How your ad looks is becoming just as important as who sees it. By the end of 2025, X (formerly Twitter) will command over 611 million active users globally, with a prime demographic aged 25–34. For marketers, that’s not just reach — it’s strategic gold. Engagement is strong — with an average ad engagement rate of 1.57% and a CTR of 0.86%, X outpaces many of its competitors in click performance. But as we step into a new era of AI-led platforms, one thing becomes clear: appearance is currency. Your ad’s visual quality is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a critical success metric, and X is paving the way to this new era.
The bigger picture: The rise of AI-driven aesthetic evaluation
Traditionally, advertising success hinged on the mantra “right message, right audience.” But in 2025, that mantra has a third, non-negotiable leg: right design. Platforms now use AI to evaluate not just who sees your ad, but how your ad looks.
Welcome to the era of algorithmic aesthetics — where even grammar, whitespace, and emoji count toward your ROI.
Elon Musk’s X has led the charge by assigning every ad an “aesthetic score,” which influences both its cost (CPM) and prominence in the feed. What are the rules of the game in such new realms?
- Those ads that come with plenty of elements like hashtags, emojis, or other visual noise get downgraded.
- Those with a cleaner design and look more professional get prioritized (or rewarded).
- Better scores = lower CPM and stronger placement.
- Poor scores = higher costs and reduced visibility.
Think of your ad as applying for a loan — the cleaner your “credit,” the better your rate.
Example:
Two sneaker brands advertise on X.
- Brand A clutters its creative with #sneakerhead, #sale, 10+ emojis, and a looping GIF.
- Brand B opts for a crisp, professional product image, concise copy, and a subtle visual accent.
Brand B earns the higher aesthetic score, gaining better visibility at a lower cost. In Musk’s view, hashtags are “an aesthetic nightmare” — and he’s entrusted AI like Grok to organize content more intelligently without visual clutter.
Why high-quality creatives are more crucial than ever
Strong visuals are no longer just about branding — they’re directly tied to bottom-line performance. Well-crafted creatives drive:
- Higher click-through rates
- Better brand recall
- Positive associations
Lower bounce rates through deeper engagement
Greater budget efficiency as high-performing creatives convert more.
The flip side? Sloppy, low-effort creatives aren’t just ineffective — they waste media spend by dragging down algorithmic favorability.
Here's another similar example: An online fashion retailer launches two campaigns: one uses blurry, low-res images and text with typos. The other presents sleek visuals, clean composition, and impeccable copy.
Not surprisingly, the polished version pulls ahead — both in viewer engagement and algorithmic preference. This is not just an X phenomenon. Platforms like TikTok and Meta are expected to roll out similar systems where AI measures not just engagement, but how the ad earns it.
The challenge: One creative doesn’t fit all platforms
Each platform has its own “visual dialect” — a unique set of unspoken design rules that influence how ads are received and ranked. Understanding these subtleties is critical to success:
- X pushes towards simplicity and visual elegance, downgrading ads for visual clutter and excessive elements like emojis or hashtags.
- TikTok, meanwhile, prioritizes dynamic videos and emotional hooks – part of a natural experience on this platform.
- In Meta, significant attention is given to engagement score and how many reactions and comments posts receive.
- Google Display Network (GDN), for instance, prioritizes relevance in terms of context but also takes into account visual coherence to fit its digital ecosystem.
That’s why crafting the same creative that would render equally well on all platforms and mediums is like trying to speak the same language in different countries – it never works perfectly, since delivery will likely miss the mark.
Smartyads DSP creative builder — smart tools for crafting creatives
To help advertisers navigate these evolving standards, SmartyAds DSP offers a built-in feature called Creative Builder that removes the friction from adapting and deploying ads on a programmatic media buying platform.
Key features include:
- High-quality visuals crafted directly inside SmartyAds DSP
- Auto-resizing for various ad formats and responsive placements
- Dynamic, real-time previews to tweak and perfect creatives instantly
- Support for animated, interactive, video, responsive, and interstitial ad formats
- Seamless cross-channel deployment to multiple programmatic environments from one dashboard.
Example use case:
A fashion retailer leverages the Creative Builder to create multiple versions of an interactive video ad optimized for different device sizes and placements within SmartyAds DSP. By quickly adjusting elements and previewing results in real time, the advertiser identifies how the creative will be rendered on the screen and, if needed, makes adjustments. Using these insights, they reallocate their budget within the DSP to maximize ROI — all without needing to switch between tools or platforms.
Future-proof your campaigns with smart creative management
The aesthetic score on X is just the beginning. As AI gets more sophisticated, creative evaluation will only intensify. Platforms will judge not just what you say, but how well you say it.
To stay ahead, advertisers should:
- Regularly experiment with creative variations
- Leverage AI to get essential insights that would create standards driving all of your future design and messaging (aka playbook of styles and tone).
- Discover the best DSPs and pinpoint which one is the most suitable for driving the creative user experience you have in mind.
Invest in platforms like SmartyAds DSP to streamline creative workflows. - Prepare for new scoring systems, such as Meta’s rumored “engagement quality index”
Marketers who wait to adapt will find themselves stuck in reactive mode — paying more and getting less.
Diversify: Why one platform won’t cut it anymore
While X is leading the minimalist charge, other platforms are innovating in parallel — and do this on their own terms. Each of the advertising platforms has its own benefits and unique functionality that differentiates their approach – some have unique formats, others have entire AI creative generation tools, and on-the-go optimization for ads.
The main thing is that brands have the opportunity to take advantage of several platforms by diversifying their presence across platforms. Relying on one platform today is like investing your entire retirement in a single stock. When the algorithm shifts, your strategy may be at stake.
- GDN still provides access to premium inventory like YouTube, Gmail, and top-tier websites.
- Programmatic, meanwhile, opens a broader pool of inventory for advertisers who can access it and bid for impressions in real time.
- Programmatic advertising via DSPs like SmartyAds enables advertisers to access a broader pool of SSPs through real-time bidding or direct programmatic deals.
So, by leveraging several ad platforms, advertisers can achieve greater reach, audience diversity, creative testing, launching, and optimization opportunities. More about differences between programmatic and GDN read in our previous article.
Example:
When advertisers stick only to one platform, they potentially miss out on reaching audiences they might have reached when advertising on several platforms simultaneously. For instance, you advertise on one platform for its outstanding CTV advertising opportunities and on the other platform for social media reach and social media engagement.
By adopting a multi-platform strategy, advertisers gain:
- Broader audience exposure
- Precision in targeting across verticals
- More accurate testing environments
- Resilience against platform-specific algorithm changes
- Diversification isn’t just a media buying tactic — it’s creative risk management.
Summary: Creativity meets the algorithm
The launch of X’s aesthetic score marks a turning point in digital advertising: platforms now judge your presentation as much as your message. Marketers must invest in strong, polished, platform-specific creatives to succeed in this new algorithm-driven era. Additionally, creatives demand continuous testing and rapid adaptation to new trajectories and realms of campaign performance.
Tools like Creative Builder on SmartyAds DSP aim to reduce production time and make your creative adjustable and ultimately effective. Try multi-platform strategies to ensure reach, resilience, and relevance. The next wave of high-performing ads won’t just be targeted. They’ll be tailored, tested, and algorithm-approved.
Create a meaningful and visually appealing experience with a creative builder on SmartyAds DSP!
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