Threads secured over 100 million users in less than a week, breaking social media records by a long shot. Though much of the early enthusiasm has dried up, millions of active users are still expected to grow.
In large part, Threads arose in Meta’s response to the turbulence over at X, formerly known as Twitter. If you’ve noticed a plummet in X engagement, you’re not alone, and Threads may be the best alternative yet.
Can you use your existing social media strategies on Threads, or do you need a Threads marketing strategy?
As the new app grows into its own unique digital space, brands need to adapt alongside it. Read on for five pro tips to create a Threads marketing strategy.
1. Create a Dialogue
Though Threads is a sort of off-shoot of Instagram, it isn’t designed as an image-sharing platform. Instead, it offers a text-based experience akin to Twitter. As the name suggests, the platform makes it easy to read original posts and follow the threads of conversation that arise from original posts.
Due to an explosion of digital brands, consumer trust is one of the most important things to achieve and can lead to seven times more sales. An easy way to increase trust is by engaging directly with consumers.
Creating a dialogue with your audience is essential when using Threads as part of your business social media strategy. Threads make it easy to answer consumer questions about your products, their orders, or the content you post to demonstrate expertise.
2. Offer Threads-Exclusive Content in Your Threads Marketing Strategy
When brands are juggling multiple social media accounts, they may feel compelled to recycle content across platforms. While this is an effective time saver and can maximize the outcome of your most successful posts, it doesn’t encourage your audience to follow you on multiple platforms.
With the help of our social media marketing team, you can use the dawn of Threads to start offering Threads-exclusive content. This is a great way to create excitement and intrigue around a budding platform that hasn’t yet built a user base to rival Instagram, X, or TikTok.
How can you let non-Threads users know they’re missing out on the VIP party? Share the occasional screenshot of your best Threads posts on Instagram as a compelling teaser.
3. Toss in Successful Tweets
Should you cross-post the same content on Threads and X regularly? As we’ve already discussed, too much cross-posting disincentivizes your audience from migrating with you to new platforms. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use your biggest hits.
Before using old Tweets on Threads, ensure they’re still relevant. For example, you may have gone viral with a timely Tweet about the Barbie movie or baking bread during the pandemic, but the time for those posts has passed. Similarly, evergreen Tweets about your brand are viable options for recycled use, but Tweets about old products, events, or sales are not.
This is also an excellent way to determine how much of your X strategy is salvageable on Threads. Threads will likely attract a younger demographic that X largely failed to capture, and user expectations may differ. So far, Threads is a place for playful, light-hearted jokes, popular trends, and G-rated slang.
4. Stay Tuned for Threads Updates
As it stands, Threads is missing some of the critical features we tend to rely on in social media marketing. One of the biggest is monetization, which allows brands to pay for advertisements that get more traction and feature one-click purchasing. The result is that now is not the time to try to make a sale on Threads but to develop your brand’s personality.
The app also lacks some of the search engine qualities you’ll find on Instagram and X. Hashtags, for example, do not function on Threads and won’t help you reach a wider audience or participate in a broader conversation.
This may sound disheartening, but it’s unsurprising when you consider how new the app is and how many growing pains it will undergo before reaching its final form. The current expectation is that Threads will incorporate these features as its user base grows. Ensure you stay on top of any app updates so you can adapt your strategy as needed.
5. Use Threads for Ad Hoc Messaging in Your Threads Marketing Strategy
Most brands tend to develop social media strategies for the coming month or quarter, scheduling posts to go live later. Another feature update many Threads users anxiously await is the ability to schedule posts, which you can’t do now.
However, Threads is a great place to share ad hoc messages and your pre-planned posts. Examples of ad hoc messages you may need to share include unexpected shipping delays, staffing changes, and server errors that impact sales. Letting consumers know about unforeseen issues or changes in real time can increase transparency and assure consumers that you’re working hard to keep things on track.
This on-the-fly posting isn’t just for serious subjects. Threads is also a great place to drum up some enthusiasm when leading up to a major announcement like a sale or product launch. Without the Instagram-style grid, you don’t have to worry as much about creating posts with lasting relevance and can respond to the moment instead.
Develop Your Threads Marketing Strategy With Us
If you’re thinking about the future of your brand’s social media presence, it’s time to start thinking about a Threads marketing strategy. Although it’s still working out some kinks and can’t quite rival the existing big hitters like Instagram and X, it shows serious promise for the future.
Do you need help creating a new social media strategy incorporating your Threads account? We’re here to help with everything from your web design to your SEO strategy, so contact us today to schedule a consultation.