Threads launched ads in early 2025, giving marketers access to Meta's fastest-growing platform and its 300 million active users who prefer text-based, conversation-driven content. The catch: you can't run ads on Threads alone, you also have to include Instagram feed as a placement, which means your strategy needs to account for both platforms simultaneously.

This guide walks you through everything from campaign setup and creative specs to targeting strategies and performance benchmarks, so you can decide whether Threads deserves a place in your media mix.

What Are Threads Ads and How Do They Work

Threads ads are native advertisements that appear between organic posts in Meta's text-based social platform feed. You run these ads through Meta Ads Manager, the same platform you use for Facebook and Instagram campaigns, which means if you're already advertising on Meta's other platforms, you already know the interface. There's one catch though: you can't run ads exclusively on Threads feed; you also have to include Instagram feed as a placement in your campaign setup.

When you create a campaign in Ads Manager, Threads feed appears as an available placement option alongside Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. The platform uses the same targeting, bidding, and optimization systems as other Meta placements, so your existing audience definitions and campaign structures transfer directly. Your ad creative appears seamlessly in users' Threads feeds as they scroll through text-based conversations and updates from accounts they follow.

Who Can Access Threads Advertising Today

Any advertiser with access to Meta Ads Manager can run ads on Threads, provided they have an Instagram account connected to their business profile. The feature rolled out globally in early 2025, making it available to businesses of all sizes across most markets where Meta advertising is supported.

Your business does need an active Instagram presence because Meta requires the Instagram feed placement to accompany any Threads feed ads. This connection also links your Threads profile to your Instagram account, creating a unified identity across both platforms that users can recognize.

Key Benefits of Advertising on Threads for Growth Marketers

Reach a Twitter-Style Audience Without Brand Safety Risk

Threads attracts users who prefer text-focused, conversation-driven content similar to what X (formerly Twitter) offered before its recent changes. The platform emphasizes public discussions, real-time commentary, and threaded conversations, giving you access to an audience that values this content format. Meta's established content moderation systems and brand safety controls apply to Threads, offering more predictable inventory quality than some alternative text-based platforms.

Unlock Incremental Impressions at Lower CPMs

Adding Threads feed to your media mix provides access to additional inventory beyond Facebook and Instagram. The incremental reach helps you connect with users who might be less active on Facebook or Instagram but engage regularly on Threads.

Simplify Workflow Through Meta Advantage+ Automation

Meta's Advantage+ placement optimization automatically includes Threads feed by default in new campaigns, distributing your budget across placements based on where it drives the best results. You don't need to create separate campaigns or custom creative for Threads, your existing Instagram-optimized assets work on both platforms. This automation reduces the operational complexity of testing a new channel while still giving you the option to manually control placements if your strategy requires it.

Supported Campaign Objectives and Optimization Events

Awareness Objectives

Reach and brand awareness campaigns work on Threads feed. Reach campaigns prioritize showing your ad to as many unique users as possible within your target audience, while brand awareness campaigns use Meta's algorithm to identify users most likely to remember seeing your ad.

Traffic and Engagement Objectives

Link clicks, landing page views, and engagement campaigns all support Threads feed placement. Traffic campaigns optimize for users who click through to your website, while engagement campaigns focus on users who interact with your ad through likes, comments, or shares. Landing page views go a step further by optimizing for users who not only click but also successfully load your destination page.

Conversions and App Installs

Purchase, lead generation, and app promotion objectives work on Threads with the same pixel-based or SDK-based tracking you use on other Meta placements. Conversion campaigns optimize for specific events like purchases, sign-ups, or add-to-cart actions on your website. App install campaigns drive downloads and can optimize for in-app events that occur after installation.

Ad Formats and Creative Specs for Threads Feed

Static Image Requirements

Single image ads on Threads support 1:1 square (1080 x 1080 pixels) and 4:5 vertical (1080 x 1350 pixels) aspect ratios, with a maximum file size of 30MB. Keep text overlays minimal, while Meta no longer enforces the old 20% text rule, ads with less text typically perform better in auction.

Image Ad Specifications:

Video Requirements

Video ads can run up to 60 seconds on Threads feed, though videos under 15 seconds typically see higher completion rates. Supported aspect ratios include 1:1 square and 4:5 vertical, with a maximum file size of 4GB and H.264 compression recommended. Design your videos for sound-off viewing by including captions or text overlays that convey your message visually.

Carousel Requirements

Carousel ads let users swipe through 2-10 images or videos, each with its own link destination. Each card follows the same specifications as single image or video ads, and you can mix images and videos within a single carousel. Users swipe horizontally to view additional cards, making carousels effective for showcasing multiple products or telling a sequential story.

Targeting Bidding and Budgeting Best Practices

Use Broad Targeting for Algorithmic Discovery

Start with broader audience definitions rather than narrow interest or demographic targeting to give Meta's algorithm more flexibility in finding high-performing users. Threads is still building its user behavior data, so overly specific targeting can limit delivery and prevent the algorithm from discovering unexpected audience segments that convert well. You can always narrow your targeting later based on performance data showing which demographics or interests drive the best results.

Start With Lowest Cost Bidding

Use automatic bidding (lowest cost) for your initial Threads campaigns to let Meta's system find the most efficient delivery opportunities. This bidding strategy prioritizes spending your entire budget while achieving the lowest possible cost per result. After you've gathered sufficient performance data, typically 50 or more conversions per week, you can test bid caps or cost caps if you need to control costs more precisely.

