Threads is a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations. In light of Twitter’s unveiling of widely unpopular changes and Instagram’s 2.35 billion active users, Threads is positioned to skyrocket in popularity and attract massive adoption as a Twitter alternative.
Overview
What is Threads?
Threads is a highly-anticipated social media app built by the Instagram team to rival Twitter as a place to share text-based updates. Meta launched the highly a highly-anticipated social media app yesterday and attracted 30 million sign ups over night.
Threads shares many characteristics of Twitter, but differs in several key ways. It supports posts up to 500 characters and includes support for photos, videos, and links. It does not yet support direct messaging or hashtags, but we expect to see additional features like this roll out as the app updates.
Threads is connected to Instagram, so you’ll need an Instagram account in order to join. This requirement will likely enable massive adoption of Threads, as it allows users to “Follow All” existing accounts they follow on Instagram. This is a huge time-saver for you as a business owner, as you won’t need to spend the time and energy promoting your new social profile in order to rebuild your following from scratch – Threads streamlines this process with a single tap.
While Mastodon and Bluesky serve as Twitter alternatives, their complexity and limited accessibility respectively have hampered wide adoption.Privacy concerns have arisen regarding the data the app collects, including usage data, location, contacts, identifiers, purchases, health & fitness, and browsing history. However, Meta maintains it has the same data collection policies as Instagram, and it does not track users across websites and apps from other companies.
Threads and Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
Threads will become an essential part of your social media strategy because of its real-time nature and its vast and diverse audience. Much like Twitter, Threads allows businesses to communicate directly with their audience using short and concise messages.
In light of the 30 million users that have signed up over night, the platform will likely become known as the place where news breaks first. This makes it an excellent platform for businesses to stay relevant and timely, participating in current discussions, or providing immediate customer service.
Like Twitter, Threads allows businesses to engage with their audience through reposts, replies, and likes, allowing for more personal interactions. This kind of engagement is invaluable for building brand loyalty and trust. Additionally, Thread’s 500-character limit ensures that the communication is succinct, which is often appreciated by consumers who are inundated with information. In addition, Threads makes it easy to share content, making it an effective platform for content distribution and ensuring that your content reaches a wider audience.
In the near future, we expect to see Threads provide invaluable data and insights into market trends and consumer behavior through Threads Insights. Through Threads Insights, businesses can track the performance of their threads and understand what kind of content resonates with their audience. They can also monitor conversations about their brand and industry, which provides insights that can be used to make data-driven decisions. Furthermore, Threads Ads will likely follow and provide highly targeted advertising options, making it easier for businesses to reach the right audience with the right message.
Incorporating Threads into your social media strategy will help your company stay relevant, engage with your audience, and gain insights that can drive your business forward.
How to Set Up A Threads Account
Setting up your Threads profile is remarkably simple for those with an existing Instagram account.
We went through the entire process and posted our first thread in under 60 seconds.Here’s how to set up your Threads profile:
- Download the app
- Tap the Instagram account near the bottom or tap Switch Accounts
- Tap Import from Instagram button
- Select Private or Public
- Select Follow All or Next
- Tap Join Threads
How to Get the Verified Badge for Your Threads Accounts
Meta, Threads’ parent company, changed their position on the meaning of verified accounts. Following Twitter’s lead, Meta’s verified program is all about authenticity, not notoriety.
Here’s how to get verified on Threads:
- Have an Instagram account
- Apply for Meta Verified
- Enable 2FA
- Upload the necessary documentation
- Wait for Approval
- Enjoy Verification!
16 Tips for Using Threads for Your Business
With its real-time nature and vast, engaged audience, Threads offers a unique opportunity to connect with customers, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website.
Before you dive in, it’s crucial to understand the best practices that can help your business thrive on this platform. In the following section, we will explore practical tips that will empower you to effectively leverage Threads for your social media marketing strategy.
1. Optimize Your Profile
When setting up your Threads account, it’s vital to optimize your profile as it’s what people view to learn more about you or your business.
- Use a recognizable profile picture, ideally your company logo or a professional image if you’re a personal brand.
- Your username should be consistent across all social media platforms to maintain brand identity – Threads streamlines this through the Instagram integration.
- The bio should be succinct, reflecting your brand’s mission and values.
- Add a link to your website or a landing page
2. Be Authentic
Authenticity is key to building trust and loyalty among your audience on Threads. Be genuine in your communications, and don’t be afraid to show the human side of your brand. Share behind-the-scenes content, celebrate team achievements, and address customer concerns honestly. Steer clear of robotic or overly promotional language; instead, communicate in a way that resonates with your target audience. Authenticity fosters a deeper connection with your followers and can turn them into brand advocates.
