September 2024 saw Meta quietly opening Threads to advertising through a limited beta program. With 175M monthly active users, Threads represented a text-first audience fundamentally different from Instagram or Facebook users.
For B2B brands and publishers, this was intriguing — a captive audience consuming long-form content in a Twitter-like environment. Early tests showed CTRs 40% lower than Instagram but CPCs 60% lower, making it efficient for awareness campaigns.
For a real estate developer client, we tested Threads ads with text-only creative: "What would you do with an extra 2 hours every day? Live 10 minutes from Riyadh Financial District."
The engagement rate was surprisingly high — 2.1% — with meaningful comment threads discussing the project. The challenge: no visual creative meant relying entirely on copywriting skill.
The opportunity: less competition meant lower auction prices. We allocated 5% of Meta budgets to Threads for testing, expecting the platform to scale significantly in 2025.
