dark post

Definition

An unpublished social media ad that appears in users' feeds without being posted to the brand's timeline. The marketing equivalent of a stealth bomber—you see it once, then it vanishes into the algorithm void.

Example Usage

We're running dark posts to test messaging variations without cluttering our Facebook page with fifty versions of the same beach towel ad.

Origin

Emerged around 2012 with Facebook's Ads Manager as advertisers sought ways to test content without public visibility

Fun Fact

Dark posts were instrumental in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, allowing political ads to be shown to specific users without public scrutiny.

Source: Social media advertising terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

lifetime value

The predicted total revenue a customer will generate over their entire relationship with your business, used to justify spending obscene amounts on acquisition. Abbreviated as LTV or CLV, because marketers love acronyms almost as much as optimistic financial projections.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

truth decay

The gradual erosion of factual accuracy in marketing claims through iterative copywriting until statements become technically false. The telephone game played with compliance.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

marketing qualified lead

A prospect who's shown enough interest to warrant sales attention but hasn't quite committed, occupying that precious limbo between 'downloaded a whitepaper' and 'actually wants to talk to someone.' The marketing team's way of saying 'we've done our part, now it's your turn' to sales.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

snackable content

Bite-sized marketing content designed for rapid consumption during micro-moments, because modern attention spans measure in seconds. The content equivalent of gas station jerky.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

gated content

Valuable content locked behind a form requiring users to surrender their contact information before access. The digital equivalent of 'you must be this tall and provide your email to ride.'

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

kickback creative

Ad content rejected by legal, compliance, or clients and sent back for revision. Usually featuring claims too good to be true because they literally are.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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