Snapshot: The challenges and opportunities of Twitter for businesses

Twitter has come a long way since its micro-blogging inception in 2006. In October 2022, Elon Musk acquired the platform for $44 billion, rebranded it as X, and set off one of the most turbulent periods in social media history. Today the platform is officially called X, though many users, marketers, and news outlets still refer to it as Twitter. We will use both names throughout this article.

So is X the right social media platform for your brand?

X has an estimated 557 to 586 million monthly active users globally as of 2025, with approximately 105 million users in the United States alone, according to multiple independent analyses. The platform ranks among the top 15 most-used social networks worldwide. Gen Z is X's fastest-growing generational group, up 12% since 2022, and users aged 18 to 34 now make up nearly 70% of the global user base. The gender split is significant: approximately 63% of X users are male and 37% female, giving it the widest gender gap of any major social platform.

Below are the opportunities and challenges of X (formerly Twitter) for small and mid-sized businesses.

Opportunity #1: Real-time engagement with customers and prospects

X's greatest strength has always been its real-time nature. No other major platform moves as fast or surfaces breaking information as quickly. Whether you are broadcasting product announcements, responding to customer questions, or participating in trending conversations, X lets brands engage in ways that feel immediate and personal.

X users are highly active. The average number of weekly posts per user on X jumped from 15.97 in 2024 to 17.34 in 2025, according to Statista data cited by Sprout Social, indicating a growing and vocal user base. Posts on X receive an average of 2,711 impressions, and overall engagement has increased year over year even as per-post impressions have modestly declined.

No matter what the purpose of your brand's X account, it is a place to interact with your customers and followers in real time. By doing so, you are taking the first step to creating potential new customers, brand loyalists, business partners, employees, vendors, and more. Even following relevant accounts and engaging with their content builds brand visibility with an audience that has not yet found you.

For a broader look at X marketing best practices, see our guide to 8 expert tips to market your business on X and our post on the 14 biggest mistakes businesses make on X.

Challenge #1: A platform in transition

The most significant challenge for brands on X is not the platform itself but the uncertainty created by ongoing changes since Musk's acquisition. Several developments have materially affected how businesses use the platform:

• Verification overhaul: The legacy blue verification checkmark, which previously identified notable accounts, was replaced with a paid subscription model (X Premium). Any user can now purchase a blue checkmark, which has created confusion about the authenticity and credibility of verified accounts. Brands should ensure their official accounts are clearly identified in their bio and linked to their website.
• Content moderation changes: Musk's stated commitment to "free speech" led to the reinstatement of many previously banned accounts and a reduction in the trust and safety team. Only 4% of marketers believe their ads are brand-safe on X, compared to 39% for Google, according to Kantar's 2024 Media Reactions survey. This is the primary driver of the advertiser pullback discussed below.
• Platform feature evolution: X has introduced longer post limits (up to 25,000 characters for Premium subscribers), video expansion, audio Spaces, and a growing creator monetization program. The platform Musk has described as an "everything app" is actively building out payments, commerce, and AI integrations through Grok.
• X Premium and algorithmic reach: Full access to X Analytics now requires an X Premium subscription. More significantly, Premium subscribers receive approximately 600 impressions per post on average, roughly 10 times what free accounts achieve, according to Buffer's analysis of 18 million posts. For businesses actively marketing on X, Premium is worth evaluating on both its analytics and reach benefits.

Opportunity #2: Monitoring competitors and trends

X Search remains one of the most powerful free tools available to any marketer. Searching a keyword, hashtag, or competitor handle gives you an immediate, real-time window into what people are saying about a topic, brand, or industry.

This is genuinely useful for competitive intelligence, trend spotting, and audience research. Monitoring what customers say about a competitor, what language they use to describe a problem, or what content is generating conversation in your industry can directly inform your marketing strategy, content calendar, and product positioning. 61.2% of X users identify the platform as their primary source for staying informed about news and events, and 65% of X users cite news as a top reason for using the platform, making it the most news-dense of all major social networks.

For brands launching new products or entering new conversations, X is also a uniquely good listening tool. Saved searches, keyword alerts (available through tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social), and monitoring of brand mentions all provide a layer of market intelligence that is harder to replicate on other platforms. See our guide on starting your competitive analysis for more on building this into your broader strategy.

Challenge #2: Brand safety and advertiser trust concerns

Brand safety is the most significant ongoing challenge for businesses advertising on X. The concern centers on ads appearing alongside harmful, extremist, or controversial content, which can reflect negatively on the advertiser regardless of their own messaging.

A Kantar survey of 1,000 marketing professionals found that a net 26% of global marketers planned to reduce spending on X in 2025, the largest recorded pullback from any major global ad platform. Only 4% believed X provided adequate brand safety for their ads, compared to 39% for Google and similar figures for YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. X's annual advertising revenue fell from a peak of $4.51 billion in 2021 to approximately $1.94 billion in 2024, a decline of more than 50%. Some recovery is expected in 2025 and 2026 as advertisers cautiously return, but revenue remains well below pre-acquisition levels.

