Twitter (X) Ads Tutorial

X (formerly Twitter) remains a powerful advertising platform in 2025, offering businesses the ability to reach a vast audience and achieve a range of marketing objectives. With over 611 million active users, Twitter ads provide a unique opportunity to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, generate leads, and more. Here’s a complete guide to advertising on Twitter, including available ad types, the campaign setup process, costs, and best practices.

What Are X Ads?

X ads, also referred to as Twitter advertising, are paid promotional messages that appear in users’ timelines, search results, and other key areas of the platform. These ads help businesses connect with their target audience by delivering tailored content designed to boost engagement, conversions, and overall brand recognition.

Types of X Ads

X offers several ad formats, each designed to achieve specific goals, whether you’re trying to boost awareness, drive traffic, or increase sales. Here are the main ad formats available on the platform:

Promoted Ads

Promoted Ads are standard tweets that businesses pay to amplify beyond their followers, reaching a wider audience. These can take different forms, such as:

• Image Ads: A simple, visually engaging way to showcase your product or service with a single image.
• Video Ads: These bring your brand story to life, capturing attention and encouraging users to engage with your content or visit your site.
• Carousel Ads: With up to six images or videos, these allow you to display multiple products or highlight different aspects of your offerings in a swipeable format.
• Text Ads: These are straightforward text-based ads that blend seamlessly into users’ timelines, offering a subtle way to reach new audiences.

Vertical Video Ads

With vertical video ads, you can present your product in full-screen, sound-on format, providing an immersive and engaging experience. These ads are perfect for telling a captivating story and driving users directly to your website or app via a CTA button.

X Amplify

X Amplify is a video-focused ad format that allows brands to sponsor premium content from publishers or influencers. Amplify is available in two variations:

• Amplify Pre-roll: This ad format lets brands target specific video content categories. These ads are shown before videos from relevant creators or publishers.
• Amplify Sponsorships: A more premium option, allowing brands to partner with specific publishers and take control of the ad placement throughout the campaign duration.

Timeline Takeover

Timeline Takeover is a premium ad placement that positions your ad at the very top of a user’s timeline when they open X. This maximizes exposure and ensures that your brand is the first thing users see when they engage with the platform. Takeovers can be even more powerful when combined with Spotlight Takeover, which places your ad alongside trending content in the Explore tab, putting your brand in front of an active audience during peak engagement.

X Live Ads

X Live is designed for brands to broadcast live events, such as product launches, conferences, or real-time brand experiences. These live broadcasts allow audiences to join and engage in the moment, fostering conversation and increasing real-time interaction. X Live is an effective tool for brands looking to build excitement and drive immediate attention during major events.

Dynamic Product Ads

Dynamic Product Ads allow brands to target specific users based on their browsing and purchase behavior. There are two types:

• DPA Retargeting: Ads show products that users have previously interacted with, such as adding an item to their cart but not completing the purchase. This is a great way to nudge users toward conversion.
• DPA Prospecting: Ads target new users who haven’t interacted with your site but show interest in products similar to what you offer, increasing the chances of attracting new customers.

Dynamic Product Ads are an excellent tool for improving your return on ad spend (ROAS) and optimizing the cost per purchase (CPP) on X, as they focus on highly relevant products for each individual user.

Collection Ads

Collection Ads provide a more immersive shopping experience on X. These ads display a large, hero image alongside smaller thumbnail images of additional products. The key features of Collection Ads include:

• Single View Experience: Users can see all the products in a single view without needing to swipe through individual cards.
• Customizable Destinations: Advertisers can link to different product pages, offering more flexibility in directing users to specific destinations.
• Creative Flexibility: With the ability to showcase up to six products, advertisers can highlight a variety of offerings in a single ad unit, which is particularly useful for showcasing different promotions or product lines.

How Much Do X Ads Cost?

