X (formerly Twitter) is a powerhouse for marketers looking to connect with audiences in real-time. Whether you’re looking to build brand awareness, drive traffic, or generate leads, X (Twitter) Ads offers a variety of ad formats and targeting options to help you meet your marketing goals.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about advertising on X (Twitter) and how to make the most of the platform’s unique opportunities.
Why Advertise on X (Twitter)?
X (Twitter) is all about the conversation, making it an ideal platform for businesses that want to tap into real-time trends and engage with users in the moment.
Here are a few reasons why you should consider advertising on X (Twitter) for your business:
- Unique Targeting: X (Twitter) provides unique targeting options that aren’t available on other platforms, including: follower lookalikes (e.g. targeting lookalikes of your competitors’ followers), conversations, keywords.
- Diverse Ad Formats: This platform has all the ad formats you’re used to like DPAs, statics and videos, but there are more formats uniquely available on X (Twitter).
- Amplify Your Reach: Only 48% of all social media users are on X (according to a Sprout Pulse survey with respondents across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland & Australia) meaning you could be missing out on a huge percentage of unique users.
- Ad Incentives: Keep an eye out for incentives from X (Twitter) e.g. free ad credits, that they release to encourage new businesses to start advertising on X (Twitter).
- Real-Time Engagement: X (Twitter) allows brands to interact with users as events unfold, providing opportunities to stay relevant.
X (Twitter)-Specific Ad Opportunities
X (Twitter) Ads goes beyond traditional formats, offering unique opportunities to enhance your campaign’s performance:
- Amplify Pre-Roll Ads: These ads play before video content and allow you to target specific content categories. This is an excellent way to reach users who are already engaged with a particular type of content.
- For example, if you’re advertising a car-related service, you can choose to appear on automotive content.
- Amplify Sponsorship Ads: Looking to sponsor content that resonates with your target audience? Amplify Sponsorship Ads let you pair your brand with a publisher and specific posts to ensure your message is delivered at the right moments.
- For example, if you’re a brand that’s aligned with football, you could partner with a football publisher and play your ads before their video content e.g. game highlights.
- Timeline Takeover: Be the first ad that will appear when someone opens X (Twitter) for the first time of the day. People open X (Twitter) to find out what’s happening – your brand can be there when people are paying attention most.
- Trend Takeover: Appear at the top of the Explore tab for 24 hours, alongside what’s trending organically. This can be paired with the Timeline Takeover for greater impact.
These ad opportunities provide a great way to place your brand alongside high-quality content and capture attention when it matters most.
Ad Formats on X (Twitter)
X (Twitter) offers a variety of ad formats to help brands meet their advertising objectives:
- Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs): Great for e-commerce, these ads dynamically promote products based on user behavior.
- Collection Ads: Showcase multiple products in a visually engaging way, making it easy for users to browse and shop.
- Image Ads & Video Ads: Single-image or video ads that you’re used to on other platforms.
- Carousel Ads: Carousel ads allow you to display up to six images or videos within a single ad.
- Text Ads: A simple yet impactful format to quickly communicate your message, fitting in well with organic posts.
Targeting Options
X (Twitter) Ads offers a variety of targeting options to ensure your ads reach the right people:
- Keywords: Reach users based on the specific keywords they’ve engaged with or searched for.
- Follower Lookalikes: Target users similar to your current followers or those of your competitors.
- Interests: From movies to conversation topics, you can target users based on their interests.
- Engagers & Followers: Reach people who have engaged with your content in the past or who follow specific accounts.
Do X (Twitter) Ads Actually Work?
We’ve seen excellent results for one of our clients whose primary objective was to drive website traffic. When compared with Meta, the same creative had a lower cost per link click.
Final Thoughts
Advertising on X (Twitter) is a unique opportunity to connect with audiences in a meaningful way. Whether you’re sponsoring key moments or using X (Twitter)’s targeting to reach follower lookalikes, the platform’s tools offer versatility to fit your campaign goals. Make sure to experiment with the different ad formats and targeting options available to find what works best for your business.
Interested in launching an X (Twitter) Ads campaign? Reach out to our team today, and we’ll help you create a strategy that delivers results!