Allocate 10–15 Percent Test Budget

Dedicate 10-15% of your total Meta advertising budget to testing Threads feed placement, treating it as an incremental channel rather than shifting budget away from proven performers. This allocation gives you enough spend to exit the learning phase (typically 50 optimization events within 7 days) while protecting your core business results. Scale up your Threads investment gradually as you validate performance, increasing budget by no more than 20% every 3-4 days to maintain stable delivery.

Brand Safety and Inventory Controls

Inventory Filters

Meta's inventory filter settings apply to Threads feed, letting you exclude your ads from appearing alongside content in categories like gambling, debated social issues, or mature themes. You access controls in your ad set settings under "Brand Safety," choosing between expanded, moderate, or limited inventory options. The moderate setting balances reach and brand safety for most advertisers, while limited inventory provides the strictest controls at the cost of reduced delivery.

Third-Party Verification

Threads integrates with brand safety measurement partners like Integral Ad Science (IAS) and DoubleVerify for independent verification of where your ads appear. However, pre-bid blocking through partners isn't available yet for Threads inventory, limiting you to post-campaign analysis rather than proactive prevention.

Block Lists

You can implement account-level block lists to prevent your ads from appearing on specific Threads profiles, though this requires manual list management. Meta doesn't offer URL-level blocking for Threads since the platform uses profile-based rather than article-based content.

Reporting Attribution and Early Benchmarks

Compare Threads CPM to Instagram Feed

Break down your campaign results by placement in Ads Manager to compare Threads feed CPM against Instagram feed and other placements. Navigate to your campaign results, click "Breakdown," select "By Delivery," and choose "Placement" to see cost and performance metrics for each placement.

Monitor Click-Through and Hold Time

Track click-through rate (CTR) and video hold metrics specific to Threads to understand how users engage with your ads on the platform. Threads users tend to scroll quickly through their feeds, so strong visual hooks in the first frame matter even more than on Instagram. A CTR above 1% indicates solid performance for most industries, while video hold rates above 3 seconds suggest your creative successfully captures attention.

Attribute Incremental Lift With MMM

Media mix modeling (MMM) helps you measure whether Threads ads drive truly incremental results or simply shift conversions from other channels. This statistical approach analyzes the relationship between your marketing inputs across all channels and your business outcomes over time. While MMM requires significant data and analytical resources, it provides the most accurate view of how Threads contributes to your overall growth beyond last-click attribution.

Current Limitations and Upcoming Features

Unsupported Placements

Dynamic creative optimization (DCO), which automatically tests different combinations of images, headlines, and descriptions, doesn't currently work with Threads feed placement. You also can't use dynamic language optimization to serve different language versions of your ad based on user preferences. If you want to run ads on Threads, you'll need to either exclude dynamic features or create separate campaigns without Threads placement for testing dynamic elements.

Limited API Metrics

Advertisers using Meta's Marketing API for programmatic campaign management have access to fewer metrics for Threads placement compared to Facebook and Instagram. Placement-level metrics like impressions, clicks, and spend are available, but some engagement metrics and demographic breakdowns aren't yet accessible through the API.

Rumored Roadmap Rollouts

Based on Meta's historical pattern of feature rollouts across platforms, we can expect additional ad formats like Stories-style vertical video and shopping tags to arrive on Threads within the next 6-12 months. Meta typically launches new placements with basic functionality before gradually adding advanced features that already exist on Facebook and Instagram. However, Meta hasn't confirmed specific timelines or features, so plan your strategy around current capabilities rather than anticipated additions.

Five Steps to Launch Your First Threads Ad

1. Duplicate a High-Performing IG Feed Ad

Start by identifying your top-performing Instagram feed ads from the past 30 days based on your primary KPI, whether that's cost per purchase, cost per lead, or return on ad spend. Duplicate the entire ad set rather than just the creative to preserve your targeting, budget, and optimization settings.

2. Toggle Threads Feed Placement

In your duplicated ad set, navigate to "Placements" and select "Manual Placements" if you're not already using it. Check the box for "Threads" under the Instagram section, keeping Instagram feed selected as well since it's required. If you're using Advantage+ placements, Threads is already included by default, but you can view which placements are active by expanding the placements section.

3. Set a Controlled Learning Budget

Allocate enough daily budget to generate at least 50 optimization events within 7 days, this is the threshold Meta needs to exit the learning phase and stabilize performance. For a conversion campaign, if your average cost per conversion is $20, you'd need a minimum daily budget of $143 ($20 × 50 ÷ 7 days).

4. Monitor Delivery and Pause Inefficient Creative

Check your placement-level results daily for the first week, looking specifically at whether Threads is spending budget and how its cost per result compares to Instagram feed. If Threads CPM is significantly higher (50% or more) than Instagram without better conversion rates, the placement might not be efficient for your specific offer.

5. Scale Winning Units Across Placements

Once you identify ad sets where Threads delivers cost per result within 20% of your Instagram feed performance, increase budget by 15-20% every 3-4 days. This gradual scaling prevents you from shocking the algorithm and re-entering the learning phase.

Accelerate Growth With Darkroom as Your Threads Partner

Testing new advertising placements like Threads requires both technical expertise and strategic judgment about which opportunities deserve your investment. At Darkroom, we've built our reputation on being early adopters of emerging channels, using data-driven testing frameworks to identify what works before your competitors discover it.

We approach new placements like Threads as part of your complete customer journey, not as isolated experiments. Schedule an introductory call to explore how Darkroom can help your business grow through strategic testing and optimization of emerging platforms like Threads.