X (formerly Twitter) offers plenty of excellent advertising solutions for brands wanting to get their campaigns heard. It's a strong option for many brands seeking to deliver an effective marketing campaign.

Whether you're looking to share your brand's opinion on the platform, or set up campaigns to reach your target audience, X is a great place to start. You're able to create targeted campaigns that align with your goals and audiences – whether you want to boost engagement, increase followers, or drive website traffic.

Here's how you can maximize your ROI using X advertising campaigns.

How X advertising works

In this guide, we'll look at the advertising solutions available on X (formerly Twitter) in detail. For now, though, it's worth knowing the basics.

Your advertising options all run through X Ads, which let you set a budget and campaigns that works for you.

With X's advertising tools, you have options that fit your specific business needs. You can choose from different ad types – like promoted posts, accounts, or trends, while also diving into analytics to help you track performance and optimize your campaigns over time.

In this guide:

What is X (Twitter) advertising?

X Ads is a platform built within X that you can use to launch ad campaigns and target users based on their profiles. It's all done within X Ads, which serves the same purpose as Meta's Business Suite and the TikTok Business Center.

Businesses can create different types of ads like promoted tweets, accounts, or trends as part of a comprehensive X ad campaign. These appear in users’ feeds and search results.

You can target your ads based on factors like location, interests, and behaviors, and reach people who are likely to be interested in what you’re offering.

Why businesses use X ads

Twitter has 611 million monthly active users, which is small compared to Facebook and Instagram. However, it remains one of the best platforms for advanced targeting of commercial campaigns because users provide so much data when they're on the platform.

You can connect with people when they're actively engaging with current events and trending topics, as the real-time nature of X makes it great for timely promotions and launches.

Crucially, you only pay when users take actions that match your goals, like clicking a link or following your account. This makes X Ads cost-effective for many businesses.

The platform offers detailed analytics so you can measure your results and improve your campaigns over time, while you can plug the platform into a third-party social media analytics tool for even deeper data.

X ad formats: Which type is best for your goals?

Lets start to dive into X Ads in a little more detail, starting with the formats you can use.

Promoted posts look like regular posts, but they reach a wider audience because you target people that will align with the posts. For example, you might want to drive website traffic by targeting users who are more likely to click external links. Costs vary here but expect to pay $0.25 to $2 per engagement for a promoted post.

This is a way of suggesting users follow your account, rather than clicking on an external link or watching a video. It's a great way to boost your followers without resorting to underhand tactics like buying followers.

You'll need to create a compelling profile and pay to appear in the 'Who to Follow' section of X if you want to attract new followers. The cost ranges from $2 to $4 per new follower gained.

Ever noticed the 'What's happening' column alongside your X feed? Businesses can get their name or campaign hashtag into the trending list for 24 hours.

This is a great way to create brand awareness without people even knowing, because you're suggesting your brand is trending. However, remember it can cost more than $100,000 a day to be placed in this list.

X Amplify

X users are becoming more accustomed to seeing ads play before they watch video content. This is X Amplify, which focuses on running ads before premium content.

These ads play before videos from news outlets, sports broadcasters, and other publishers. If you ever watch NFL or soccer highlights on X then you'll almost certainly see an amplified ad run before it.

Amplify works well for reaching viewers interested in specific topics and aligning your brand with trusted content creators. However, ads should never be more than 15 seconds long, otherwise users will scroll away.

Follower ads

Follower ads help you grow your X audience by suggesting your account to other users. There will always be a 'Promoted' tag attached to these accounts. Increasingly, follower ads are being placed higher up the news feed, so users are likely to see one of these within the first 10 tweets. Expect to pay $2 to $4 per new follower on average.

The best formats for specific business objectives

It's important to choose your ad format based on your business goals.

Here are some to consider that you can weave into your advertising campaigns:

  1. Brand awareness: Promoted posts, promoted trends
  2. Follower growth: Promoted accounts, follower ads
  3. Website traffic: Promoted posts with website cards
  4. Video views: X Amplify, promoted video posts
  5. App installs: App cards in promoted posts
  6. Lead generation: Lead generation cards in promoted posts
  7. Sales/conversions: Promoted posts with offer details or product links

How to set up an X ad campaign: A step-by-step guide

You can launch a successful campaign in just six steps via X Ads. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Create a X Ads account

All X profiles can create an Ads account. Head to business.x.com and log in with your regular X credentials. If it's your first time, you'll see a prompt to set up your advertising account.

Click "Get started" and follow the steps to complete your account setup. Businesses will need to add some extra info and billing details.

Once your account is ready, you can access the Ads dashboard.