3. Ask Questions
Engaging your audience is central to social media success, and asking questions is an excellent way to foster interaction with your followers on Threads. When you ask questions, you’re not only encouraging responses but also showing your audience that their opinions matter.
Asking about user experiences or seeking feedback can also help in enhancing your offerings. This two-way communication can provide you with valuable data and build a sense of community around your brand.
4. Try Different Thread Lengths
Threads has a 500 word character limit, allowing you to try a mix of different post lengths. As with all social media platforms, it’s important to test the waters. Try creating short threads that provide succinct updates and long threads that provide more comprehensive updates.
While Threads Insights aren’t available at the moment, you can measure what works by evaluating the interaction of these different types of threads. What sees to attract the most engagement?
Identify what works for your business and double-down.
5. Engage with Your Audience
Engaging with your audience on social media is pivotal in building a loyal community around your brand. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly and in a friendly manner. Moreover, actively participate in discussions relevant to your industry and share your expertise. Create polls or ask questions to encourage interaction and gather feedback. Listening to your audience’s opinions and concerns not only strengthens your relationship with them but also provides invaluable insights for improving your products or services. Remember, social media is not just a broadcasting platform but a two-way communication channel.
6. The 80/20 Rule – Don’t Forget to Promote Your Business
When creating threads, it’s essential to strike the right balance between promotional and value-added content. The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of your content should focus on educating, entertaining, or engaging your audience, while the remaining 20% can be used for promoting your products or services.
By doing this, you establish your brand as a valuable resource without appearing overly promotional. For example, if you are a fitness brand, share workout tips, motivational quotes, and healthy recipes as your 80% and then sprinkle in posts about your products for the other 20%.
7. Share Customer Testimonials
Sharing customer testimonials with your Threads following is an effective way to build trust and credibility for your brand. Real feedback from satisfied customers acts as social proof and can significantly influence the purchasing decisions of potential customers. Moreover, it humanizes your brand and shows that you value customer satisfaction.
You can share testimonials in different formats, such as quotes, video testimonials, or even case studies. Tagging the customers (if they are comfortable with it) can add an extra layer of authenticity.
8. Use Visual Content to Stand Out from Text
Threads was designed for sharing text-based updates much like Twitter. However, that’s not to say you shouldn’t share visual content in your threads. In fact, we encourage you do so as a means to stand out from the majority of content bound to appear on the text-based update app.
This works well over on Twitter, so it will likely work well on Threads.
Threads allows you to use photos and videos in your threads, so be sure to keep that in mind when you’re creating visual content for other social media platforms.
9. Leverage New Threads Features
Staying ahead of the curve by leveraging new features on social media platforms is crucial. For instance, when Instagram launched Reels, brands that adopted it early saw significant engagement. Similarly, using Facebook’s various e-commerce features can improve sales conversions.
Keep an eye out for new features on Threads and think creatively about how they can be integrated into your social media strategy. Embracing new features not only keeps your content fresh but may also give you a favorable position in the platform’s algorithm, which often promotes new features to more audiences. Encourage your team to brainstorm innovative ways to use these features to connect with your audience.
10. Promote Time-Sensitive Deals
Utilizing the immediacy of social media to promote time-sensitive deals can create a sense of urgency among your audience. Post eye-catching graphics or videos, and use countdown timers to give a visual reminder of the time left to avail the offer. Be clear and concise in your messaging and highlight the value your deal brings.
Using phrases like “limited time offer” or “while supplies last” can prompt quick action. Remember to cross-promote on different platforms and perhaps throw in a last-minute reminder post as the deal nears its end. Creating this sense of urgency can drive impulse purchases and increase conversions.
11. Participate in Live Threads
Whether you’re hosting or joining, participating in live discussions is a great way to connect with new people on a weekly or monthly basis. While Threads does not yet offer a Live features, like Instagram Live or Facebook Live, it’s text-based focus is geared toward live conversations.
We saw this work well over on Twitter. You can host a live QA with your following and invite new people to join. While Twitter utilized the hashtag feature to allow people to participate, we may see something similar available on Threads in the future.
12. Monitor Competitors
Keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing on social media is vital for staying competitive. Monitor their threads, the type of engagement they are receiving, and any new strategies they are implementing.
