xAI last year, and into SpaceX earlier this year. During that process, which really began when Musk acquired it, the platform has added more than 300 new features, a slide explained."

"The deck points out new aspect ratios for content, explicitly stating that advertisers can use content posted on TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, and repurpose it over on X. It wouldn't be an X deck without talking about brand safety, especially given how the platform had developed a reputation for being reputationally risky since Musk's takeover. However, as Digiday has extensively reported over the years, a lot of advertisers felt that X"

X presents itself as a premium audience platform with affluent users, higher household income, and a typical age range of 25 to 44. The pitch frames X as having evolved beyond a social network through restructurings, including integration into xAI and SpaceX, and claims the addition of more than 300 new features. The deck highlights new content aspect ratios and encourages advertisers to repurpose creative from TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for use on X. Brand safety is addressed due to reputational concerns following Musk’s 2022 acquisition, and the pitch positions X as a platform ready to attract ad dollars during major upcoming attention events like the World Cup.

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