Brand Safety on X: A UK Small Business Ad Guide

X’s UK revenue didn’t “dip” in 2024 — it fell 58.3%, dropping from £69.1m (2023) to £28.9m (2024). That’s not a normal platform wobble. It’s a signal that big advertisers are treating brand safety and content moderation as budget-critical, not “nice to have”.

If you run a UK small business, you don’t have the luxury of throwing a few thousand pounds at a channel “to see what happens” and shrugging it off. Your spend is tighter, your reputation is more personal, and a single bad adjacency (your ad next to toxic content) can travel faster than your next three campaigns combined.

This post is part of our British Small Business Digital Marketing series, and it’s written for the practical question you’re probably asking right now: should you still advertise on X — and if you do, how do you protect your brand?

What X’s 58% UK revenue drop really means for advertisers

Answer first: A revenue collapse of this size usually means advertisers don’t trust the risk/return equation on that platform.

According to accounts filed at Companies House for the year ending 31 December 2024, X’s UK revenues declined to £28.9m, while pre-tax profits dropped from £2.2m to £767,000 year on year. X attributed the downturn primarily to reduced advertising spend from large brands, citing concerns about brand safety, reputation and/or content moderation.

Here’s the small business translation: when the biggest spenders step back, it’s rarely because they’ve suddenly forgotten how to buy ads. It’s because their internal risk teams, comms teams, and procurement teams have decided the downside is bigger than the upside.

“But I’m not a big brand — does this still matter?”

Yes, and arguably more.

Big brands have:

• PR teams to manage backlash
• Legal teams to interpret platform and regulatory risk
• Media agencies with escalation routes and platform reps

Most small businesses have… you. Maybe one marketing generalist. Maybe a part-time freelancer.

That means brand safety is operational risk, not just marketing theory.

Brand safety isn’t abstract — it’s your budget and your name

Answer first: Brand safety is about avoiding situations where your marketing appears to endorse, fund, or sit beside content that clashes with your values.

On X, the risk conversation has been amplified by ongoing scrutiny of content moderation, including concerns around protection of women and children. The recent restriction of Grok’s image generation feature to paying subscribers after criticism about explicit and violent imagery is the kind of story that puts platforms under a microscope — and makes advertisers more cautious.

For a UK small business, brand safety problems typically show up in three ways:

1. Ad adjacency: your promoted post appears near hateful, sexual, violent, or conspiratorial content.
2. Reply environment: your organic posts attract toxic replies that become the “top comments” new visitors see.
3. Screenshot risk: someone screenshots your ad placement and frames it as “this business supports X”.

A useful rule: if you’d feel uncomfortable seeing a screenshot of your ad placement on LinkedIn, you have a brand safety problem.

Why this hits harder in January

January is when many UK small businesses reset budgets, plan Q1 lead generation, and try to build momentum after Christmas trading. It’s also when consumers are more price-sensitive and trust-sensitive.

If your ads land badly now, you don’t just waste spend — you can damage the trust you need for the rest of the quarter.

Should your small business advertise on X in 2026?

Answer first: Only if X is demonstrably profitable for you and you can control placement and conversation risk. Otherwise, treat it as optional.

I’m not in the camp that says “never advertise on X”. For some niches it still works:

• B2B businesses targeting tech, media, politics, finance, or founders
• Local services where community conversation is genuinely active
• Brands with strong opinion-led positioning (and the stomach for pushback)

But the bar should be higher than it used to be.

A simple decision framework (use this before spending a penny)

Ask these four questions:

1. Is my audience actually there — and reachable via paid? Don’t confuse “people talk about my industry on X” with “my buyers will click my ads and convert”.

2. Can I tolerate public negativity? If one nasty thread would derail your week (or your team’s morale), factor that into channel choice.

3. Do I have a way to measure lead quality? If you can’t track from click → enquiry → sale, you can’t judge risk/return.

4. Do I have brand safety controls in place? If you don’t know what controls exist, assume you have none.

If you answer “no” to two or more, your default should be: don’t start with X.

How to reduce brand safety risk if you do advertise on X

Answer first: You reduce risk by controlling where ads appear, controlling what you promote, and controlling how you respond.

Small businesses don’t need a 40-page brand safety policy. You need a tight checklist that makes unsafe outcomes less likely.

1) Build a “no-go” content and adjacency list

Write down topics and keywords you don’t want your brand near. This is fastest when you start from reputational red lines, not marketing goals.

