Republican Buyers Are Enthusiastic About Getting Back on Twitter Post Its Political Ads Ban

Twitter reopened shop for its political advertising business nearly two months ago after banning political ads back in 2019, stating concerns over the impact political speech could have on a democratic ecosystem, according to then-CEO Jack Dorsey.

While Republican ad buyers have begun campaign planning for the 2024 election cycle with some excitement, including creating ads to reach supporters for primary campaigns, list building, and fundraising initiatives, Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s politically polarizing influence is not exactly inspiring confidence amongst Democratic ad buyers, four sources told Adweek.

“There’s a lot of excitement around Twitter, particularly with advocacy and cause-based ads,” said Justin Hacker, associate vp at digital of Republican ad firm Majority Strategies. In response to an Adweek enquiry, Twitter shared information on its U.S. political campaigning ads. According to the document, it appears that only Republican advertisers are running ads on the platform as of today. The spends go up to $288.77 per ad.

Based on estimates from ad buyers interviewed for this article, Republican ad buyers allocate nearly 25% of their media budget to Twitter, and the range for Democratic advertisers is between 1%-5%. But Twitter is lower on the priority list for political advertisers due to being less effective for direct response messages than Google and Facebook. In 2020, of the $700 million invested in political digital ads, $388 million went to Google and Facebook, while $309 million was spent on connected TV (CTV), according to Statista.

Given the off-election year, the current state of political advertising on Twitter is nonexistent. Digital campaigns are expected to pick up in the fall this year, but most clients at Majority Strategies are optimistic about the platform and are expected to test small campaigns before mass adoption, according to Hacker.

Musk’s tumultuous Twitter takeover last year led to a decline in ad spend on the platform. But, the reinstating of Twitter’s political advertising operations could open a new revenue stream for the platform. However, Musk’s mercurial tweets, like taking a dig at Democrats and his decision to reinstate previously banned right-wing accounts, have buyers questioning his stewardship. 

Twitter’s place for political ad buyers

For both Republican and Democratic ad buyers, Twitter hasn’t been a platform for direct response to persuade voters. But it’s a useful avenue to fundraise and reach influencers within the media and activist class.

Case in point: In the 2020 presidential elections, more than $67 million was been spent on Facebook, while $32 million went to Google, according to Open Secrets. Meanwhile, candidates spent less than $5.2 million on Twitter, while Trump never ran an ad on the platform.

“It’s slightly higher in the funnel tactic for how we use the platform,” said Tom Blake, svp, paid media at left-of-center public relations firm Fenton Communications.

But Democratic ad buyers—who are open to running campaigns on Twitter—have cited brand safety concerns. Some sources admitted media spend could change if Musk took a step back from his personal interventions and reversed his decision to reinstate banned accounts.

“I have clients who are incredibly reluctant to put another cent in his pocket,” said Jake Sticka, partner at the Democratic firm Rising Tide Interactive

Controversies around Musk’s tweets haven’t had the same impact on Republic advertisers, according to two sources interviewed for this article, who are instead more concerned with how performant the platform is before confidently increasing spend, said Hacker.

A discrepancy in Twitter support

Now political ad buyers can spend on the platform, and they are expected to fill out a Google Form to request verification to run political ads on Twitter. This is followed by a review process by the company, including how an account uses Twitter, its profile, its content and targeting included in any active or draft advertising campaigns, per the company website. The entire process takes up to four weeks.  

Twitter representatives are expected to help advertisers to navigate this process.

“We’ve been lucky enough to talk with the Government and Cause-Based reps at Twitter,” said Hacker. “We’re really happy with the support that they’ve been providing to help us kind of navigate and figure this out.”

Meanwhile, four Democratic ad buyers told Adweek that they’ve struggled to get similar support.

“It’s been hard to even get someone on the phone at Twitter to help us set up for advertising or work through issues we’re having,” said Andy Amsler, svp, paid media at Democratic ad firm Precision.

“For political campaigns, to have a real person at the platform who is selling us ads to help resolve any roadblocks is a major need,” he said, adding that this issue has further weakened Democratic advertisers’ trust in the platform.

Adweek reached out to the Twitter press team for comments, which responded with “💩.”

This story has been updated to include how much republican ad buyers have spent on the platform.