Meta’s Threads ads arrive fast, but advertisers move at their own pace

After a mere three months of testing, Meta announced on Wednesday that ads on Threads are now available to all eligible advertisers globally.

While it might seem quick — testing periods can typically take anything from six months to a year prior to an official global launch — the anticipation of when this might drop has lingered since Threads first launched in July 2023.

So what’s on offer and how does it work?

Since Threads is a text-based app, the new image ad placement is in the Threads feed. And as predicted by most advertisers Digiday caught up with during the short testing window, Meta stated that advertisers can access it via the Advantage+ platform whereby advertisers leave it up to Meta’s algorithm to determine where their ads show up, or via manual placements, where marketers purposefully select which placements they want their campaigns to show up in.

To build momentum around the product, the placement is on by default for new campaigns using the Advantage+ platform. But those that aren’t interested only have the option to opt out of the Threads feed ads if they’re using the manual placement setting.

Given it’s still early days, the Threads ad placement is only being delivered in select markets for now, with more to come as Meta continues to test the placement option. Plus for advertisers’ peace of mind, Meta has ensured its brand safety and suitability standards and controls apply to this new Threads placement from day one.

“We can use our existing Meta assets since Threads supports a range of aspect ratios from 1.91:1 to 4:5,” said Taylor Maggill-Sterritt, paid social team lead at digital marketing agency Seer Interactive. “All we need to do is opt into the placement at the ad set level when building the campaign.”

Tinuiti’s senior social innovation director, Jack Johnston, concurred.

“It’s another placement in Meta’s ecosystem and typically the more placements an advertiser opts into, the more efficient the reach, and overall media performance.”

Still, as Courtney Werpy, associate director of performance media at Collective Measures pointed out, the heavier lift for advertisers will likely come post-launch as performance data rolls in.

“We’ll need to test and adapt our creative and messaging to better resonate within Thread’s environment, which differs from Facebook and Instagram,” she said.

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Digiday: Meta’s Threads ads arrive fast, but advertisers move at their own pace

Meta’s Threads ads arrive fast, but advertisers move at their own pace

So what’s on offer and how does it work?

Still, as Courtney Werpy, associate director of performance media at Collective Measures pointed out, the heavier lift for advertisers will likely come post-launch as performance data rolls in.

“We’ll need to test and adapt our creative and messaging to better resonate within Thread’s environment, which differs from Facebook and Instagram,” she said.