Typical no-go areas include:

• sexual content (especially involving minors)
• hate speech and harassment
• violence and extremist content
• misinformation themes that clash with your industry (health, finance, politics)

Then translate that into a practical action: exclude sensitive categories and use keyword exclusions where available. If your business can’t access meaningful exclusions and controls, that’s a warning sign.

2) Choose lower-risk campaign formats

If you’re testing X ads, start with formats that reduce chaotic visibility.

What I’ve found works as a safer entry point:

• Website clicks / conversions campaigns aimed at a tight landing page
• Retargeting warm visitors rather than broad prospecting
• Follower lookalikes only if your follower base is high-quality

Avoid building your entire test around highly viral, debate-bait creative. You may get cheap engagement and awful lead quality.

3) Put a “reply environment” plan in place

Your paid creative doesn’t exist in isolation. People will click through to your profile. They’ll scan replies. They’ll judge you on the vibe.

Set up:

• a moderation cadence (who checks replies and when)
• pinned posts that explain your positioning clearly
• a response policy (what you reply to, what you ignore, what you hide/report)

This isn’t about being thin-skinned. It’s about not letting your marketing become a billboard for someone else’s agenda.

4) Track the metric that matters: cost per qualified lead

Cheap clicks can be a trap. A safer (and more honest) way to judge X is:

• Cost per enquiry
• Enquiry-to-sale rate
• Cost per sale (or cost per booked call)

If X gives you £8 leads that never close, while LinkedIn gives you £40 leads that close at 25%, you already know which one is better.

Where to put your budget if you’re pulling back from X

Answer first: For most UK small businesses focused on lead generation, a diversified mix of search + owned content + selective paid social is more reliable than betting on one volatile platform.

If you’re rebalancing your digital marketing strategy, here are channels that usually offer better control and predictability.

Google Search + Local SEO (high intent, high trust)

When someone searches “emergency plumber Manchester” or “accountant for freelancers Bristol”, they’re not browsing — they’re choosing.

Priorities:

• Google Business Profile fully optimised
• service pages that match real search terms
• reviews strategy (ask, respond, systemise)

This is the boring work that pays rent.

Paid search (controlled placements)

Paid search is not immune to waste, but you get:

• clear intent signals
• strong measurement
• fewer brand adjacency surprises

If your budget is limited, start with:

• your highest-margin service
• your best-converting location
• exact and phrase match keywords

Meta (Facebook/Instagram) for local reach and retargeting

Meta isn’t perfect, but it’s mature: targeting, creative testing, and retargeting workflows are well-trodden.

A simple small business funnel that consistently works:

1. short video or carousel (awareness)
2. retarget site visitors with proof (reviews, case studies)
3. push to enquiry with an offer (audit, quote, consultation)

Email marketing (owned audience, zero adjacency risk)

Email is underrated in small business digital marketing because it feels “old”. It’s also one of the only channels you control end-to-end.

If you do nothing else this quarter:

• add a lead magnet people actually want (checklist, template, mini-audit)
• send one useful email per week
• build a sequence that turns interest into enquiries

A practical “Platform Safety Check” you can run in 30 minutes

Answer first: Don’t choose platforms on vibes; choose them on controllability, measurement, and audience fit.

Use this quick check before you commit budget:

1. Can I exclude sensitive categories and keywords?
2. Can I see where my ads appear (or at least control inventory quality)?
3. Can I turn off replies / control comment visibility where relevant?
4. Can I track conversions cleanly in analytics/CRM?
5. If a customer questioned this platform choice, could I justify it?

If you can’t answer confidently, it’s not a “test”. It’s a gamble.

What I’d do if I were planning Q1 leads for a UK small business

Answer first: I’d prioritise predictable, controllable channels first, then test riskier platforms with small budgets and clear stop rules.

My stance is simple: platform volatility is not a growth strategy.

If you want leads in Q1 2026, build the base:

• tighten up your offer and landing page
• improve Local SEO and reviews
• run paid search on high-intent terms
• retarget warm traffic on Meta

Then, if X still looks attractive for your niche, test it with:

• a capped budget
• strict measurement
• brand safety exclusions
• a pre-written escalation plan if placements go wrong

You don’t need to copy big brands — but you should learn from their behaviour. When major advertisers reduce spend because they don’t trust moderation and brand safety, small businesses should hear the subtext: protect the brand you’ve worked years to build.

Where does that leave you? Are you spending on platforms you can control — or platforms that can control your reputation?