Step 2: Choose your campaign objective

The platform is great at helping you focus an ad campaign from the beginning, and it all starts with your objectives.

Some common objectives include:

  • Website clicks
  • App installs
  • Followers
  • Engagements
  • Video views

Pick one or two that best match your marketing goals.

Step 3: Define your target audience

X offers various ways to reach audiences, but you'll need to know where to look first. You can use Ads to help, or do some research beforehand with a tool like Brandwatch.

Be specific with your targeting to make sure your ads reach the right people. But don't make it too narrow, or you might limit your reach, especially if the ad group is already part of a niche demographic.

Step 4: Set your budget and bidding strategy

Now it's time to look at ROI. How much are you prepared to invest, and what's your desired outcome?

X Ads runs a bidding process where the highest bidder gets the space. It's a little like three companies all bidding for the same roadside billboard. Whoever is willing to pay most secures the spot for their advertising campaign.

You can set a daily budget or a total budget for the entire campaign, before choosing your bidding strategy:

  • Automatic bid: X sets the bid for you
  • Maximum bid: You set the highest amount you’re willing to pay

Step 5: Create your ad content

Of course, you also need to create your ads. You'll have a choice between images, videos, carousel ads and text. You might be able to rely on a content creation team within your company, or might have to get creative yourself.

Either way, a little bit of extra research from Brandwatch will help you understand what type of ad content you need.

Step 6: Launch and monitor your campaign

Finally you're ready to launch! Remember to review all your settings one last time, then click "Launch campaign."

Your ads will go through a quick review process before they start running.

After that, it's important to monitor your results and use the data gathered to change your campaign. Don't worry, you're allowed to go back into campaigns and tweak them as you go.

X ad targeting options explained

X is really good at being able to target people thanks to the amount of data we, as users, give the platform when we interact on it. There are plenty of ways to pivot your X ad campaign to target the right people. Here are some to get you started.

Demographic targeting

Demographic targeting lets you narrow down your audience based on key characteristics. This can be their age, location, language, and gender. It's a basic first step to narrowing your advertising campaign to the right audience.

Keyword targeting

Keyword targeting helps you reach users based on words and phrases they've posted or searched for. This is less about their demographic and more about finding people interested in specific topics.

X allows you to use broad match, phrase match, or exact match for keywords.

Follower lookalike targeting

People follow similar people, which means you can target users similar to the followers of specific accounts. For example, a supermarket's campaign goal might be to target followers or a rival supermarket.

This targeting method can help you expand your reach beyond your current follower base. It's especially useful for growing brand awareness with potential customers.

Custom audiences and remarketing

Custom audiences allow you to target specific groups of users you already know. You can upload lists of email addresses, phone numbers, or usernames, or pull data from a social media management tool like Brandwatch.

Remarketing lets you target users who have previously interacted with your website or app. This requires installing an X pixel on your site or using their mobile app conversion tracking.

Behavioral and interest-based targeting

X knows a lot about its users and how they behave online. Businesses can therefore match audiences to their purchasing behaviors, or time campaigns to align with the moments audiences are most active.

It's also possible to align interests like sport, technology, food, etc. You can select multiple interests to refine your audience this way.

Best practices for successful X advertising

There are loads of ways to serve ads to your audience, from well-timed tweets to using branded hashtags. Here are three tips to consider when running an advertising campaign on the platform:

1. Keep ad copy concise and engaging

X users scroll fast and read faster. Their attention span is short, so if you want to capture their attention with text then it needs to be concise and engaging.

You can either go for short posts alongside a video, image, or GIF to make your point. Or you can flag that your post will be a long thread by using the 🧵 emoji.

News profiles do this all the time when publishing a story on X. Often they'll do two or three linked tweets as part of an advertising campaign in one big thread.

2. Be quick with real-time marketing opportunities

X's real-time nature offers unique advertising opportunities not available on other platforms like Facebook.

Stay on top of trending topics and current events relevant to your brand by creating timely ads that tap into these conversations.

X has some great targeting options to help you reach users discussing specific topics or events. This ensures your ads appear in relevant contexts.

3. Use high-quality visuals and videos

87% of X users access the platform via mobile, which means visual ads have to be of high quality and in portrait format to truly appeal. A video ad, for example, is far less engaging if it's of low quality and in landscape mode. That's the sort of ad that might appear on YouTube, but it needs to be recalibrated for phone screens.

Video ads will either play before other videos, or as stand-alone posts. Either way, keep them to no longer than 15 seconds.

If you're using images instead of video content then be sure there's a link or call to action in order to encourage engagement with the post.

