Threads – Aug Update

Posted In: Social by Jenn Ferrier,
August 17, 2023

THREADS – August Update

What it is? Where is it at? Where is it going?

Charlie Edmiston, Boutique’s Social Media Expert

The lowdown

Threads is a new social networking app, operated by Meta which launched onto the scene (much to every Social Media Manager’s horror) on July 6^th. Threads is very closely integrated with Instagram, and can only be downloaded by those who have an Instagram account already – it has been described as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app”. Threads allows users to post up to 500 characters, and has many features similar to X. On Threads, posts can be shared to Instagram and vice versa and can include links, photos, and videos. Meta describe Threads as “A place where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow.”

Crazily, more than 120 million people have signed up for Threads since its launch, and it was the fastest ever social platform to reach 100 million (in 102 hours!). To caveat this though, you technically don’t have to ‘sign up’ to Threads like you would a normal platform, it just takes your information from your Instagram account so is very easy.

However, growth has since slowed by as much as 90% with only 8 million global active users per day reported in August, and the daily active user count is still continuing to drop at around 1% per day!

On the day of its launch, Threads users opened the app an average of 14 times and spent an average of 19 minutes scrolling through it. However, by the end of the month, those figures had plummeted by 85% to just 2.9 minutes a day!

Pros & Cons 

There are a few Pros & Cons to Threads –

Pros

• It is a great opportunity for you to reach your audience multiple times – More often than not, your audience is using more than one social media platform. Having Threads is a good way to reach your audience more than once
• Organic engagement is high – Threads engagement still looks to be high, and much higher than that of X
• Opportunity to reach wider and younger audience – Threads’ audience is heavy Gen Z, giving you an opportunity to reach different demographics
• Easy to set up & easy follower growth!

Cons

• Lack of performance data – Hard to manage and see how well your content is doing
• No real stand out features from X – they have removed the 5-minute video function
• Cannot delete it – Once Threads is downloaded, there is no way of deleting your account – so choose wisely!
• Not available in the EU – Threads isn’t available in Europe currently, this is due to due to local regulations and privacy concerns – not ideal if this is where your target market is!
• No discovery features – Users cannot search for hashtags or topics, which is a bit of a nightmare for brands wanting to be discovered by new users!

Should brands be on Threads?

In short, there is no right or wrong answer (sorry!). If you would like to go full out and pour a social strategy into Threads – then do it! Alternatively, if you want to sit back and watch it unfold before making a decision, that’s totally fine too – it’s completely up to you and what you feel is right for your business.

If you are still a little unsure, we recommend setting up an account, following your competitors and seeing what they get up to – learn from their mistakes. It’s also important to think about your audience, are they on Threads? Is your content going to get across to the right people? The highest number of users on Threads are Gen Z, and 68% of its users are males, so think about whether this is your target market.

Finally, remember – it doesn’t need to be polished! You don’t have to spend hours thinking about what you are going to post, and ensuring every single detail is perfect.

Be yourself, be consistent and you will come across as real!

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Have we got you thinking? Do you want to contribute to our next update and just grab a coffee and a cuppa? Drop us a note @ hello@weareboutique.co.uk we love a good natter!