Elon Musk’s Mr. Pack spends significantly more on advertising on Facebook and YouTube compared to Musk’s own social network, X.
America Pac allocated $201,000 for running numerous ads on X (formerly Twitter) in the past three months. However, the organization spent $3 million on thousands of ads on Facebook and Instagram over a similar timeframe. Musk established the pro-Donald Trump pack in July and provided it with around $75 million, as per filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Based on political advertising disclosures, America Pac invested over $166,000 on 59 ads on X from July 8 to October 1. wired. After Musk assumed control of Pac’s @America handle on October 7, the company spent approximately $34,000 on X ads. bloomberg Reported. These ads were targeted at various battleground states, with a focus on Pennsylvania, generating about 32 million impressions according to Wired.
Contrasting these figures with America Pac’s ad purchases on Facebook, the organization spent over $3 million on 1,910 ads during a 90-day period from July 22 to October 19, some of which were also duplicated on Instagram, as per Meta’s ad library. The ads targeted users in states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona.
Around 12 ads from America Pac received over 1 million impressions, while others garnered hundreds of thousands. The Meta ad library doesn’t provide total impressions for individual advertisers, making direct comparisons with X ads more challenging.
Musk’s Pack also heavily invested in Google, particularly YouTube. According to the Google Ads Transparency Center, America Pac spent $1.5 million on 251 ads with Google and its subsidiaries since early July, which is ten times higher than what was spent on X. A significant portion of the ads were video advertisements, primarily targeting Georgia, as revealed in Google’s disclosure.
With over 200 million followers on X, Musk has a massive audience reach without incurring costs. Musk frequently retweets America Pack’s content, despite Pac having fewer than 7,000 followers.
The increase in Facebook spending signifies Musk’s shifting geographic focus. Audience data from Meta’s ad library indicated that a large percentage of America Pac’s ads in the past 90 days targeted North Carolina. However, in the recent seven days, over 25% of the ads focused on Pennsylvania, where Musk has been actively campaigning in person.
Facebook’s targeting options enable advertisers to reach specific audiences based on interests. America Pac tailored its ads to users intrigued by various subjects like Kelsey Grammer, trophy hunting, Kid Rock, the Boy Scouts of America, and Joe Rogan, among others.
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Since Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X in 2022, he has highlighted its advertising capabilities and app store performance. Even in 2023, advertising constituted 70-75% of X’s total revenue. bloomberg This trend persisted despite Musk introducing Twitter Blue, a subscription product. X’s revenue in 2023 amounted to $2.5 billion, nearly half of the previous year, primarily due to reduced advertising expenditure.
Musk is also focusing on organizing in-person events. He pledged to donate $1 million per day until the election to registered voters supporting America Pac’s petition. Musk has been awarding giant novelty checks at rallies in Pennsylvania over the recent days.
Source: www.theguardian.com
