Threads is the new social networking app by Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta. The app is designed for sharing text updates and joining public conversations, similar to Twitter. You can submit messages up to 500 characters long, which is more than Twitter’s current character limit of 280. Your posts may also contain web links, up to five minutes of video, and images.
Threads offers a few great perks over it’s rival (Twitter, who recently rebranded to X.com)…it has a feature that allows you, after signup, to follow the same accounts that you already follow on Instagram and will soon be releasing a feature that allows you to cross follow on other platforms FROM Threads. Additionally, Threads will apply Instagram’s Community Guidelines, which state that posts must be appropriate for a variety of audiences and cannot contain hate speech or be used to denigrate or humiliate. They are aiming to make it a positive platform for all!
Should My Business Join Threads?
Taking all of these things into consideration, should you download Threads for your business? The answer is YES!
Threads gives you the ability to interact directly with your target audience in a clutter-free setting whether you’re delivering product updates, specials, or general company news! Threads’ integration with Instagram for business makes using the app seamless. You can easily connect your Instagram content with your engaged audience on Threads, whether you’re presenting new product releases, behind-the-scenes looks, or highlighting success stories. This integration makes sure that your clients and customers are always aware of your most recent updates.
How do I Connect with Customers on Threads?
You can respond to questions and feedback from customers quickly through the streamlined interface in Threads. You can quickly resolve issues thanks to the app’s rapid messaging features (compared to the rival platform which can take weeks for response from “support”).
Not to mention, Threads strongly values privacy, making it a perfect platform for companies who deal with sensitive/confidential information. You can set it so that only authorized people may view your company updates and conversations by customizing your privacy settings.
Downsides of Threads as of August 2023
With all the positivity, we want to balance this out with a few of the downsides we’ve noticed on Threads so far.
- There’s no delete or edit function for posts after they publish…. so be deliberate before you hit post.
- Analytics/Insights are not yet available. The impact you’re creating is limited to surface-level counts like followers, post count, replies/comments, likes. etc. that are visible to anyone.
- There isn’t a method for marking a Thread profile as a business versus a person. This means seemingly anyone could claim your brand name (potentially). The integration with Instagram seems to be preventing this for now, and most major brands have full time social media staff that have already claimed their account. It’s worth mentioning though.
- It’s not yet used by majority of social media users. Even though the app is reportedly the fastest growing app in history it still does not yet have the attention or majority share that Facebook does at nearly 3 billion monthly active users. At the time of this article, it’s sitting at over 150 million downloads but with 33% of those users living in India.
Why Join Threads Now
Remember that time all your friends were on TikTok before you? Yeah, us too. By joining early, even if you don’t post much at first and instead opt to follow and comment and learn, you’ll be waves ahead of the other businesses who wait. By joining Threads, you’ll also be privy to cross-promotion on Instagram.
What’s Changing Quickly
The demographics of Threads users is going to change quickly over the coming weeks and months. As the platform gains traction, the users who interact with the app will be the ones who shape the community there. So if you want to influence how your audience interacts with your brand on social media, now’s the opportunity to do just that!
Take advantage of the opportunities that Threads can offer for your business! We are currently offering training for Threads and social media strategy consultations. Contact us for a one-on-one conversation about how to integrate Threads into your social media strategy (or lack there of).