X ads cost is flexible and depends on your budget, campaign objectives, targeting, and bid type. X Ads works on an auction model, so you control how much you’re willing to spend. Here are the key factors that influence your costs:

• Billable Actions: Your costs are based on specific actions that you choose as your campaign goal. For example, if your goal is to increase website traffic, you only pay when someone clicks your link. Other campaign objectives like engagement or gaining followers come with their own billable actions.
• Auctions: Since pricing is based on an auction model, the amount you pay depends on various factors, including how engaging your ad is, how competitive your target audience is, and the bids of other advertisers. Popular audiences generally require higher bids.
• Bids: The bid is the amount you’re willing to pay for each billable action. Ads with higher bids typically have a better chance of winning the auction. X offers three types of bids:
  • Automatic Bidding: Let X set your bid to optimize performance within your budget.
  • Maximum Bidding: You set the highest amount you’re willing to pay per action.
  • Target Bidding: You specify an average bid target, and X will adjust bids to reach it.

You can also set a campaign budget, giving you the power to control total spend to align it with your financial goals.

Through a survey of 270 marketers, WebFX found the following insights on X Ads spending:

• Average Monthly Spend: 53% of businesses allocate between $101 to $500 per month. However, there’s significant variation:
  • 15% of businesses spend less than $100 monthly.
  • Over 10% of businesses invest more than $10,000 each month.
• Cost Per First Action: On average, businesses pay between $0.26 and $1.50 for a first action, such as a click, reply, repost, or like on promoted posts (content that’s already been published).
• Cost Per Follower: For promoted accounts, you’ll spend between $0 and $4 per new follower gained.

How to Create an X Ad Campaign

Setting up an X ad campaign is straightforward but requires strategic planning to maximize effectiveness. Here’s how to do it:

1. Create an X Ads Account – Sign up as an advertiser by accessing X Ads Manager and setting up billing details.
2. Choose Your Ad Objective – Define a campaign goal such as engagement, traffic, conversions, or app installs to guide your ad’s strategy.
3. Select an Ad Format – Choose a format that best suits your campaign’s purpose, whether it’s image, video, carousel, or another format.
4. Create Your Ad – Craft compelling copy (Up to 280 characters) and visuals that align with your brand message. Make sure the CTA is clear and encourages user action.
5. Define Your Target Audience – Use X’s robust targeting options to refine your audience:
   • Keyword Targeting: Reach users based on the words and hashtags they search for or tweet about.
   • Location Targeting: Focus on specific geographic regions, from cities to entire countries.
   • Behavioral Targeting: Engage users based on their interests and past interactions on X.
   • Custom Audiences: Upload existing customer lists to retarget loyal users.
   • Lookalike Audiences: Expand your reach by targeting users similar to your existing customers.
6. Set Budget and Bids – Determine your daily or total campaign budget and choose a bidding strategy that aligns with your advertising goals.
7. Launch and Monitor – Activate your campaign and use X Ads Manager to track performance metrics. Regularly analyze engagement rates, conversions, and ROI, making adjustments as needed to optimize results.

Mastering X Ads Manager for Optimal Campaign Performance

X Ads Manager is a comprehensive platform for creating, managing, and analyzing advertising campaigns. Here’s an overview of its key features:

• Campaign Structure: Organizes campaigns into Campaigns, Ad Groups, and Ads for better control.
• Custom Filters and Metrics: Filter campaigns, customize metric views, and save metric sets for analysis.
• Real-time Analytics: Track impressions, engagement rates, CTR, and conversions.
• A/B Testing: Run split tests to determine the best ad copy, visuals, and targeting strategies.
• Budget Optimization: Choose between ad group budgets or Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO).
• Conversion Tracking: Measure ROI with custom conversion events.
• Creative Ad Formats: Access various formats, including vertical video ads and timeline takeovers.
• Advanced Targeting: Define audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and more.
• Audience Insights: View breakdowns of audience attributes like location, interests, and device usage.
• Data Export & Reporting: Export campaign data for in-depth analysis.

