ad-x

Overview

This skill defines exactly what to produce for an X (Twitter) ad. It is platform-spec only: the slots X exposes for Promoted Posts, Website Cards, App Cards, and Video Ads, the character limits, asset ratios, and the CTA button enum.

Instructions

Ad Formats Covered

Promoted Post — Slots and Limits

Website Card — Slots and Limits

App Card — Slots and Limits

Image / Video Specs

CTA Button Enum (2026 — verify in Ads Manager)

X's creative specs page lists these CTA labels; the link-preview format with a headline below the media and a CTA button rolled out first for the Sales objective in 2025:

• Play
• Install
• Open
• Book
• Shop
• Connect
• Order

Older labels (Learn More, Sign Up, Visit Site, Shop Now) may still appear on legacy cards or other objectives — pick from what Ads Manager offers for the chosen objective.

Copy Rules — Promoted Post Must Read Native

• 280 chars is the hard cap, but the sweet spot is 70–150. Walls of text scroll past in milliseconds.
• First line carries the post. The image or hook line must stop the thumb in ≤1 second.
• No hashtags unless they're real topic tags (X's topic system, not arbitrary #marketing).
• 1 link per post — if you append a Website Card, do NOT also put the URL in the text. Pick the card.
• Emojis: 0–2, and only if they replace a word or anchor an idea. Decorative emoji strings (✨🚀💯) flag as low-quality.
• Avoid "Click the link below" — readers know.
• Avoid "Hey [audience]," openers — they read as templated ads.
• Brand-safety verdict: edgy is fine if defensible. Crude language gets the ad classed as higher brand-safety risk, which narrows placements and reach.

Ranking Touchpoints (for ad-as-post)

Promoted Posts compete in the same feed ranking as organic posts, so the same quality signals apply:

• Templated, generic copy and stock visuals underperform — make it look like a real artifact.
• Fast scroll-past and negative feedback ("not interested", mutes, reports) cost delivery across the audience.
• Brand-safety and policy classifiers can limit or stop delivery; disapproval is the visible form, reach loss the invisible one.

Takeover surfaces (Timeline, Trend, Spotlight) bypass the auction but still pass policy review.

Audience Reach Caveat (Premium / Premium+)

• Premium+ users see NO ads in feeds
• Premium tier users see ~50% fewer ads in For You / Following
• Material consequence: organic-feeling creative compounds harder because the in-feed surface skews toward less-subscribed users
• Char-count gotcha: if a URL is embedded in post text (not card-attached), each URL consumes 23 chars of the 280 budget — usable copy drops to 257 chars

Policy Constraints

• Trademark / copyrighted material without authorisation — disapproval
• Misleading metrics ("10M users" without proof) — manual review
• Crypto and financial products — country-restricted and certification-gated; check X's financial services policy for the target country before writing (2026 rules change often)
• Gambling — restricted, country-specific certification required
• Adult content — banned in ads even though organic permits some under the Adult Content Creator (ACC) program
• Political / issue ads — allowed only in specified countries, for certified advertisers, under local election law and silence periods (X reinstated political ads in 2023). Targeting an ineligible country = rejection
• Personal attributes targeting in copy — disapproval risk
• Sensitive personal events (illness, bereavement) — restricted
• Adjacency exclusion — ads will not serve adjacent to 12 categories (adult, violence, political conflict, profanity, drugs, spam, misinfo, hate, terrorism, self-harm, gambling, obscenity). Affects reach in regulated verticals

Output Format

# X Ads — [Product] [Campaign Name]

## Format
[Promoted Post / Website Card / App Card / Video Ad / Carousel / Vertical Video]

## Destination URL
[Landing page URL]

## Promoted Post Text (≤280, ≤150 ideal)
> [Copy — first line is the hook]

Char count: [N]/280

## Website Card (if attached)
- Card title (≤70 char): [title] — [chars]
- CTA: [from enum]
- Image / video: see visual spec

## Visual Spec
- Asset type: [Image / Video / GIF / Carousel]
- Ratio: [16:9 / 1:1 / 9:16]
- Shot: [concrete scenario]
- Text overlay (video): "[per-scene captions]"
- First frame (video): [what's visible at 0s — must hook]

## Carousel (if used)
| # | Image (1:1) brief | URL | CTA |
|---|-------------------|-----|-----|
| 1 | [shot] | [URL] | [enum] |
| 2 | ... | ... | ... |

## Variant Set
| # | Angle | Post Text (≤280) | Card Title | CTA |
|---|-------|------------------|------------|-----|
| 1 | [angle] | [hook line + rest] | [≤70] | [enum] |
| 2 | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Pre-Submit Checklist
- [ ] Post reads native — could pass as organic
- [ ] Post text ≤280 char (ideally ≤150)
- [ ] First line hooks in ≤1 second of read
- [ ] No "click the link below" or "Hey [audience]"
- [ ] One link OR one card — not both
- [ ] Emojis ≤2 and load-bearing, not decorative
- [ ] No hashtag spam
- [ ] CTA from correct enum (Website vs App card)
- [ ] Video captioned for silent autoplay
- [ ] Brand-safety: crude language out, defensible edgy in
- [ ] Visual ratio matches placement

When NOT to Use This Skill

• Audience targeting / tailored audiences → out of scope
• Conversion tracking / Pixel setup → out of scope