For instance, if a competitor is seeing significant engagement from a new type of content, consider how your brand might be able to adopt a similar strategy with your unique twist. Use these insights to understand what resonates with the audience in your industry. Also, pay attention to any mistakes or blunders they make, so you can avoid them. Use tools like SEMrush or Sprout Social for efficient monitoring and analysis.
13. Threads Insights
Meta properties, like Facebook and Instagram, provide powerful insights. Paying close attention to these insights will ensure your social media marketing activity is optimized for the best results and provide your business a healthy return on investment.
Threads is likely to follow by providing helpful insights about your followers and post activity so you can make informed decisions regarding your social media strategy. Be sure to keep an eye out for these insights as Threads evolves to accommodate business owners interested in using the platform to reach customers.
14. Create a Thread Calendar
Creating a social media content calendar is essential to your social media marketing strategy. It allows you to plan ahead, batch your work, and save time. Consider adding Threads to the mix and start creating thread ideas to share with your audience.
This is where you can plan different types of threads to test, launch thread campaigns to promote your services or sales, or run giveaways.
15. Collaborate with Influencers
Leveraging social media influencer marketing collaborations are a powerful way to expand your brand’s reach on social media. By partnering with influencers whose values and audience align with your brand, you can tap into their following to increase awareness and credibility.
It’s important to choose influencers who resonate with your target audience and have genuine engagement. Additionally, ensure that there is a clear understanding of expectations and deliverables for both parties.
For example, a beauty brand might collaborate with a makeup artist on Instagram, who can create a series of tutorials using their products. This can help the brand reach potential customers who trust and value the influencer’s recommendations.
16. Leverage Threads Ads
While Threads Ads aren’t available yet, you can bet they’re on their way! Social media advertising has become the name of the game in terms of maximizing your ability to reach your following with your messages.
Keep an eye out for Threads Ads and get ready to tap into the Threads massive user base to build your following, promote your products or services, and reach specific demographics.
17. Hire a Social Media Expert
Social media experts can significantly enhance your brand’s presence and engagement on the platform. With in-depth knowledge of social media algorithms, trends, and Threads features, social media experts can create and execute strategies that are more likely to resonate with the target audience.
They can also help in optimizing schedules for maximum visibility, employ strategies, and engage with followers in a more meaningful way. Moreover, an expert can analyze data to refine strategies and provide insights on what content performs best, ultimately leading to a higher return on investment in social media marketing.
Threads FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions we’re hearing about Threads. Let us know if you have any questions to add in the comments section below this post.
What is the new Threads app?
Threads is a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations. It rivals Twitter but offers several differences, including a 500 character limit and Instagram integration.
Is threads just Twitter?
Threads is in direct competition with Twitter. In light of the recent unpopular changes made by Twitter, Meta released Threads as a Twitter alternative for those interested in a non-restrictive platform for live conversation, updates, and connection.
Can I use threads if I don’t have Instagram?
At the moment, you can not use Threads if you do not have an Instagram account. Threads accounts are directly connected with Instagram accounts, so this is a requirement in order to use the app.
What is the difference between Twitter and Threads?
The key differences between Twitter and Threads include the following:
- Threads doesn’t use hashtags.
- Threads doesn’t have a feature that allows users to search for specific text or phrases.
- Threads allows users to share up to 10 photos in a single post, while Twitter limits posts to four images.
- Threads has a 500-character count limit, while Twitter limits unverified users to 280 characters.
- bgThreads doesn’t include any direct messaging capabilities.
How many users does threads have?
Threads attracted 30 millions users within the first 24 hours of its launch on July 5th, 2023. This number is likely to skyrocket considering Threads directly tied to Instagram, which has 2.35 billion active users.
Want Us to Manage Your Threads?
We get it – adopting a new social media platform requires time and energy that you could be using on other aspects of your business. If you’re too busy to get started but you want to ensure your company is active and evolving with the latest technology and platforms, consider partnering with Sachs Marketing Group.
Here at Sachs Marketing Group, our social media team has the expertise and resources needed to ensure your social media presence is up to date and growing. We’ll focus on your social media marketing so you can focus on your business.
Give your business the edge it needs in the competitive digital space. Contact Sachs Marketing Group today to discuss how we can help catapult your brand to social media stardom.
Conclusion
Threads is primed to take off like a rocket! Now’s the time to get ahead of the curve and establish your presence on Threads, making it an integral part of your social media strategy.
This is an opportunity to connect with your followers on an exciting new platform and demonstrate that your brand is active and open to engagement.
If you have any questions or need help, let us know in the comments below.
