What Is a Dark Post on Social Media? And How Does It Work?

What are dark posts on social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X?

Simply put, they're ads that don’t appear on your brand’s public profile or timeline. Instead, they’re shown only to specific audiences you target through paid promotion tools on each platform.

Dark posts let you create targeted content for different audience segments without cluttering your public feeds with promotional material.

You can use them to run multiple ad variations simultaneously, test different approaches, and enable influencer whitelisting.

This guide explains how dark posting works across major platforms, the strategic advantages it offers for your marketing campaigns, and how to create them in 2025.

So, what is a dark post on social media?

Dark posts (or dark ads) are targeted ads on social media that do not appear on the brand's own profile or timeline.

You create them through ad platforms like Facebook Ads Manager or LinkedIn Campaign Manager to make them only visible to the specific audiences you choose to reach.

For example, this reel appears as suggested content on Instagram, but it doesn’t show up when you visit the company’s page—that’s a dark post in action:

The same applies to Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and TikTok. These platforms all support creating ads that exist exclusively in the advertising ecosystem without being published to your public profile.

The key goal?

Sow different messages to different audience segments without having every variation visible on your company page.

This lets you run promotions and test messaging while keeping your public profile focused on your overall brand narrative.

Dark posts vs. boosted posts

Most ads don't show on your profile—so in practice, almost all social media ads are "dark."

But there's an important distinction between creating a dark post from scratch and boosting an existing post:

To summarize it: boosted posts take existing content and increase its reach, while dark posts are created specifically as ads that only the intended audience will ever see.

Why and how should you use dark posts on social media?

Thousands of brands use dark posts (or dark ads) every day for a good reason. They solve several major challenges that regular posts, organic or boosted, can’t handle as well.

The bottom line is: They let you create targeted content variations and help you reach new audiences with personalized messages.

Let’s go over the key use cases for dark posts.

Targeting different audience groups without cluttering your profile

Dark posts let you show different messages to different people without filling your main feed with variations of the same content.

For example, a pet store can actively advertise cat food to cat owners and dog toys to dog owners without annoying either group.

Or a clothing store might retarget users with specific items that match their preferences.

This targeted approach gets higher engagement and better results than one-size-fits-all posts.

Test different ad versions without everyone seeing

Want to know which headline or image works best?

A/B testing with dark posts lets you try multiple versions simultaneously without making it obvious that you're experimenting.

By creating multiple variations using different visual and text elements, you can quickly find what works, drop what doesn't, and scale up the winners.

For instance, you could use different post text and carousel images and see what converts better:

Run location-specific promotions

Got an offer that's only valid in certain cities? Dark posts also make geo-targeting simple.

Restaurants, retailers, and any businesses targeting multiple locations can promote offers that only apply to particular countries, regions, or cities.

This helps you engage users with relevant promotions and show content in their native language.

For instance, here’s a dark post in Spanish:

Make the most out of influencer partnerships

Dark posts are also perfect for influencer collaborations through "whitelisting" where you run ads through an influencer's account.

The content looks like it's coming directly from the influencer, but you control the targeting and optimization.

This approach feels more authentic than obvious #ad posts while giving you more control over who sees the content.

Here’s an example of a dark post created by Temu in partnership with a social media influencer:

How to create a dark post on social media

Creating a dark post is pretty much the same as creating a social media ad.

Let’s explore the key steps you’ll need to take.

1. Access the platform's ads manager

First, go  to the advertising backend for the platform you're using, such as:

• Meta Ads Manager for Facebook and Instagram ads
• LinkedIn Campaign Manager for LinkedIn
• X Ads for X/Twitter
• TikTok Ads

2. Create a new ad campaign

Start by setting up your campaign. For example, in Meta, you’ll need to choose the option to “create a new ad.”

On LinkedIn, this is called Direct Sponsored Content. Here’s what it looks like:

Then, choose your campaign objective (e.g., traffic, conversions, lead generation, brand awareness) and start setting up the dark ad.

Your choice here directly impacts how the platform optimizes delivery.

For example, choosing conversion-based goals on Meta requires properly configured tracking. But it generally delivers better ROI for e-commerce compared to "traffic" objectives.

3. Define your target audience

From here, use various targeting options to narrow your reach:

• Demographics (age, gender, location)
• Interests and behaviors
• Job titles or industries (LinkedIn)
• Custom audiences (e.g., past customers or email lists)
• Lookalike audiences

Here’s what it looks like in Meta Business Manager:

4. Choose ad placements

From here, decide where your dark post will appear. For example, it could include Facebook Feed, Instagram Reels, LinkedIn Feed, X Timeline, Stories, etc.

While automatic placements often deliver good results, some products perform better in specific formats.

