The Polarizing Debate on Whether Tesla Should Advertise Or Not

Tesla and Advertising

There is a polarizing debate going on Twitter right now, and it's about Tesla and whether Tesla should advertise or not.

You have one group of people who say that Tesla should focus all their efforts on reducing costs and improving the vehicles, while you have another group that says Tesla needs to educate the masses of people on their vehicles and why they are the best and that an EV is a better purchase than a gas car.

There are very prominent and smart people who believe one or the other here, so why is this debate so polarizing? I'll do my best to explain. First, let's look at some of the tweets that talk about this:

Reminder: Demand is not an issue for Tesla.AFFORDABILITY is the issue.These are completely separate things.If people WANT (demand) something, but cannot afford it, they still want (demand) it. The just can't AFFORD it.It's embarrassing to have to point this out. But point…— stevenmarkryan (@stevenmarkryan) April 17, 2023

This Tweet from Steven Mark Ryan shows what the first "camp" of people believe. And that is that Tesla will sell every vehicle they make for years to come, and that there is no need to advertise.

Then, you have the other "camp" of people that Gary Black is in, who believe that Tesla should advertise and that doing so would be advantageous.

There still seems huge opportunity for education-oriented advertising in the US about EV’s lower operating costs, easing range anxiety, and showing the convenience of not having to fill up at a gas pump. As market leader, TSLA would be the biggest beneficiary.— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 17, 2023

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Should Tesla Advertise?

The question is, who is right here?

I think both camps are right. The camp that says Tesla should put all their efforts and money into lowering costs and improving their vehicles are right. This makes Tesla vehicles the best and gets them closer to operating as Robotaxis.

The group of people that believe Tesla should advertise are also right. I remember having a conversation with someone a couple of weeks ago, and we were talking about EVs. They do not own a Tesla nor follow Tesla or any EV company closely.

Their biggest concern about an EV was battery degradation and that fast charging destroys the battery, and it will have to be replaced. They believed that there needs to be better battery swapping in order for EVs to be considered as a replacement for gas cars.

This is a case where advertising would be helpful - but would it be helpful enough. I think this is an actual and legitimate issue for someone who has never bought an EV before. Advertising still may not convince them.

In addition to this, there are the advertising channels Tesla already has with its multiple Twitter accounts, which have over 20 million followers, along with Elon Musk who has over 130 million followers. There definitely is plenty of advertising being done by Tesla for free on those channels.

I think Tesla should put their efforts into improving their vehicles and batteries, and that their current means of advertising are great. When other EVs advertise, say during the Super Bowl, Tesla also gets a boost in searches. One could argue this also shows that Tesla should advertise, but I don't think so. Because that puts Tesla in a needy position that they have to try and convince people to buy their products. The best products don't need convincing - they are self-evident.

I put myself in the camp of improving Tesla's products and not doing traditional media advertising. Tesla should absolutely utilize its Twitter accounts and word of mouth though in order to sell more vehicles.

Do you think Tesla should advertise using traditional media? If so, what advertising methods should Tesla use?

In Related News: Tesla Model Y Is Starting to Lead the World in Sales

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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.

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