Liam Walsh
Liam is a Co-Director at Intelligency and heads up the agency's Digital Intelligence & Paid Social activity. Over the last decade, he has worked with brands from the world of sports such as Premier League clubs to entertainment such as Channel 4 and Disney.
Meta, the company which owns Facebook and Instagram is planning to start showing ads on Threads at the start of 2025. Recent reports have indicated that the Instagram advertising team is leading the rollout and a small number of businesses will be allowed access to the platform in January.
What is Threads?
Threads was launched in 2023 as a competitor and alternative to X (formerly known as Twitter). Its interface allowed users to create and share quick posts about their lives, interests or current events. A major USP of Threads was its close links to Instagram making it easy for users to switch between the two. Meta introduced Threads to give people a fresh place for discussions and community engagement. By October, Threads had around 275 million active users each month, and about one million people were signing up daily, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
What will the ads look like?
Details about the appearance of ads on Threads are still limited, but it’s likely they will resemble the text and image-based ad formats used on X (formerly Twitter). For marketing teams, these ads will likely be managed through the Meta for Business platform, which should streamline campaign creation. This means campaign managers can easily incorporate Threads into their existing Meta campaigns without needing to learn a new system.
Does Meta have anything else planned?
Meta is also working on other big projects. It’s developing new technologies like lightweight holographic AR glasses called “Orion” and an AI-powered search engine to give people smarter answers to questions. This search tool will be used across its apps, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
These efforts are part of Meta’s plan to create exciting new technologies and make its platforms more useful and engaging for everyone.