Best Practices for Running X Ad Campaigns

To maximize success, businesses should follow these best practices:

1. Set Clear Objectives

Before creating your ads, outline your specific goals. Whether you’re focused on increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales, setting clear and measurable objectives will guide every decision you make. Aligning your ad copy, visuals, and targeting with these goals makes sure that your efforts are focused on what matters most. For example, if your goal is lead generation then your campaign needs to have compelling offers and clear calls-to-action (CTAs) for users to sign up.

2. Create Concise, Engaging Content

X is a platform known for its fast-paced nature, where users scroll quickly through their feeds. To stand out, your ad copy must be short, impactful, and to the point. Stick to 50-100 characters to get your message across quickly and clearly. Since attention spans are short, make sure your ad has a compelling hook within the first few words. Strong messaging paired with concise, punchy content makes a stronger impression.

3. Use Strong Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

To drive engagement, always include a clear, actionable CTA that prompts users to take the next step. Phrases like “Shop Now,” “Sign Up,” or “Learn More” create a sense of urgency and give users a direct action to follow. Tailor your CTAs based on your campaign objectives, so they are relevant to the action you want to encourage. Additionally, test different CTAs to determine which one yields the best response.

4. Leverage Visuals and Video

Visual content is key to capturing attention and boosting engagement. Posts with images and videos typically see up to 30% more engagement compared to text-only posts. Your visuals should be high-quality, visually appealing, and relevant to your message. Video ads are particularly effective on X, as they allow you to showcase your product or service in action. Short, engaging videos work well for highlighting key benefits or promotions, helping your ad stand out in a crowded feed.

5. A/B Testing

A/B testing is a powerful way to understand what resonates most with your audience. Run variations of the same ad with different headlines, visuals, or even CTAs to see which combination delivers the best results. Testing helps you refine your content over time, so that your campaigns become more effective. Regularly optimizing your ads based on performance metrics will allow you to continually improve your approach and reach your goals.

6. Optimize for Mobile

The majority of X users access the platform via mobile devices, so your ads need to be designed with mobile optimization in mind. The text needs to be legible on smaller screens, and visuals scaled appropriately. Mobile-friendly design includes clear, large fonts and buttons that are easy to click on. Test how your ads look on mobile to make sure they provide a smooth and seamless user experience across devices.

7. Maintain Brand Consistency

Consistency in branding helps reinforce your company’s identity and builds trust with your audience. Use consistent colors, fonts, and messaging across all of your ads. Whether you’re using a subtle logo watermark or bold brand colors, make sure your audience can easily recognize your brand at a glance. This strengthens brand recall and fosters a stronger emotional connection with your audience.

8. Engage with Users

Social media is not a one-way street. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and interactions on your ads. This shows that you value their input, creating a more human connection with your brand. Engaging directly with users can also boost visibility, as posts with higher engagement tend to be prioritized in feeds. Building relationships with followers increases trust and can lead to more conversions over time.

9. Monitor and Adjust Campaigns

Regularly reviewing your campaign performance metrics is essential for ongoing success. Pay attention to key metrics like click-through rates (CTR), engagement, and conversion rates to assess the effectiveness of your ads. If a campaign isn’t performing as expected, adjust targeting, budget, or content to optimize results. Flexibility and data-driven decisions will help you improve performance and achieve your campaign goals.

10. Schedule Ads Strategically

Timing is everything when it comes to advertising. Understanding when your audience is most active can greatly impact your ad’s success. Test different posting times and days to identify patterns of engagement. You can also schedule ads to run at specific times to maximize visibility and interaction during peak activity periods. Tailoring your ad schedule to when your audience is most likely to be active will help you reach more people and drive better results.

Are X Ads Worth It in 2025?

Despite evolving digital trends, X ads remain a cost-effective and impactful advertising channel for businesses. With a low CPM, diverse ad formats, and precise targeting capabilities, advertising on Twitter can deliver strong results when executed correctly.

With these best practices and continuously optimizing campaigns, businesses can maximize their ad spend and betterr connect with their audience on X in 2025.

Sara Martín , 07 March 2025