Unraveling Threads: How B2B Digital Marketers Can Leverage Meta’s New Social Media Platform

Staying ahead of emerging platforms and trends is crucial to effectively grow and engage with your target audiences. In the world of B2B digital marketing, we manage multiple different social media platforms each day (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) to maximize our brand and clients’ potential. And now, another one has just been added to our plate called “Threads”.

As B2B marketers, understanding and utilizing new social media platforms can be a game-changer, enabling businesses to create compelling content, build meaningful relationships, and drive success. Let’s delve into what exactly Threads is and explore how B2B digital marketers can harness its potential to elevate their brands.

What is Threads?

Threads is a new social media platform, currently only available as a mobile app, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations that is accessed by logging in using an Instagram account. Created by the Instagram team, Threads aims to offer a seemingly cleaner, more positive alternative than Twitter, or X.

While it shares similarities with X, Threads emphasizes privacy, enhanced community engagement, and seamless content sharing. Designed with a focus on fostering genuine conversations with already existing connections, and offers a unique space for businesses to interact with clients, prospects, and industry peers in a more authentic way.

Key Features of Threads:

Tight integration with Instagram: If you (or the account you manage) follows someone on Instagram, once you open that account’s Thread’s account, you now follow them on this new platform. Additionally, if an account that you follow on Instagram also follows your Instagram account, once they create their Threads account, they instantly follow you. On paper it can seem confusing, but stay with me here.

You also have the ability to seamlessly share a Thread’s post to the attached account’s Instagram story, as well as share a Thread’s post directly to Instagram Direct Messages (DMs). Tapping the share button on Threads posts gives users a new option, “Send on Instagram.” This can be a good way to promote a brand across platforms, utilizing clever copy to launch a new account on Threads and show your audience some personality.

Text-based Upgrades: As we know, X sometimes limits our ability to fully communicate certain thoughts/ideas/campaigns to your target audience, due to restraints such as character limits, lack of editing and poor video integration. Now, with Threads, comes the ability to add custom alt-text for photos/videos posted on the platform, as well as the ability to add short descriptions that helps users who may need assistance in visually understanding an image/video. Additionally, posts made on Threads can be up to 500 characters long, compared to X’s 280 character limit, and can include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.

Compatibility with Interoperable Networks: Threads plans to be compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, allowing interaction with other apps supporting this protocol. This enables diverse and interconnected networks and opens up new possibilities for innovation. By embracing ActivityPub, Threads aims to promote a decentralized approach similar to the protocols governing email and the web offering more control over audience and content moderation policies.

Verification and Post Management: Obtaining the coveted blue verification badge holds significant value when it comes to social media platforms. Comparing X with Threads, both platforms provide ways for verification, however, the methods differ: Threads employs Instagram for verification, meaning if you are verified on Instagram, you also are on Threads. While X offers verification through its paid X Premium service and extends it to specific verified entities. Also, when it comes to editing your posts after they’re up, Threads hasn’t added that feature yet. X, though, lets you do so; but only if you’ve got the “Twitter Blue” service.

Other Enhanced Features: Threads introduced other features to optimize user experiences, such as using a new mention button for easy tagging, editing alt-text descriptions of photos and videos before posting, and allowing users to manage interactions by controlling mentions, replies, and filtering out specific words (aligning with Instagram’s Community Guidelines). There is also an ability for users to opt for a chronological feed of content from profiles they follow, offering control over content visibility. Threads also automatically translates posts based on the language they’re written in and the viewer’s language setting, enhancing accessibility and global connections.

Cons of Threads:

Lack of Discoverability: Currently, Threads lacks discoverability features such as hashtags and keyword searches, so an active presence will prove to be essential in increasing engagement and growing your audience on the platform. As Threads is comparable to current social media like X and TikTok, we estimate it will require a similar posting frequency to yield positive results.

Best Practices for B2B Digital Marketers on Threads

Engage Actively: Frequency in posting is important, but actively engaging with your audience can be even more crucial. Participating in conversations actively with industry-specific communities is the best way to utilize this new platform. This can be done by sharing valuable insights, answering questions, and initiating discussions with your posts. With this app focusing on text-based online engagement, replying to a post, re-sharing or quoting a post on Threads with a response relevant to your industry will help in building your brand’s presence on the platform.

Consistency and Frequency: Consistency is really the secret to maintaining relevance on Threads and getting the most out of this new outlet. Establishing a regular posting schedule, checking in with your post’s engagement and maintaining authentic conversations with your audience will pay off in the long run, as this feedback will help your brand or business to better understand your audience’s values and needs.

Space to Create: Given Threads is so new and, as it stands, is currently a niche platform, it offers a unique chance to be more creative, participate in trends, and engage a little more loosely with your audience (while ensuring the content aligns with your brand’s messaging and values, of course). The space the app currently operates in offers a chance for B2B marketers to experiment with giving a new voice to your brand, trying out new copy ideas and allowing for more personality to shine through compared to other social media platforms that have proven, successful performance strategies established from your team.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving landscape of B2B digital marketing, Threads presents a colorful tapestry of opportunities. Being able to embrace emerging platforms like Threads can open up new avenues for growth and engagement, and show your team’s strength within a competitive market.

Of course, there are still improvements that need to be made to this new social media platform, but Meta seems to be keen on providing regular updates to this project, one such being rolling out a web-based experience rather than just a mobile app as it currently stands.

As Meta continues to weave together its place in the social media sphere with promised features like a personalized feed, post editing, and improved search functionality, it’s important to stay engaged for a more functional future. As B2B marketers, let’s embrace Threads’ strengths while keeping a watchful eye on its evolution, as the platform unfolds to reveal its true potential.