This does not mean advertising on X is without merit. Advertising costs on X remain significantly lower than on competing platforms, with average cost per engagement ranging from $0.26 to $1.50, roughly 60 to 80% cheaper than Facebook or Instagram. For brands with the right audience fit and a tolerance for the platform's current environment, that cost efficiency is a real advantage. But every brand should assess the brand safety question honestly before committing budget here. Using X's brand safety controls (keyword exclusions, content category exclusions, and allowlists) is essential for brands that do advertise.

Opportunity #3: Customer service in real time

X's immediacy makes it one of the most effective customer service channels available to brands. 78% of customers who reach out to a brand on X expect a reply within one hour. X's median brand response time of 1 hour and 7 minutes is significantly faster than the average across other platforms. And 77% of X users report a better impression of a brand when the brand responds to their post.

85% of small and medium-sized businesses on X consider the platform essential to their customer service strategy. The platform's public nature also means that a great customer service response is seen by far more people than just the person asking: 53% of users find it helpful to see how brands answer questions or solve issues publicly, according to Sprout Social. Every public reply to a customer complaint or question is also a brand statement visible to anyone who views your profile or the thread.

Several large brands maintain separate X accounts specifically for customer service (for example, @AdobeCare alongside @Adobe, and @HootsuiteSocial alongside @Hootsuite). This approach keeps the main brand account focused on marketing content while routing service interactions to a dedicated, faster-response team. Whether you use one account or two, having a documented response process and clear ownership of your X inbox is essential. For guidance on how social media service fits into your broader marketing, see our Facebook challenges and opportunities guide for comparison.

Challenge #3: Difficult to grow your following organically

Building an organic following on X from scratch has always been challenging, and the post-acquisition environment has made it more complex. X adds approximately 1.5 million new sign-ups daily, but the competition for attention in the For You feed is intensifying. Impression counts have modestly declined year over year even as engagement rates have improved, suggesting that a smaller but more intent-driven share of posts is driving the bulk of interactions.

As noted above, X Premium subscribers receive dramatically higher impressions than free accounts. For businesses serious about growing their organic reach on the platform, the monthly subscription cost is worth comparing against the reach difference. Beyond Premium, the fundamentals of organic growth on X remain consistent: post consistently, use relevant keywords and hashtags, engage with replies and mentions promptly, and participate in conversations beyond your own content.

Posting frequency matters more on X than on most other platforms because posts have a very short shelf life in the feed. Research suggests a minimum of three to six posts per day for meaningful growth, with higher-frequency posting common among the most successful brand accounts. Spreading posts throughout the day rather than clustering them helps capture audience attention across time zones. See our guide on how often a brand should post on social media for platform-specific frequency guidance.

Challenge #4: The platform is noisy

X's open, high-volume nature is both its strength and its challenge. With posts accumulating billions of impressions daily across the platform, it takes a thoughtful, consistent strategy to build a meaningful presence rather than simply adding to the noise.

The good news is that Musk's political prominence and X's role as the de facto home of real-time news and cultural commentary has actually increased the platform's relevance for certain audiences, particularly those interested in tech, finance, politics, media, and sports. For brands in those sectors, the conversation density is an asset. For brands in categories less aligned with X's current culture, breaking through requires more deliberate effort.

A few practical ways to cut through on X: use visuals consistently (images boost engagement substantially over text-only posts), engage proactively with trending conversations relevant to your brand, post at optimal times for your specific audience (Monday mornings tend to see peak engagement broadly, but your audience's active hours may differ), and review your X metrics regularly to understand what is resonating. For more, see our post on the 14 biggest mistakes businesses make on X.

Is X right for your business?

X remains a genuinely valuable platform for certain types of businesses and genuinely less relevant for others. The strongest fits are brands in tech, media, finance, news-driven industries, sports, entertainment, and any business that benefits from real-time public conversation. B2B brands with decision-maker audiences and consumer brands with vocal, news-engaged customer bases also find strong ROI here.

For local businesses that are not targeting urban, tech-forward, or news-engaged demographics, X is likely a lower priority than Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or LinkedIn. Only 21% of Americans report using X, compared to 70% for Facebook and 50% for Instagram, according to Pew Research. The platform's global reach is substantial, but its domestic penetration is significantly narrower than the other major networks.

The most important thing is not to join any social media platform simply to have a presence there. Understand where your audience is, set a clear goal, and execute a strategy designed to hit that goal. If X fits, commit to it with a real content strategy and consistent engagement. If it does not fit right now, claim your handle to protect your brand name and revisit later. See our guide on which social media platform is right for your company to help make that call.

DailyStory helps businesses connect their social media activity to broader marketing automation, email, and SMS campaigns so every channel works together. Schedule a free demo to see how.