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Sep 20, 2025
How Much Do Twitter Ads Cost in 2025 (and How to Actually Run Them)
Jens Bjerregaard
Marketing consultant
11
Min. read
Why You’re Probably Wondering About Twitter Ads
Twitter, or X if you want to call it that, is still one of the wildest social platforms out there. It moves fast, people argue about everything, memes come and go in a day, and the conversation is always alive. That’s exactly why ads here can work so well.
But if you’re reading this, you probably have the same questions everyone asks before trying it:
How much do twitter ads cost?
What’s the cheapest way to run ads on twitter?
Do I need to know some secret setup to make a twitter ad that actually works?
The short version is you don’t need a massive budget or an agency to run ads. You can spend just a few bucks a day, test different tweets, and see what clicks. The long version, which is what you’re about to read, will walk you through costs, setup, examples, and tricks to make sure you’re not just throwing money into the void.
How Twitter Ads Work
When people say “Twitter ads” or “X ads,” they basically mean boosting tweets so more people see them. Twitter’s ad system works on an auction model. You’re competing with other advertisers who want the same eyeballs, and Twitter decides who wins based on how much you bid and how good your ad is.
The beauty of it is you don’t just pay for impressions if you don’t want to. You can choose to only pay when people actually do something like click, follow, like, or reply. That’s what makes ads on twitter flexible. You’re not stuck paying for random views that don’t lead anywhere.
There are a few main flavors of ads: promoted tweets (regular tweets you push out wider), follower ads (built to get you followers), and trend takeovers (the super expensive option that puts you on the trending list). Each has its own cost structure, which is where most of the confusion comes in.
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How Much Do Twitter Ads Cost in 2025?
Let’s get to the good stuff: actual numbers. Here’s what advertisers are seeing this year:
Promoted tweets usually cost around $0.25 to $0.50 per engagement. That means each click, like, retweet, or reply falls into that range.
Follower ads run higher, usually $1 to $3 per new follower. It sounds steep, but if you’re building a community, it can be worth it.
Clicks to your website average out at about $0.18 each. That’s cheaper than what you’ll often see on Facebook or Instagram.
If you run on a cost per thousand impressions model (CPM), you’re looking at about $2 to $3 per thousand views. Not bad if you just want to be seen.
Trend takeovers are in a completely different league. They can run into six figures for a single day. That’s Coca Cola and Nike territory, not small business friendly.
What does that mean in real life? Let’s say you set aside $500 for a month of ads. If you run promoted tweets with a focus on clicks, you could easily get 2,000 to 3,000 clicks to your website for that budget. That’s a lot of potential eyeballs for not much money.
The good news is you don’t need to commit to big monthly spends to see results. Plenty of people start with $5 to $10 a day just to test what kind of response they get. The key is figuring out whether the clicks and followers you get actually lead to something like traffic, leads, or sales.
What Makes Costs Go Up or Down
Now here’s the thing: two people can run ads on twitter at the same time and pay totally different amounts for the same results. Why? Because of a few variables:
Your campaign goal. If you just want impressions, that’s usually cheaper than trying to get conversions. Paying for clicks tends to cost more than paying for likes.
The format you choose. Promoted tweets are usually cheaper than follower ads, and both are cheaper than trying to buy out the trending list.
Your audience. If you’re targeting a super specific niche like startup founders in New York, you’ll probably pay more per click because fewer people fit the bill. On the other hand, if you target broadly, you might pay less but get less relevant traffic.
Ad quality. Twitter rewards ads that people actually engage with. If your tweet gets clicks and likes naturally, Twitter charges you less to keep running it. If your tweet falls flat, you’ll pay more for every single action.
Time of year. Ads always get more expensive around the holidays. More brands are bidding for attention, so the competition drives prices up.
Geography. Ads targeting the US, UK, and other major markets cost more than ads aimed at smaller or emerging regions.
Think of it like surge pricing for attention. The more advertisers chasing the same people at the same time, the more you’ll pay.
How to Actually Run a Twitter Ad (Step by Step)
Enough about theory. Here’s how to go from zero to your first ad.
First, log in to your Twitter account and go to ads.x.com. That’s where everything happens.
Pick a campaign goal. Twitter will ask if you want reach, engagement, website clicks, followers, app installs, or video views. Pick the one that actually lines up with what you want.
Set your budget. You can pick daily spend or total spend. Start small, $10 a day is enough to test.
Choose your audience. Location, age, gender, interests, keywords, even followers of specific accounts. The more dialed in, the better.
Make your ad. You can either boost an existing tweet or write a new one just for ads. Adding images or video almost always works better than plain text.
Launch it. Double check everything, then hit go.
Watch the numbers. Your dashboard shows clicks, impressions, followers, cost per action. Don’t ignore it.
Tweak as you go. If one version tanks, pause it. If another does well, put more money behind it.
Running ads is less about setting it and forgetting it and more about constantly testing. The first ad you run might not crush it, and that’s normal. The trick is to adjust fast.
Making an Ad That Doesn’t Suck
The mechanics of setting up ads are easy. The harder part is writing a tweet people actually care enough to click. A few tips that work:
Keep it short. Twitter is about fast, punchy lines. Nobody wants to read an essay in your ad.
Use media. A sharp image or short video will make your ad pop in the feed.
Talk like a person. Ads that sound like ads get ignored. Write your ad the way you’d tweet normally.
Give people a reason. Whether it’s a discount, a piece of content, or just something funny, make it clear why they should engage.
Test different versions. Don’t assume you know what will hit. Run two or three variations and see what happens.
How to Keep Your Costs From Blowing Up
Nobody likes wasting money. Here’s how to stretch your ad dollars.
Start small. Run a few ads with different audiences and different styles. Find out what works before you scale.
Refresh often. Twitter feeds move fast, and ads get stale. Swap out your creative every couple weeks to keep engagement up.
Use retargeting. Twitter lets you target people who already visited your website or engaged with your tweets. They’re way more likely to click again than cold audiences.
Don’t chase vanity metrics. Likes are fine, but clicks and conversions are better. Pick goals that actually tie to your bigger picture.
Let Twitter’s algorithm help. Sometimes automatic bidding gets you cheaper clicks than setting manual bids, especially when you’re just starting out.
Are Twitter Ads Worth It?
Here’s the honest take: yes, if you use them right. Twitter ads aren’t magic. They won’t turn a bad product or boring content into gold. But if you already know your audience is active on the platform, ads can help you reach more of them for cheap.
Compared to other social platforms, Twitter ads are still relatively affordable. And because people on Twitter are so engaged in conversation, you can spark real interaction rather than just passive scrolling.
That said, it’s easy to burn cash if you don’t pay attention. Throwing $1,000 at random audiences without testing is a fast way to feel like ads don’t work. Starting small, testing, and scaling what works is the move.
Quick FAQs
How much do I need to spend to see results?
You can start with $5 to $10 a day. For small businesses, $300 to $500 a month is a realistic starting budget.
What’s better: promoted tweets or follower ads?
If you want quick growth, go with follower ads. If you care more about traffic and clicks, promote tweets.
Do I have to write new tweets just for ads?
Nope. You can boost existing tweets. But creating ad only tweets gives you more control and lets you test without spamming your followers.
Can I target really specific people?
Yes. You can target by location, interests, followers of specific accounts, and even keywords people tweet about.
Do ads look different from normal tweets?
Not really. The only difference is a tiny “Promoted” label. Otherwise, they blend right in.