For example, B2B products typically convert better in LinkedIn feeds and Facebook desktops, while consumer products often excel in Instagram Stories and TikTok.

5. Create a new ad (unpublished post)

Now, it’s time to create the actual dark post.

Instead of selecting an existing organic post, you’ll need to create a new ad:

• Add your primary text, headline, image or video, and CTA
• Link it to your business page (it'll appear as though posted from there)
• Add UTM parameters for proper attribution

6. Preview and launch

Finally, check your ad across devices before launching to avoid common issues:

• Text truncation on mobile (especially on Instagram)
• CTA buttons rendering differently across placements
• Images cropping unexpectedly across formats

7. Set up analytics and tracking

Once your dark posts are live, start analyzing their performance and optimizing accordingly.

You might begin to spot patterns that define campaign success—like specific targeting settings, creative asset characteristics, messaging styles, and more.

To do this effectively, use specialized social media analytics tools and track key metrics such as conversion and acquisition data (CTR, CPC, leads, sales, sign-ups), ROI, engagement metrics, and sentiment analysis on ad comments and reactions.

For example, Talkwalker provides a unified dashboard for tracking all your dark posts across multiple platforms. This allows you to:

• Track campaign performance in near real-time across paid, owned, and earned channels
• Measure the actual ROI of your dark posts through a holistic view of all your campaign indicators
• Generate automated reports for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X without manually inputting data into spreadsheets
• Use AI-powered sentiment analysis to monitor comments on your dark posts and react quickly to potential issues

Remember to set up proper conversion tracking before launch to measure the business impact of your dark ads.

Will dark posts still exist in 2025?

Yes—dark posts are very much alive in 2025, though they're evolving.

While the term "dark" might sound sketchy, these posts are simply targeted ads that don't appear on a brand's public profile.

They continue to be widely used, especially for campaigns requiring segmentation, A/B testing, or influencer amplification.

However, some things are changing.

For example, all major platforms now maintain searchable ad libraries where anyone can see a brand's dark posts.

Privacy regulations have tightened too, requiring clear consent and disclosure for targeted ads.

Marketers have adapted to this by using first-party data (like email lists and customer data) instead of third-party tracking. AI optimization also enables personalization without privacy violations.

The bottom line: Dark posts continue to be valuable for targeted campaigns and A/B testing. They're just no longer truly "dark" as they've evolved into more transparent, compliant ad tools that still keep your main profile clean and focused.

The key types of dark posts

Finally, let’s review the most common types of dark posts based on each social media platform.

Dark posts on Facebook

Facebook dark posts (used to be called "unpublished page posts") are created through Meta's Ads Manager.

They support all major ad formats: image, video, carousel, slideshow, collection, and instant experience.

You can run multiple ad campaigns targeted to different audience segments and control ad placements across news feeds, stories, reels, and more.

Facebook dark posts can also be reused across ad sets via a Post ID, allowing engagement (likes/comments) to accumulate even though the post isn't visible on your Facebook page.

Dark posts on Instagram

Instagram dark posts work through the same Facebook Ads Manager as Facebook but appear natively in Instagram's feed, Stories, Reels, and Explore tab.

They're particularly effective for visually-driven marketing campaigns. Instagram Shopping tags are also available for dark posts, but only to approved commerce accounts.

Dark posts on X (formerly Twitter)

X's "Promoted-only Tweets" serve as its dark post format. Similarly, they don't appear on your profile and are shown only to the specific audience you select.

Among other features, X offers keyword targeting, meaning you can reach users who have recently tweeted or engaged with specific terms.

You can also target by conversation topics, events, TV targeting (reaching users discussing specific shows), and more.

Dark posts on LinkedIn

LinkedIn's "Direct Sponsored Content" lets you target by professional attributes like job title, seniority, industry, and company name/size.

They’re perfect for Account-Based Marketing (ABM), engaging B2B audiences, and delivering content to specific professional segments.

Dark posts on other platforms

Following the same logic, you can create dark ads on other social media channels like:

• TikTok: In-Feed Ads appear directly on users’ For You page and blend in with organic content
• Pinterest: Promoted Pins show up in feed and search results, targeted by keywords and demographics
• Snapchat: 10-second fullscreen Snap Ads appear between Stories or in Discover, plus AR Lens ads and Collection Ads that function as dark posts for commerce

Using dark posts to attract the right audience

Dark posts or dark ads let you create tailored promotional content, target specific audiences, and test different approaches.

While they've become more transparent through ad libraries and privacy regulations, their core value remains: reaching the right people with the right message at the right time.

For best results:

• Create clear audience segments
• Test multiple creative approaches
• Maintain brand consistency across all variations
• Monitor performance and optimize regularly

Ready to elevate your paid social strategy? Get a free demo of Talkwalker to analyze your social media ads and improve performance as you go.