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

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.

Are advertisers chomping at the bit to test it out?

Sort of. Advertisers that Digiday spoke with about this latest launch are all planning to test the new placement to see how much traction it provides.

For example, Werpy said that her team has been excited to see Threads ads roll out. 

“With Meta expanding placements, it allows us to tap into incremental audiences, gain fresh visibility, expand creative testing opportunities, and potentially lower CPMs,” she said. “While the algorithm will adjust as time goes on, it will be crucial to monitor Threads’ performance to avoid sacrificing high-performing placements on Facebook and Instagram.”

But most advertisers will unsurprisingly be taking a measured approach.

Maggill-Sterritt said that she anticipates testing into Threads as an upper funnel strategy to see what kind of reach, traffic and engagement numbers her team pulls in before pivoting to a larger strategy from there.

Similarly, Markacy’s vp of media, Chris Rigas said his team are planning to encourage their clients to test the Threads ads as part of their larger Meta strategies. But they don’t expect it to be a large or even significant percentage of their Meta ad budgets. At least not anytime soon.

“Conversions will likely be harder to generate on the platform initially,” Rigas explained. “Since we are typically focused on generating profitable conversions, we expect Meta’s algorithm and our optimization approach to keep the vast majority of spend on Facebook and Instagram until this tactic proves it can carry more budget.” 

Has bringing ads to Threads put it more in line with its platform peers?

It’s a start. The placement certainly brings it more in line with X — the platform considered to be its main rival, and reason for launching ahead of schedule back in July 2023. 

As an ads platform, it could offer a safer alternative in the long run, according to Maggill-Sterritt, as long as “Threads can foster a richer, more engaged conversation layer and deepen its real-time culture, it could absolutely fill that void.”

However, X still offers a wider variety of ad formats, including image, video, carousel and text ad plays across a number of placement options. But knowing Meta’s abundance of ad placements and formats across its platforms and how quickly the team got Threads and advertising there off the ground, it likely won’t be long before additional options are added.

“Given the strong organic participation, I do think Threads ads are going to need to be more customized than a Meta ad,” Maggill-Sterritt added. “It needs to feel organic to the conversation rather than salesy. I anticipate the ad format being similar to X / Reddit, depending on client vertical.”

Meta declined Digiday’s request for comment.