Keyword Targeting

Keyword targeting shows your ad to people based on the words in their recent searches and posts on X.

You enter the words and phrases you want, and X matches your ad to users who searched those terms or posted them. It catches people around a moment of intent rather than a fixed profile.

Say you sell running shoes and add "marathon training", "shin splints", and "new running shoes". Someone posts "finally signed up for my first marathon" and becomes eligible to see your ad that day. Open the keyword breakdown in Ads Manager to see which of your terms are actually serving and which are dead weight.

A keyword catches a moment, not a buyer. Someone using a word is not someone shopping, and broad terms pull in a lot of chatter that never converts. Keep the list tight and exclude the words that waste spend.

Match the intent, not just the word.