06 July 2023 | Marketing
Threads 101
By
Everything you need to know as a marketer 🧠
Threads launched last night, and the numbers are insane:
→ 2M users in 2 hours
→ 5M users in 4 hours
→ 30M+ users overnight
#1 in the Apple App Store (maybe Android too but I wouldn’t know)
My favorite part about all of this? Zuck behaving like a maniacal competitor, out in the open.
He’s got that dawg in him. And I respect the hell out of him for that.
Anyway. I’m sure you’ve woken up to a few questions in Slack from your coworkers, clients, etc.
I know I have.
“What’s our Threads strategy?”
“Can you bring a strategy deck to today’s all-hands?”
“My 13 year old daughter mentioned this… should we be on it?”
I got you. Let’s walk through everything you need to know.
The basics ✔️
A few housekeeping items:
→ If you have an Instagram account, you can claim your username and auto-follow anyone you follow on Instagram. So, accounts with large followings immediately have a leg up. Regretting not building an audience on IG right about now…
→ Posts are called ‘threads.’ It’s pretty much the same thing as a tweet. You can also post images and videos. Fairly straightforward.
→ The feed is algorithmic. Mosseri cites the reason for this being that the platform is new, and people don’t follow enough others yet. Could this change? We’ll see.
→ There are no ads, yet (better believe they’re coming).
→ There is no DM inbox. But your Instagram account is linked in your bio. Have seen some people saying there is a decent amount of conversion from Threads → IG.
→ No hashtags. Thank you Lord Zuckerberg.
There are now 30+ million users on the platform. Still small in comparison to Twitter’s 500M users, but we got here overnight.
And with Instagram’s 2.35 billion users… I wouldn’t be shocked if Threads surpassed it.
This launch isn’t nothing. You shouldn’t ignore it.
But you also shouldn’t mindlessly divert resources from platforms with proven ROI for the sake of ‘early mover’s advantage.’
Ok. So what’s the game plan? 👀
First of all — park your brand accounts. Even if you’re not actively using them right away:
→ Claim the username
→ Set up your profile with a good PFP and bio
→ Add a relevant URL
→ Maybe make an intro post so your account isn’t empty (shoutout JS for the idea)
As an example, I like what OpenPhone is doing on the platform so far. Simple.
There is nothing to lose here. Especially if you have an active Instagram community. A lot of those followers will end up following you on Threads as well.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way… what about content?
Easy. Here you go:
I’m half joking.
But for real — I do think it’s a bit early to have a clearly defined ‘Threads strategy.’ We’re all learning at this point. The platform will evolve.
Some principles I am following:
Farm engagement
New platforms and features usually get a boost in organic reach to incentivize users to participate.
Your goal (aside from just vibing) should be to get momentum going on platform. How can you get in front of as many people as possible.
- Create posts that trigger engagement
- Memes
- Engagement prompts
- Reply to a shit ton of people
- Still. Add value. Don’t spam.
Resist the urge to get salesy. I already see people shilling their newsletters and posting the equivalent of thought-boi Twitter threads on the Threads app.
Create engaging content on-platform first. You will win in the long run.
Learn platform culture
Each platform has it’s own culture.
TikTok
…and we can only assume that Threads will as well.
It’s too early to know what that will be. Anyone trying to give a definitive answer is talking out of their ass. Sorry.
The only piece of advice I have here is to spend stupid amounts of time on the platform and experiment with different content types. You learn through reps.
Start to look for content types that ‘work’
Again, this is a function of time spent on platform.
Look for patterns. The best social media professionals are masters of pattern recognition.
You will start to see some common threads in the content types, topics, etc. that perform well.
It’s still early to say definitively what works on Threads, but I have a few hypotheses I will be testing.
- Posts that prompt engagement — engagement questions, memes, etc.
Here’s a simple example from Truff:
And another one:
This isn’t anything you don’t already know how to do. You can apply the same principles you use for engagement questions on other platforms to Threads:
→ Slightly polarizing
→ Easy to answer (can be answered in 1-2 words, an emoji, etc)
→ Put people in a position to brag (like Dennis’ example above)
- The carousel display (when you post more than 1 image) is clean. I have a feeling carousels will be a viable format on Threads, like they are on LinkedIn and Instagram already.
- High quality replies to larger accounts will be a simple way to ‘hack’ visibility. Your replies serve as ‘billboards’ for your account.
This is a strategy used on Twitter effectively. I would look to replicate this on Threads.
Is Twitter dead? 💀
No.
If your brand has a solid community on the platform — keep going.
Monitor the situation:
- Reach
- Engagement
- Followers growth
And assess based on trends over a few months. Not based on hype over a few days. Twitter is fine.
Ideally, brands can use written content, memes, etc. to grow on both Twitter and Threads.
Does not need to be mutually exclusive.
Final thoughts
The app will evolve. Features will roll out. Culture will become more apparent.
Keep your finger on the pulse, but don’t feel like you have to make any rash decisions.
You don’t need to be the first on the platform to take reap the rewards of the early mover’s advantage.
That’s all I’ve got for you today.
Oh, and follow me on Threads. Thx.