Anytime a bright and shiny new platform gets released, us marketers want to test it and talk about it.
But if you’ve heard someone boasting about their innovative strategy for Meta’s Threads, they’re likely talking rubbish.
Launched at the start of July, Threads is the new player within the social media world. And already, marketers are lining up to share their winning strategies, essential guides, and tips for success.
Here’s the truth: nobody has all the answers…yet. But here’s what we’ve gathered so far.
What we know about Threads right now
Could the name have been more original? Maybe. Nevertheless, the latest app from the Meta group surpassed 30 million sign ups on its first day. Self-described as a platform for “real-time updates and public conversations”, brands are keen to figure out how to use Threads to engage with their customers.
Users can connect their Threads account to their current Instagram profiles and logins, making it easy to bring over their followers and connections. As a brand, this means you can get a head start by transferring your existing reputation to the platform, including your verification mark.
Threads wants to stand out from the crowd
Meta is taking a stab at a more conversational platform where text-based posts are the focus. These posts have a 500-character count limit, alongside up to 10 images, videos and GIFs.
We know what you’re thinking. The term ‘threads’ has been used by Twitter for a while to refer to a long stream of tweets under one ongoing topic, and that’s not where the similarities end.
Like Twitter’s central concepts of microblogging, providing international real-time updates and sharing the latest trends with anyone and everyone in your sphere, Threads aims to provide a well-rounded, text-based digital community.
As well as this, Threads is hoping to become compatible with a range of other social and creative networks in the future, such as WordPress. If this happens, brands will be able to link website and blog pages to their Threads accounts for smooth off-channel marketing promotion.
Threads could be a big threat to Twitter
So you’re probably wondering: is there space for two social media platforms providing a similar user experience?
It’s hard to say. Many users of Twitter have become disgruntled with the app since it was taken over by Elon Musk and introduced a plethora of platform changes, from user tweet limits to mass staff firings.
The launch of Threads feels like it’s possibly happening at the exact right moment, and might even be fueling the rumoured cage fight between social media’s two biggest players.
How B2B marketers can take advantage of this new platform
As B2B marketers, we can agree that there’s no point jumping on the latest social media bandwagon unless you have a solid strategy. If you’ve got undeniable proof that you’ll have engaged users on Threads, great! If not, it could be a waste of time. Equally, Threads could turn into the next Google+ or Clubhouse — a flash in the pan with no long-term impact.
On the other hand, there’s no harm in exploring. And as you do, the same rules will apply to Threads as with any other social platform.
While many users are still finding their feet, consider taking some guidance from what we have seen recently within the trends of other social media platforms.
1. Evaluate your target market first
As we said above, make sure your audience is receptive to joining a new platform. A poll conducted by Forrester found that 34% of respondents indicated they’re not planning to join Threads because they don’t want yet another social media app to use.
Conducting audience research and competitive analysis will be essential to evaluating whether your target market will even be on the platform. If they are engaging with Threads, find out
what they’re interacting with. Test out your own content to see what works. There are no hard and fast rules yet. You may even be able to reach more widely than this, such as establishing greater connections with industry leaders on the app.
2. A personalized approach always makes sense
We’re not necessarily talking about liking and commenting on your followers’ posts from aeons ago but finding out what your target audience is into and building a profile that’s reflective of the majority is a good idea.
Users like engaging with brands that provide a personalized approach, even within B2B. Anything that can help you build that trust, confidence, and appreciation from your audience can segue into greater brand loyalty.
3. Twitter strategies might not work for Threads
Given that Threads has only recently been launched, there’s still uncertainty as to what the reception of brand voices will be like on the platform. It might not be as simple as moving all your current methods over from Twitter and hoping for the best, so some trial and error might be in order.
So should we join or shouldn’t we?
The 100 million sign ups to Threads tells us that social media users are still keen for text-based communities, placing a great emphasis on establishing casual and interpersonal connections. B2B brands can absolutely be a part of that.
As the platform continues to grow, we can expect to see new features and trends emerging. Trying to keep ahead of the curve and monitoring these updates as they unfold will be key to growth and creating a solid plan of action.
Like we said earlier, it’s too soon to be doing Tedx Talks on strategies for Threads, but we’ll be keeping a close eye out for the latest platform developments and ways we can boost brand awareness and engagement.
We won’t get ahead of ourselves though.