What is Dark post?

A dark post is an unpublished social media ad that does not appear on a brand's organic timeline, profile, or page feed. Dark posts exist only in the ad platform and are shown exclusively to the targeted audience. The term originated on Facebook (now Meta) where brands wanted to run multiple ad variations without cluttering their public page with dozens of promotional posts. Dark posts are standard practice in performance marketing because they allow brands to A/B test headlines, visuals, calls-to-action, and audience segments without affecting organic followers. They also enable brands to run different messaging to different demographics simultaneously without contradictory posts appearing on the same feed.