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Vol. 40 No. 7 — September 2023

LET'S GET STRATEGIC

THE DETAILS

Threads is a Meta release. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and also owns Instagram. In order to use Threads, users must have an Instagram account that their Threads account will be tied to. The user interface “looks and feels a lot like Twitter,” NPR shares. “There are buttons to like, repost, reply to or quote a thread. The number of likes and replies on each post is displayed below its content. Accounts can be public or private.”

Sloane Kelley, VP of social media with marketing agency 9Rooftops, points out that Threads is currently ad-free, but “that will likely shift in the future assuming a viable audience grows here.” While images and videos can be used on Threads, Kelley says that these are not a requirement for engaging an audience on the channel. She states that “posts—and comments—with copy only, so long as that copy is clever and relevant, will be an important part of the Threads experience and what sets it apart from other platforms.”

USER DEMOGRAPHICS

An important consideration in determining whether any communication channel is right for your needs is its audience or users. Threads has some shared account functionality with Instagram, “like populating your Instagram handle, bio and verification checkmark, and more elements could be on the way,” Kelley says. Because of its tie to Instagram, she notes, users should expect a broad audience that is similar to Instagram’s. Kelley points out that “while Threads is available in 100 countries including the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan, it is not currently open to audiences in the European Union [EU].” Consequently, if your core audience is EU-based, this won’t be the place for you to be—at least for now—due to regulatory concerns.

Instagram users tend to be young, Social Media Perth reports; they’re mostly ages 18–24. On this channel, male usage tends to be slightly higher than female usage, and the countries with the highest level of users are India and the U.S. In addition to those demographics, another key question for marketers is whether Threads will lend itself more to B2B or B2C messaging. Some social media channels are more relevant to B2B versus B2C marketers—and vice versa—than others. “While Threads is new and will evolve in the coming weeks and months, right now its role is as a place for quick reactions and cultural commentary,” states Kelley. Brands that will make the biggest impact on this channel, she says, will fall into a few camps: rightsholders and publishers (such as Bravo, Netflix, and Major League Baseball) that drive pop-culture chatter and brands that tend to play a role in reacting to cultural moments with a unique perspective. Based on that pop-culture angle, Kelley states, Threads will initially be most useful for B2C brands. But, she predicts, “as the channel grows, B2B will also have opportunities.”

According to NPR, early adopters “include celebrities like chef Gordon Ramsay, actor Zac Efron and pop star Shakira. Brands like Airbnb, Netflix, Marvel Studios and Spotify were using Threads, as were news outlets like CBS, Vox and Vogue.” All of these entities primarily lean to the B2C end of the target audience spectrum. But Camille Fortuno, an SEO research associate with UpCity (which is a service that helps companies find B2B service providers), believes that both B2C and B2B marketers can realize the value of the use of Threads.

For B2B marketers, Fortuno says, Threads can help to:

• Establish thought leadership by sharing industry expertise and insights
• Highlight and explain complex B2B products or services
• Provide educational content, tutorials, and industry guides
• Present case studies and success stories to showcase value and credibility

B2B marketers, Fortuno says, can:

• Tell captivating brand narratives and stories
• Display the characteristics, capabilities, and usage examples of their products
• Curate user-generated content to draw attention to positive encounters
• Make tutorials and how-to guides to offer useful knowledge

BEST PRACTICES

While it’s still early—after all, Threads was only released in July—some best practices are already emerging. “Threads is a platform that’s best suited to comprehensive how-to guides, step-by-step tutorials, in-depth analysis or insights, compelling storytelling, and thought leadership pieces,” says Stephen Robinson, founder of Outrank, a creative agency. “While images and videos are a great way to capture the attention of your audience, it’s not necessarily a strict requirement for every Thread. This being said, incorporating visual elements into your content can help to break up text and make it more visually appealing, which will increase the likelihood of audience engagement.”

It’s important to think about Threads in context with all of your other communication channels, both digital and traditional, states Chris Hackett, founder of Face Digital, an SEO consultancy. “Make sure that what you post is aligned with your overall content strategy and brand messaging,” Hackett advises. “It’s also a good idea to consider how Threads can complement and integrate with your existing content efforts on other platforms.” In addition, he suggests, “you can also cross-promote Threads on other social media channels, your website, or through email newsletters to maximize reach and user engagement.”

CONCLUSION

Whether Threads will come to dominate the social media landscape remains to be seen. There’s no harm in experimenting with the platform and also watching how others are using it and seeing the kind of engagement they’re getting.