X (Twitter) Promoted Ads: Image, Video and Website Card Management

Which X ad format to use: image, video, Website Card or App Button

We choose the variation not by the creative but by where the user goes after the ad. If they will stay on the post and join the conversation, a simple image or video is enough. If they will go to the website, we use a Website Card; if they will go to the app store, an App Button. Both image and video can be built with either card type.

• Image ad: A single photo. Quick to prepare and works with several objectives. We use it for message testing when a campaign first launches.
• Video ad: For showing the product in motion or telling a short story. We choose the view billing event based on the objective.
• Website Card: The whole image or video links to the website with a clickable headline. Our first choice for traffic and conversion campaigns.
• App Button: Goes to the App Store or Play Store page; if the app is installed, it can be set to open directly inside the app.
• Poll: Asks a question alongside an image. It can only be set up through the X Ads API and is not available in the Ads Manager interface.

Writing X ad copy: the text is read before the image

X's own guide recommends keeping copy to 140 characters instead of 280, and under 50 characters if possible. We reduce ad copy to a single idea: one benefit, one number or one question. We place the logo in the top left corner of the image and limit hashtags to one or two per post. Turning the brand slogan into a hashtag and expecting users to adopt it on their own is also on X's "don't" list.

In videos, we place the product or brand in the first few seconds, because video in the timeline usually starts muted and whether a user scrolls past is decided in the first frames. A video that cannot be understood without captions and visual cues is not ready in our view. We compare which opening frame holds viewers longer with ad creative analysis and use the winning opening in later cuts.

Avoiding creative fatigue and retargeting post engagers

X recommends 3-5 new posts a week in promoted campaigns and says that new posts more often increase weekly unique reach. On accounts that rotate the same image for three weeks, we often see click-through rates fall and costs rise. So when we launch a campaign, we also prepare a one-month post calendar: two image and two copy variations of the same message, with a new angle each week.

After the first campaign, we set up a second stage with Post Engager targeting. We separately select people who received an impression, engaged, started the video or watched 50% or 100% of it, and show them an offer with a Website Card. The engagement source can be organic posts, specific campaigns or both; in the interface, the most recent 200 campaigns can be selected for this purpose.

Measuring X ads against GA4

Website Card clicks never match the sessions the site sees exactly. We add UTM parameters to cards and compare X reporting with GA4 sessions. If the gap is large, we look at page load speed first; a page that loads slowly on mobile loses some of the users who clicked before it even opens. That is why a page speed check is part of campaign preparation.

Promoted Ads (Image and Video): when do we recommend it?

How we manage Promoted Ads (Image and Video)

1. Message testingIn the first week, we try 3-4 different copy and visual angles with image ads under the same objective.
2. Variation selectionWe move the winning message to a Website Card, App Button or video depending on the objective.
3. Reply planTogether with the brand, we write a response guide and hiding rules for replies to ads.
4. Second stageWith Post Engager targeting, we isolate people who received an impression, clicked the post or watched 50% of the video, and show them an offer post with a Website Card.
5. Post calendarEvery week we pause posts with falling click-through rates and launch the next image and copy angle on the calendar.

Promoted Ads (Image and Video): metrics and requirements

The Brand Move X Team

To learn more about Promoted Ads (Image and Video) or other X ad formats, contact The Brand Move X team today.

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