Meta’s Threads surpassed X (formerly Twitter) in daily mobile users worldwide in January. Threads has seen a roughly 37.8% year-over-year growth in daily mobile users, while X has experienced an 11.9% decline during the same period. At the same time, Meta has confirmed that they’re rolling out advertising on Threads to all users globally, opening the platform up as a paid media channel for brands.
While X still beats Threads on the web, the Threads mobile app for iOS and Android has continued to see an increase in daily active users over the past several months, marking a real shift in where people are spending their time for real-time updates, commentary, and conversation. Threads has gone from a fast-growing experiment to a platform with serious scale (boasting over 400 million monthly active users), and Meta is clearly confident enough in user engagement to bring advertising into the mix.
Why Threads is Gaining Ground
A few factors have contributed to Threads’ rise. The platform benefits from Meta’s existing ecosystem and its seamless integration with Instagram – users can carry over their existing connections and audiences, which removes one of the biggest barriers to adoption that new social platforms sometimes face.
There’s also been a migration of users looking for an alternative to X following changes in moderation policies and platform direction under Elon Musk’s ownership. As audiences look for safe places to follow creators, discuss news and join cultural conversations without the volatility they’ve felt elsewhere, Threads has become an easy default.
Threads has positioned itself as a more brand-safe environment, which matters to businesses concerned about where their content appears. From a marketing point of view, what’s notable is the type of engagement happening on Threads. Threads is positioning itself as a place for:
- Real-time reactions to trends and news
- Opinion and discussion around products, services, and industries
- Community-style conversation around interests.
What This Means for Your Social Ads Strategy
With ads now rolling out globally, Threads moves from “interesting channel to watch” to “channel worth testing”. From a PPC perspective, here’s what’s worth thinking about:
- Audience overlap: Many of your customers are likely active on both platforms, but their behaviour and expectations differ between the two
- Ad formats: Threads advertising follows Meta’s familiar ad structure, making it easier to adapt existing Instagram campaigns
- Cost efficiency: As a newer advertising platform, Threads may present better value while competition for ad space remains lower.
Right now, there’s a window for brands to learn how Threads behaves before it becomes as crowded and competitive as Meta’s other platforms. The integration with Meta’s broader advertising ecosystem means you can manage Threads ads through the same Meta Ads Manager you’re already using for Facebook and Instagram. This means less platform-hopping and more streamlined campaign management.
Where Brand Discovery Happens
The rise of Threads also reflects a broader trend Herdl sees across SEO, GEO and PPC: discovery is becoming more distributed. People see brands in feeds, hear opinions in conversations and then search with context already formed. Social platforms are shaping what people consider long before they type a query into Google or ask an AI tool for recommendations. That means:
- Social visibility influences brand perception before branded search demand
- Conversations on platforms like Threads feed into how people talk about brands elsewhere
- Paid social is part of the discovery layer that supports SEO and GEO performance
- Threads ads can warm audiences who later convert through search, shopping or direct response channels.
How to Approach Threads
The takeaway isn’t “drop everything and pour budget into Threads”. It’s about being realistic about where attention may be moving and how your brand shows up in those spaces. Here are some practical starting points:
- Test Threads ads with lightweight creative and clear learning goals
- Repurpose conversation-led content that fits the tone of the platform
- Use Threads as an early-stage awareness and insight channel (not just a sales channel)
- Track how Threads exposure influences branded search and downstream conversions.
If you’ve felt uncertain about X’s direction, Threads offers a credible alternative with the backing of Meta’s advertising infrastructure. The platform’s growth suggests it’s here to stay (and worth experimenting with). It might offer fresh opportunities to connect with your customers in a space that’s still finding its feet.
The Last Word
Threads overtaking X and opening up global ads is a signal that the social landscape is still shifting, and paid media opportunities are shifting with it. Brands that stay visible where conversations happen are the ones that get remembered when it’s time to buy. The smart move now is to start learning how Threads works for your audience. If you’re wondering whether Threads advertising could work for your specific situation, let’s have a conversation about it.