A surprising number of brands won't pay for Twitter verification

A new article on Social Media Today reports that the team from Capterra sought to find out, surverying 300 US marketing and advertising professionals to get their thoughts on Elon's paid verification program.

This doesn't surprise me. What about you?



First off, according to Capterra's data, 53% of brands say that they're unlikely to pay $7.99 a month for verification on Twitter.

At present, brands that already have a blue checkmark will now get a gold one instead, to mitigate the risks of impersonation, and at some stage, they'll likely have to pay $8 per month to keep that gold tick.

So, right now, just over half of brands don't see the value in paying for a checkmark. Indeed, respondents indicated that they'd be more willing to pay for better promotion opportunities, better user targeting, and improved security in the app over verification. That said, just over half of brands also indicated that they believe verification does serve an important purpose.

In terms of overall risk on the platform, given Musk's stated passion for allowing more 'free speech' in the app, nearly 2 out of 3 current Twitter advertisers say that advertising on the platform is risky for their brand right now.

Among the main concerns are increased incidences of hate speech, as well as misinformation, and impersonation - with the latter being a key problem with the initial launch of Twitter's updated verification plan.

Hate speech and misinformation have also, reportedly, increased since Elon took over at the app - though Twitter itself says that hate speech, overall, is on the decline. Still, as Elon brings back thousands of previously banned users, and touts COVID theories from his own account, you can understand why some brands are hesitant about the app at this stage.

Less than a quarter of participants indicated that they're looking to reduce Twitter ad spend, while 31% of brands have opted to monitor the situation, rather than suspending current ad campaigns. As with most Twitter elements, it's a bit of a 'wait and see', with the impacts of Musk's changes set to happen over time, making it harder to judge the right approach just yet. And with Elon also proclaiming record high usage, you can see why some advertisers are facing a dilemma, which can only be answered by seeing what comes next at the app.

Approximately 3 in 4 respondents believe marketers will move to other top social media platforms such as Instagram (76%), Facebook (75%), and TikTok (60%) if Twitter shuts down.