Let’s be for real. Advertising on X right now kind of feels like putting up a billboard inside a burning building. Yes, the rent is cheap, and there are plenty of people standing around watching the building burn, but do you want your brand logo to be right next to the guy yelling about conspiracy theories? It seems, for many of you, the answer is yes.
Despite the loss of advertisers who decided they had enough of the mess, X still has 600 million users. That is a lot of eyeballs. And where there are eyeballs, there are marketing managers trying to justify their quarterly budget. If you are comfortable with the daily minefield of controversies, like the recent Grok scandal that managed to offend nearly everyone with a pulse, then X might actually work for you.
Fortunately, the site is very eager to part you from your money. To prove this, they have just released a set of guides on the X Business website to help you through their developing advertising system without losing your mind.
The AI Overlords Are In Charge
First off, X has put out a guide on how to set up ads. The important thing to take away from all this is that you have to stop worrying and learn to love the algorithm. They have adjusted the way that hashtags and mentions function, which is to feed their targeting algorithms.
The guide basically just tells you to keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate your targeting. Just fling your creativity into the void and let the “advanced AI” decide who wants to see it. It’s the digital equivalent of closing your eyes and throwing a dart. But hey, if it gets your ad in front of the right people, who cares how the sausage is made?
The "Learning Phase" (AKA Burning Money)
Then, we have the summary about sales campaigns. This one has some interesting tidbits about the "learning phase."
For those new to the world of advertising, the learning phase is that dreaded time at the beginning of a campaign where the algorithm doesn’t have a clue what it is doing. It’s spending your money trying to determine if your product is for soccer moms or crypto bros. X recommends that you be patient during this time. They want you to run your campaigns for a longer period of time.
Of course, they do. The longer you are running the campaign, the more they get paid. However, they argue that this patience helps the system to stabilize and finally deliver results. If you cut the campaign short because you are worried about the cost per acquisition, you apparently break the magic.
App Promotion in the Apocalypse
Finally, there is a guide for app campaigns. If you are attempting to get people to download your mobile game or productivity software while they are doom-scrolling through political debates, then this is for you. The guide dissects the creative elements and targeting information you will need. It is actually pretty good advice, assuming you can get anyone to click on a link that leads them away from the argument they are having in the comments section.
Parting Words
Listen, running ads on X is a roll of the dice. You are gambling that the views are worth the mess. You're placing a bet that the AI targeting is actually clever and not just guessing. But if you are going to do it, you might as well play by the rules. These guides give you the blueprint. Whether that blueprint leads to a goldmine or just a hole in the ground is something you will have to find out for yourself.
