Promoted tweets, now promoted posts on X, are ordinary posts that an advertiser pays to show to people beyond their followers. They look and behave like any other post: people can like, reply to and repost them. You create them in X Ads at ads.x.com, and you can make a post promoted-only so it reaches only your ad audience and never appears on your profile.
The name changed with the rebrand, but the idea hasn't: you take a post and pay for it to reach a chosen audience. Here's how they work in X's own words, including the promoted-only setting most small advertisers don't know exists.
Where promoted content appears on X
Promoted posts usually show in timelines, but X's Premium page lists several other places paid content can appear:
- Ads on profiles
- Ads in post replies
- Amplify video ads, which run alongside premium video content
- Promoted events in Explore
- Promoted trends
- Promoted accounts in the suggestions of who to follow
Premium subscribers see about half as many ads in their timelines, according to X, and Premium+ is close to ad-free, so your promoted posts mostly reach people on free or lower plans.
Normal promoted posts versus promoted-only posts
| Promoted post | Promoted-only post | |
|---|---|---|
| Shown to your followers | Yes, as a normal post too | No, unless you target them |
| On your profile | Yes | No |
| In search results | Yes | No |
| Can get replies, likes and reposts | Yes | Yes, from people who see it |
| Where it's created | Your timeline or X Ads | X Ads only |
Promoted-only posts are useful for testing ad copy without cluttering your profile, or for running offers you don't want every follower to see. X adds two caveats: they're still live posts, so anyone you mention gets a notification with a link to it, and X's data partners can see them, like any live post.
How to create a promoted-only post
- Log in to your X Ads account at ads.x.com.
- Go to Creatives, then Posts, and open the post composer, or create the post while setting up a campaign.
- Leave Promoted-only ticked under delivery options. If you're the account owner and untick it, the post goes to your followers as an ordinary post.
- Write the post, add media and save it, then add it to a campaign. If you schedule it, it won't publish until the date and time you set.
If you can't create one, X says the account owner needs to grant you the Can compose promotable Posts permission in the Edit access to account tab. Only the account owner can untick promoted-only or delete a promoted-only post.
How to delete a promoted-only post
Because promoted-only posts don't appear on your profile, you can't delete them from x.com. X says only the account owner can delete one, from the ads account:
- Log in to ads.x.com.
- Go to Creatives, then Posts.
- Select the date of the post you want to remove to open it.
- Click the three dots at the top right of the post and choose Delete.
Do this when an offer ends, so an old promotion can't be shared by link after it's expired.
Who can run promoted posts
X's eligibility page sets out the requirements for every advertiser:
- Your posts must be public, and the account can't be deactivated or suspended.
- The account must be verified, through Verified Organizations for businesses or a paid X plan for individuals.
- Profile and header photos can't be GIFs, and the link in your bio must be live, not gated, and represent your brand.
- Ads aimed at some countries must be in the local language.
Who sees your promoted posts
You choose the audience when you set up the campaign, and X's ads auction decides who sees each post. A normal promoted post also stays on your timeline, so your followers see it as an ordinary post as well as the paid audience seeing it as an ad. A promoted-only post skips your followers entirely unless you add them to the targeting, which makes it the cleaner choice when you want to reach new people only.
To see what the ads lead to, my guide to the X Pixel covers conversion tracking.
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What promoted posts cost
There's no set price. X says there's no minimum spend and its ads run on an auction, so what you pay depends on how engaging your ad is, the size of your audience, how many other advertisers want that audience and how much you bid. You set a bid and a campaign budget, and the objective decides what you pay for: with the Engagements objective, for instance, you pay only when someone engages with your post, such as a click, repost, reply, like or poll vote.
The campaigns themselves are set up in my walkthrough of X Ads Manager.
How to make a promoted post work
- Promote a post that already did well organically. Engagement is one of the factors in what you pay, so a proven post starts ahead.
- Pick the objective you'll judge it on. If you want site visits, don't pay for engagements.
- Use promoted-only for tests. Try several versions without your followers seeing them all.
- Watch the replies. Because promoted posts can be replied to, the comments under your ad are part of the ad.
Promoted posts work best on top of a steady organic presence; my guide to using X for content marketing covers that side.
My verdict
Promoted posts are the simplest way to advertise on X, and promoted-only posts are the feature I'd use first: they let you test offers cleanly and keep your profile looking like you, not an ad feed. Get verified, start with one post that's already earned replies, set a small budget, and judge it by results, not likes. Then compare the cost against your other channels with a simple social media ROI check.
Frequently asked questions
What is a promoted tweet?
It's a post an advertiser pays to show to people beyond their followers. On X they're now called promoted posts, and they can be liked, replied to and reposted like any other post.
What is a promoted-only post on X?
A post made in X Ads that's shown only to the people targeted in your campaign. It doesn't appear on your profile, your followers' timelines or search results unless you target them.
How much do promoted posts cost on X?
There's no fixed price or minimum spend. X runs an auction, so cost depends on your bid, your audience, competition and how engaging the ad is.
Do I need to be verified to promote a post on X?
Yes. X's eligibility rules require advertisers to be verified through Verified Organizations or a paid X plan, with public posts and a live link in the bio.
