How to Create Effective Twitter Ads that Drive Engagement

Brad • July 11, 2024

Four Simple Tips on How to Master X Advertising:

1. Set Up Your Ad Account: Create a Twitter/X ad account if you don't have one. It's easy and quick to set up.

2. Choose Engagements Campaign: Select "Engagements" when creating your campaign to boost interactions with your posts.

3. Start with a Low Budget: Begin with $2 to $5 a day to test your ads. Increase the budget once you find what works.

4. Use Existing Tweets: Use your organic tweets for ads to get more engagement on posts that are already performing well.

Hey there! Need more engagement on your Twitter/X posts? Maybe you want to try some ads to boost that engagement, get more followers, leads, and customers. I’m Brad Smith, owner of AutomationLinks, and I’ve been doing this marketing stuff for over 10 years. My advice is short and to the point. Today, I'll show you how to set up a Twitter/X ad so you can copy and paste it for your brand. Let’s dive in and get started!

Setting Up Your Twitter/X Ad Account

First things first, you need an ad account. If you don’t have one, set it up. It’s really easy – just follow the steps and you’ll be in your ad account in no time. Once you’re in, click on "Create Campaign." Ignore the "Basic" option – that’s not for us. We want to choose "Engagements" to boost interactions with your Twitter posts.
Give your campaign a name that makes sense to you. I like to name mine something like “US + Entrepreneurs + Followers” so I can easily find it later. This helps you keep track of your campaigns and see which ones are working best. Set your budget next. You don’t need to spend a lot at first – $2 to $5 a day is a good start. Once you find a winner, you can increase your budget.

Tips for Setting Up Your Ad Account:

  • Set up your ad account if you don't have one.
  • Choose "Engagements" to boost interactions.
  • Name your campaign something memorable.
  • Start with a low budget, like $2 to $5 a day.

Choosing Your Audience

Next, we need to choose our audience. This is crucial for getting the right people to see your ads. Start by selecting the age range, language, and location. Keep things simple and avoid overcomplicating your settings. Now, it’s time to build your audience with interests, follower look-alikes, and keywords.

Aim to include about eight interests, eight follower look-alikes, and eight keywords. For example, you might choose followers of well-known entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk, and interests related to business. Keywords are phrases that your target audience might use in their tweets or profiles. Once you have a well-rounded audience of a couple of million people, you're ready for the next step. After setting your audience, click "Next." You can create a new ad, but I suggest using an existing one. Pick one of your organic tweets that has already received some engagement. This will help boost the tweet further and get more interactions. Once selected, publish the ad and watch the engagement grow.

Tips for Choosing Your Audience:

  • Select age range, language, and location.
  • Include about eight interests, follower look-alikes, and keywords.
  • Use existing tweets for your ads to boost engagement.
  • Aim for an audience size of a couple of million people.

Adjusting and Optimizing Your Ad

Sometimes, you might get unwanted engagement from bots or irrelevant users. If this happens, go back and tweak your audience settings. Experiment with different interests, follower look-alikes, and business types until you find the right mix. Twitter is also introducing options to target verified users only, which can help improve the quality of your engagement.

It’s important to test your audiences and spend as little money as possible initially. Once you identify a winning audience that brings in real, engaged users, you can start investing more. This strategy will help you get better results, boost your follower count, and drive more clicks to your website or product.

Tips for Adjusting and Optimizing Your Ad:

  • Monitor your ad for unwanted engagement and tweak your audience settings as needed.
  • Test different combinations of interests, follower look-alikes, and business types.
  • Use the verified users-only option to improve engagement quality.
  • Start with a small budget and increase it once you find a successful audience.

Conclusion

And there you have it! Setting up Twitter/X ads that drive engagement is all about knowing your audience, choosing the right settings, and optimizing as you go. Start with a small budget, experiment with different audience settings, and use existing tweets to boost engagement. With these tips, you’ll see more interactions, followers, and potential customers. Thanks for reading, and happy advertising!

  • How do I set up a Twitter/X ad account?

    To set up a Twitter/X ad account, follow these steps: create an ad account if you don’t have one, then click "Create Campaign." Choose "Engagements" to boost interactions with your posts. Name your campaign for easy tracking, set a budget (starting at $2 to $5 per day), and you're ready to go.

  • How do I choose the right audience for my Twitter/X ad?

    Select your audience based on age range, language, and location. Add about eight interests, follower look-alikes, and keywords related to your target audience. Using existing tweets with good engagement for your ads can help boost their performance. Aim for an audience size of a couple of million people for best results.

  • What should I do if my Twitter/X ad isn't performing well?

    If your ad attracts unwanted engagement or isn't performing as expected, adjust your audience settings. Experiment with different interests, follower look-alikes, and keywords. Consider using the verified users-only option to improve engagement quality. Start with a small budget and increase it once you find a successful audience.

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