Threads is Here, Everything You Need to Know
Threads by Instagram
If you've been staying up-to-date with the latest headlines, you've likely come across the news of Meta introducing its very own Twitter competitor. As with the launch of any new platform, a multitude of questions arise concerning marketing strategies, target demographics, and paid advertisements.
In this blog, our focus is on marketers, as we embark on a journey to uncover the intricacies of this new platform, shed light on its intended purpose, and examine the current landscape within the realm of Twitter.
What is Threads?
Threads is a new social media platform created by Meta to rival Twitter. It was launched in July 2023 and became the fastest-growing app in the world, beating out ChatGPT and achieving over 100 Million users within five days of launch.
Threads is built on the infrastructure of Instagram; within a few clicks, users can join the platform and transfer all their followers over to it. This ease of use and ability to grow your audience quickly has helped Threads become an overnight success for Meta.
Are People Using Threads?
When any new social media platform launches, it gets an initial boom and then ‘drops off’, and we don’t think Threads is any different. However, we have never seen a new social media platform launch to this level of success, and even if 50% of users drop off, the latest figures still show 150,000,000+ signups. That would be 75 Million users retained in 2 weeks. If we compare this to Twitter, the platform is 17 years old and has hovered around 350,000,000 users for years. Interestingly, Disney was looking to purchase Twitter in 2019 but backed out due to learning that around 40% of users are bots. While we won’t get too deep into the situation at Twitter here, with the exodus of users on the platform over the last six months, Threads may be close to being a larger platform of real users within a few months.
Pais Ads on Threads
At this time, brands do not have the ability to launch ad campaigns on threads. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that right now the focus of the platform is building a kind and friendly platform for users and brands, and they have no plans to launch paid ads until they are on track to hit 1 Billion users.
How are Brands Marketing on Threads?
Currently, brands rely on organic content to get reach and build a following. Brands such as Gymshark, ITV, Channel 4 and McDonald’s have created humorous content with ongoing storylines and cross-brand collaborations to keep users engaged.
ITV and Channel 4 have created a social media rivalry that pokes fun at each other's posts, show ratings and follow numbers. While it can always be tempting to rush to launch ads, brands relaxing their guidelines, creating ‘personalities’ and having fun has resulted in huge user engagement and long-term brand loyalty. See some of our favourites below:
Who is using Threads?
When looking at demographics, as of right now, Threads is a Millennial platform. Twitter never really took off outside of Millennials, and the vast majority of people interested in this type of content continue to invest in platforms such as Threads.
Why are people leaving Twitter?
This is a complicated question, but Twitter has been in a downward spiral for the last 6/7 years due to becoming overwhelmingly political. While having a place to talk politics is good, it has become overwhelming for users, with hate groups and trolls controlling the site's narrative. When Elon was forced to buy the company late last year, he promised to create a 'free speech town-square’. Of course, anyone who recognises this rhetoric knew this would allow homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia and more to fester unmoderated. Elon has also made further controversial decisions, including banning anyone who doesn't agree with or openly criticises him on the 'free speech' platform.
In recent months, Twitter has become too hateful and violent; without moderation, all users, from celebrities down to pop star fan pages, have begun posting less, or in some cases stopping altogether. Twitter has also decided to give the blue checkmark, a marker formerly used to verify businesses and news sources, to anyone who will pay £10 a month subscription fee. This confuses users on the platform as people are trained to recognise the blue tick as a verified and notable source. The platform recently also introduced a 'Rate Limit' to put a cap on how many tweets users can see daily - suppressing users in one of the most confusing decisions for a social media platform based on engagement.
What’s Next?
If you own a brand or business, it is time to open a Threads account and begin posting. We have watched multiple Twitter competitors rise and fall over the past eight months, but no social network has yet to grow at the rate Threads has in its first few weeks. Engagement is high and even outperforming identical posts on Twitter. Don’t wait; start posting and make sure you have fun with the Threads community.
Update: As of July 24th 2023, Twitter is now dead. Elon has renamed the platform ‘X’. It is now apparently a payments platform(?). It continues to lose money and users at a record speed.
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