Meta’s Threads certainly seems to be the virtual place to be. Earlier this week, it was reported to have surpassed 100million users – with half of that figure in the first 24 hours.
We’ve been keeping a close eye on how it’s playing out. As we mark a week since its launch, this is what we know so far.
Easy integration thanks to the Meta family
This means if you have an Instagram account, your username, bio and links can be imported in one tap of a button – and followers automatically invited. Likewise, you can follow all the users you follow on Instagram.
For businesses and organisations, it’s incredibly easy to set-up and amass an audience – without much investment in time. However, if you choose to link your Threads to Instagram, this action cannot be undone. So, if you’re not sure whether Threads is for your business, we’d advise setting up a separate account.
It’s like a cross between Instagram and Twitter
You can post links, reposts and quote reposts, much like Twitter and LinkedIn – but still with the same visual content feel that Instagram has. For businesses who have a strong follower base, it gives more flexibility – without the hassle of having to build an audience from scratch on an entirely new platform.
With its 500-character limit, we feel Threads is the best of both worlds – and is filling a gap that Twitter has created thanks to Elon Musk’s takeover. People are abandoning the platform due to the introduction of the tweet rate limit, bugs not being fixed, and users being inundated with low-quality, irrelevant tweets (promoted content from Twitter Blue users).
Unlike Twitter, Threads is currently a mobile-only experience – which could make it tricky for businesses and organisations who use desktop versions to manage their social media.
It’s still finding its feet
The algorithm means your feed will include threads from people you follow and recommended accounts. But what about chronological order? Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said that this option will be brought to Threads. He also shared that they are starting to prioritise obvious missing features, such as a following feed, messaging, the edit button and post search – so watch this space.
As a digital marketing agency, the question on our clients’ lips is: What about advertising?
As Threads users will have seen, there are no ads – which is great news for personal users, but perhaps not so much for businesses/organisations who want to directly target their audience. We don’t think this is such a bad thing – as it allows time to build brand awareness through organic creative content and storytelling.
So, when will ads be introduced?
With such a large audience at their fingertips, you’d think it would be something Meta will be keen to implement to drive revenue – but apparently not.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented: "Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetisation at that point.”
For our clients who already use Meta Business Suite/Business Manager, we envisage this will be a smooth transition – whenever it does come around.
Our advice to clients?
Take your time and test the water with a personal account. See how the platform develops, what functionality is introduced in the coming weeks and whether it’s the place for your business. See who else is there in terms of competitors and audiences – what are they saying?
Also look at how Threads fits into your wider social strategy and assess the value of adding another channel to your marketing mix. Do you have the resource to monitor, manage and generate content?
We’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, if you need support with your digital marketing or social strategy, get in touch.