X (Twitter) Platform Guide
Written by Josh Hines • August 28, 2024 • 5 Minute Read
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Want to learn how to use your Twitter? We've put together a collection of tips and more explaining everything you need to know.
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Where To Start With Twitter
Twitter is a powerful platform for brands to market on for several key reasons. With a large user base of over 217 million monetizable daily active users, brands can reach a wide audience with their content and promotions.
The real-time nature of Twitter allows for quick engagement with customers and timely responses to trending topics, which can boost engagement and brand awareness. Brands can monitor what people say about them in real time, enabling them to address customer feedback and engage with their audience effectively.
Furthermore, brands can establish themselves as industry thought leaders by sharing valuable content, hosting Q&As, and participating in relevant conversations. Twitter is a great platform to showcase expertise and build credibility.
Twitter Platform Image Sizes
Here are the most important Twitter image sizes for brands in 2024:
Profile Image
- Ideal size: 400 x 400 pixels
- Displayed as a circle, but uploaded as a square
- Maximum file size: 2MB
- Supported formats: JPG, GIF, PNG
Header Image
- Ideal size: 1500 x 500 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 3:1
- Maximum file size: 5MB
- Supported formats: JPG, GIF, PNG
- Keep important content in the center as it may be cropped on some devices
In-Stream Images
- Ideal size: 1600 x 900 pixels
- Minimum size: 600 x 335 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 2:1 to 1:1 on desktop, 2:1, 3:4 and 16:9 on mobile
- Maximum file size: 5MB on mobile, 15MB on web
- Supported formats: JPG, GIF, PNG
- You can include up to 4 images per tweet
Video Thumbnails
- Match the aspect ratio of the video
- Supported formats: JPG, PNG
Adhering to Twitter's recommended image sizes ensures your visuals look sharp and professional across the platform. Always use high-quality images that are properly sized for the best results.
When To Share On Twitter
The best times to post on Twitter for brands vary depending on the audience and industry. Here are some general guidelines based on recent research:
General Best Times
- Peak hours: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with the highest engagement between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM
- Best days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are generally the best days to post
- Avoid work hours: Engagement is lower during traditional work hours (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)
Industry-Specific Best Times
- B2C Businesses: Catch people during morning and evening hours when they are not working
- B2B Businesses: Similar to B2C, but also consider posting during work hours when professionals are taking breaks
- Software Businesses: Post during work hours when professionals are more likely to be active
- Healthcare Companies: Post during morning and evening hours when people are more likely to engage with health-related content
- Media Companies: Maintain a consistent stream of content throughout the day, but focus on peak hours
- Higher Education: Post on Saturdays from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM for higher engagement
- Restaurants: Post on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM for higher engagement
Best Times For SaaS Brands To Share On Twitter
Analyze your Twitter data to find the best times for your specific audience, experiment with different times, and test different posting schedules to find what works best for your brand. Consider your target audience's time zone and post at times that are relevant to your target audience's time zone.
By following these guidelines and adapting to your specific audience, you can optimize your Twitter posting strategy for maximum engagement.
Twitter Platform Advertising Capabilities
Twitter offers advertising capabilities that allow brands to reach and engage their target audiences. Here are some of the key advertising options on Twitter:
Promoted Tweets
- Promoted Tweets are regular tweets that brands pay to have shown to a wider audience beyond just their followers
- They can contain text, images, videos, GIFs, or carousels and appear in users' timelines, search results, and profile pages
- Brands can use Promoted Tweets to increase visibility, promote products/services, or drive traffic to their website
Twitter Amplify
- Twitter Amplify allows brands to align their ads with premium video content from top publishers
- It offers two main formats:
- Amplify Pre-roll: Brands can select the content categories they want their video ads to appear before, choosing from over 15 categories
- Amplify Sponsorships: Brands get a 1:1 pairing with a single publisher at a chosen moment, with tweet-level control
Twitter Takeover
- Twitter Takeovers are premium placements that give brands exclusive ownership of Twitter's top ad real estate
- They come in two formats:
- Timeline Takeover: Brands' ads are the first ads users see when they open Twitter
- Trend Takeover/Trend Takeover+: Brands' ads appear alongside trending topics on the Explore tab, with Trend Takeover+ adding a video element
Advertising With Twitter Targeting Capabilities
- Twitter offers robust targeting options to reach specific audiences based on interests, behaviors, keywords, devices, and more
- Brands can target both prospecting audiences and remarketing audiences of people who have previously interacted with them
- Demographic targeting is also available by location, gender, age, language, and device
Twitter's diverse ad formats, advanced targeting, and real-time engagement make it a powerful platform for brands to reach and influence their target audiences. By leveraging the right mix of ad types and targeting, brands can drive awareness, engagement, and conversions.
Twitter Platform Best Practices
Here are the best practices on Twitter for brands:
Engage and Interact
- Respond to tweets and engage in conversations with your followers
- Use social listening to track indirect mentions of your brand and industry
- Participate in trends and events to boost engagement
Establish a Clear Brand Voice
- Develop a consistent tone and voice across all tweets
- Use a conversational tone and ask questions to encourage engagement
- Ensure your brand voice is authentic and consistent with your overall brand identity
Hop on the Trends
- Participate in timely trends and events to increase visibility
- Use hashtags to reach a wider audience and join relevant conversations
- Ensure your brand voice remains consistent even when participating in trends
Manage Community
- Build a Twitter following by following other accounts and engaging with users
- Use Twitter polls, pinned tweets, and retweets to add variety to your content
- Engage with your audience and respond to negative feedback to build customer relationships
Optimize Content
- Keep tweets short, ideally under 140 characters
- Use visuals such as images, videos, and GIFs to make your content stand out
- Utilize Twitter's features like polls, pinned tweets, and retweets to add variety
By following these best practices, brands can effectively use Twitter to engage with their audience, build their brand, and drive conversions.
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