How to measure the success of your X ads

X has a built-in tool called Analytics that can help you evaluate and improve your ad campaigns. However, to get a true picture of a campaign's success, it's usually better to use a platform like Brandwatch.

Key metrics to track

Here are the core metrics you can track when passing X ads:

  • Impressions: The number of times your ad was shown
  • Engagement rate: The percentage of people who interacted with your ad
  • Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of viewers who clicked on your ad
  • Conversions: Completed actions like sign-ups or purchases
  • Cost per result: How much you're spending for each desired outcome
  • Video views: For video ads, track total views and view completion rate

Combined, these metrics show how successful your campaign has been. A high engagement rate with low conversions, for example, might mean your ad type is interesting but not driving action.

Digging into the data

The above metrics can give you a snapshot of what worked and what didn't with an ad campaign on X. However, to get a full view you'll need to use a social media monitoring tool like Brandwatch and pull data from X Analytics.

Brandwatch assesses data points beyond your ad campaign objectives to provide you with a 360-degree view of your business profile. You can then shape future decisions, such as your bidding strategy, ad quality, specific audience to target, and your brand personality based on the feedback.

X Analytics, meanwhile, updates in real-time, so you can quickly spot trends and make adjustments to your ads. By using both tools, it's possible to guide your existing campaign as it unfolds, while also preparing for the next campaign.

X ads cost: What to expect and how to budget

Here's a quick overview of advertising costs on X.

Twitter ads pricing models (CPC, CPM, CPE)

Twitter offers three main pricing models for advertisers:

  1. Cost per click (CPC): You pay when users click on your ad.
  2. Cost per mille (CPM): You pay for every 1,000 impressions your ad receives.
  3. Cost per engagement (CPE): You pay when users interact with your ad through likes, retweets, or replies.

The average cost for X ads ranges from $0.25 to $2 per action. Follower ads typically cost $2 to $4 per follow, and businesses can set a limit so it falls within their budget.

Factors that affect ad costs

Several elements influence the price of your X ads:

  • Competition: More advertisers targeting the same audience can drive up costs.
  • Target audience: Reaching specific demographics or interests may be pricier.
  • Ad quality: Higher-quality ads often perform better and can lower your costs.
  • Bidding strategy: Your chosen bid amount impacts ad placement and cost.
  • Seasonality: Costs may increase during peak advertising periods.

Remember, X uses an auction system to determine ad placement. Your maximum bid is what usually determines the end result here, although your ad quality score can play a role in this process too.

How to manage your ad spend effectively

Marketers have to balance their advertising budget all the time. To squeeze the most from your X advertising budget, make sure you:

  1. Set clear goals: Define what you want to achieve with your campaign.
  2. Start small: Begin with a modest budget to test and learn.
  3. Use target bidding: Set a target cost per action to control spending.
  4. Monitor performance: Regularly check your ad metrics and adjust as needed.
  5. A/B test: Try different ad formats and content to find what works best.

Remember, the lowest cost option isn't always the most effective for reaching your goals, as users are more likely to prefer campaigns based on an ad's quality.

Frequently asked questions

X advertising can be a powerful tool for reaching your target audience, but there's a lot to learn here. Let's explore some common questions to help you make the most of your X ad campaigns.

What's a successful example of X advertising?

Oreo's "Dunk in the Dark" posts during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout went viral. It got over 15,000 retweets and 20,000 likes. This goes to show the power of being on the pulse with your posts, and understanding your audience.

What's an outline for an effective X advertising strategy?

You can launch a solid ad strategy on X in five simple steps:

  1. Set clear goals for your campaign.
  2. Choose the right ad format based on your objectives.
  3. Target your audience using demographics, interests, and behavioral data, with Brandwatch as your guide.
  4. Create engaging content that people will actually like.
  5. Test different ad variations to see what works best.

How can X Ads Manager improve my campaign's performance?

X Ads Manager lets you track key metrics like impressions, engagements, and conversions.

Use this data to adjust your targeting, budget, and ad content. The platform also offers automated bidding options to help optimize your spend.

What are some creative ideas for advertising on X?

Try offering audiences something in return as a means of boosting engagement. This could be in the form of giveaways or recognition, or easy access to your advertised products.

Exclusive product launches are hugely effective ad strategies for X, because they require your audience to remain on the platform until you begin the launch. Plus, you can encourage fans to set up notifications to get your posts straight to their phone.

How can I advertise on X while keeping costs low?

Focus on steady growth first by posting organic posts regularly. Once you're in a position to advertise, start with a small budget and gradually increase it. Brands rarely join X and immediately spend $1 million on an ad campaign – start small and see what works.

You can also use targeting options to reach the most relevant audience. Experiment with different ad formats to find the most cost-effective option.