Audience types: Event targeting

Events come to life on Twitter. Our event targeting capabilities allows advertisers to quickly and easily discover, plan for, and activate events on Twitter. You can target events up to 2 weeks before they starts to garner interest and reach excited attendees, and up to 3 weeks after it’s over to reinforce learnings and maintain buzz.

How it works

Twitter’s campaign setup form is where you can browse events available for targeting.

To target an event in a campaign:

1. Choose the “Create new campaign” button on ads.twitter.com and select the campaign objective you want to start
2. You’ll be brought to the campaign setup form 
3. Fill in your campaign parameters. Events available for targeting can be found via the search bar under the “Audience features” section of the “Targeting” tab.
4. Launch your campaign!

To get the best results out of your event targeting, we recommend only adding geo-location and language targeting on top. 

Please note that you can start targeting an event in your campaigns up to 2 weeks before it starts. Events expire 3 weeks after they’re over, and you’ll no longer be able to target that event in your campaign after that time. 

Frequently asked questions

What additional targeting can I layer onto event targeting?

You’re able to layer on any other types of targeting in your campaign. However, to get the most out of your event targeting, we recommend you only add on geo-location and language targeting. This way, your campaign has the full opportunity to reach people participating in the event. 

Event targeting is an example of additive targeting, also known as “OR” targeting. 

Additive targeting types – “OR” targeting: 

These targeting types will layer onto each other, making your potential campaign audience larger. For example, someone who fits Targeting piece 1 OR piece 2 OR piece 3, etc will be eligible to be served your ad. 

• Interest
• Username (follower look-alikes)
• Movies and TV shows
• Events
• Keywords
• Conversation topics

Subtractive targeting types – “AND” targeting:

These targeting types will make your potential campaign audience smaller, as they will all be respected. For example, someone who fits in targeting piece 1 AND piece 2 AND piece 3 will be eligible to be served your ad.

• Geo location
• Age
• Gender
• Device model
• Platform
• Language

When should I use event targeting?

Event targeting is perfect for advertisers looking to be part of a moment and join the conversation. The benefits of event targeting include the ability to target events that have a ramp-up and a ramp-down period, where your campaigns can serve to people who are anticipating the beginning and re-living the end. 

If your advertising goals are to reach people whose participation in an event likely aligns with your business, this targeting type is a great tool. 

I don’t see an event I want to include in my campaign

Our event targeting form has hundreds of events all across the globe. If an event can be targetable, it’ll show up in the event targeting form at least 2 weeks the event begins. If an event does not show up in the targeting form within 2 weeks of the event going live, it is not a targetable event.