Should my brand be on Threads? Pros and cons for business
The recent launch of Threads this month seems to have taken the world by storm, with over 100 million people signing up to the new social media app in its first 5 days, making it the fastest growing app in history!
With so many people signing up, no doubt you’re wondering if it’s the right move for your brand to join the platform too. As with any business decision, there’s a long list of pros and cons to consider, so let’s take a look at some before you decide if Threads is worth your valuable time and energy.
What is Threads?
Launched in July 2023, Threads is the latest social offering from Meta, for sharing real-time text updates and joining public conversations. Meta says their vision is to:
“Take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond.”
When looking at what to post on Threads vs Instagram, Adam Mosseri (Head of Instagram) gave the advice,
“For those of you trying to think about what to post, my take is it’s less about text versus photos and videos and more about what public conversations you want to have. Do you want to engage in more of a back and forth, Threads makes sense. If not, great, probably Instagram…”
So now that we’ve covered what Threads is, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons to joining the platform…
Pros for business
- Increased reach and visibility: Being present on multiple social media platforms expands reach and exposes your brand to a wider audience. Each platform has its own user base, demographics and engagement so you can tap into different audiences.
- There’s nothing to lose: If creating reels/ videos isn’t for you or it’s a struggle to create visual content on brand, Threads might be for you! The platform is so new that everyone’s experimenting with it. Remember that Threads is all about conversations, so ask engaging questions and don’t ‘post and ghost’, be sure to reply to those commenting. Which leads us on to…
- Audience engagement opportunities: Threads is already proving it can allow business to interact with their audience in their preferred environment, fostering stronger relationships and encouraging customer loyalty.
Cons for business
- Time: Managing multiple social media accounts needs significant time and effort and can be completely overwhelming to keep up with. By spreading your resources too thinly, you risk diluting the quality of your content and failing to provide adequate engagement on each platform. Remember, each hour spent on Threads is an hour taken away from working on other areas of your business (or worse, time taken away from spending with friends and family)!
- Suitability: It can be really tempting to jump on any new trend (especially when over 100 million people are already doing it!), but not all social media platforms are equally suitable for every business. Each platform has its own strengths, target audience and content format. If your audience aren’t ‘hanging out’ on Threads, you shouldn’t be there either. Identify which platforms align with your business goals and target audience and stick to doing those platforms really well with the resource you have available.
- Longevity: The longevity of the hype surrounding Threads is something to consider. Meta have done a sterling job in attracting people to the platform (largely thanks to how easy it is to create a Threads profile directly from Instagram and take your followers with you), but can they keep the audience there? Only time will tell, but plenty of other social platforms have come and faded into the ether.
Our advice
While having a presence on every social media platform can seem enticing and not having a presence on Threads may be causing serious FOMO, it’s essential to approach your social media presence with strategy (and not just your heart).
By understanding your business goals, target audience, and the unique advantages and disadvantages of each social platform, you can make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts. Remember, quality trumps quantity, and a well-executed strategy on select platforms will yield better results than a scattered presence across all platforms.
We talk all about the launch of Threads and how we’re all fumbling our way through learning the best way to use this new platform, in this episode of the Revitalise & Grow podcast.
If you’re still unsure if Threads is the right social platform for your business, or would like to talk through your current social media presence and what improvements you could make, drop us a line by emailing hello@adpr.co.uk or request for us to give you a call back.
Happy Threading! (Is that even what we’re calling it)?