Strategies to Optimize Your Brand’s Activity on Threads

In April, Zuckerberg revealed that Threads had more than 150 million monthly active users, a significant jump from the 130 million users reported in February. This shows the platform is growing in popularity and attracting more and more new users. Most notably, last Wednesday, after Threads celebrated its first anniversary, its user count rose to 175 million. This figure not only reflects Threads’ strong growth but also demonstrates the trust and support of its users, promising a bright future for the platform.

Meta just shared an interesting detail: 63% of posts on Threads are text-only, which points to users’ need to connect and share text-based content. Images still play an important role, though, with one in four posts including a picture. Over the past year, the platform has drawn more than 50 million tags, with popular topics such as #PhotographyThreads, #BookThreads, and #GymThreads.

Launched in April 2023, Threads has been called a “potential Twitter rival,” a “Twitter killer,” and a “Twitter clone.” Whatever label you give it, Threads has proven itself as an effective marketing channel for many brands.

Here are the tips you need to build a successful marketing strategy on Threads:

Get Users to Follow You on Threads

To increase engagement with you on Threads, users need to be introduced to your account and given a link to it. You can create short announcements or share your Threads link on other social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. You can also add a button linking to Threads in the About section or at the bottom of your website’s homepage.

Create Interactive Content to Attract Users

Ask “Engaging” Questions on Threads

Nissan: “Which Nissan Ariya do you love the most? Share your favorite color!”

Pizza Hut: “Which toppings do you like to combine on your pizza? Join the poll for a chance to win great prizes!”

Run Effective Polls

LinkedIn: Uses polls to gather opinions and encourage user engagement.

Pizza Hut: Runs surveys on customers’ preferences and tastes to develop and refine its menu.

Fill in the Blank

People often enjoy challenges like fill-in-the-blank because they create a sense of completion. This is a psychological effect known as the Goal Gradient Effect, which many brands use to encourage participation with their products and services. Canva has also applied this format successfully on Threads.

Use Riddles

With just a photo and a riddle, Chipotle drew more than 100 answers and strong engagement from users.

A Fun Word-Guessing Game

Meta recently launched an engaging game on Threads that challenges users to guess the words Meta’s AI used to generate unique images.

Keep Communication Two-Way: The Key to Connecting Brands and Customers

While TikTok reaches users with funny, entertaining videos, Threads focuses on building an open, friendly community space where people can connect.

With the goal of “creating benefits for both sides,” Threads has succeeded in becoming an effective communication tool for brands and customers. The platform lets businesses set up two-way interaction and engage directly with both potential and existing customers, building trust and long-term relationships.

“Threads is a two-way communication tool that benefits both brands and customers,” says Jerry Han, CMO of PrizeRebel. “Brands can connect with customers through conversations about relevant topics. These simple interactions help nurture trust and build lasting relationships.”

Starbucks is a prime example of how to reach customers effectively. With a personalized, friendly communication strategy, Starbucks has earned high praise from users and strengthened its position as an “expert” at connecting brands and customers.

Start Trends and Attract Customers With a “Topic-Based” Strategy

Just as TikTok uses sub-toks to sort content by topic with hashtags, Threads also gives you the chance to develop a “topic-based” strategy.

Create a signature topic for your brand and tag it to match your industry, and you can become a pioneer who leads trends in your field.

Max Wesman, founder and CEO of GoodHire, shares: “In HR, we can create an HRThreads topic to discuss recruitment trends, interview methods, employee benefits, and more.”

Here are some topic ideas for other industries:

• Gaming: GamingThreads
• Beauty & makeup: MakeupThreads
• Sports: SportsThreads (which can be split by sport, such as FootballThreads and BaseballThreads)
• Travel: TravelThreads
• Health: HealthThreads
• Fashion: FashionThreads

Starbucks, with its CoffeeThreads topic, is proof of the power of the “topic-based” strategy.

 

Connect Authentically to Attract Customers

Step into the Threads world of Duolingo, Uber, or Spotify and you’ll feel a lively, upbeat, approachable atmosphere. That is exactly what Threads aims for: an authentic, friendly space for connection that feels like everyday life.

Emotion-driven marketing is powerful for building brand awareness. When you build an emotional connection with customers, they trust you, remember you, and are ready to share your brand with others. Research shows that people who feel an emotional connection with a brand are nearly four times more likely to recommend it than people who don’t.

Turn Threads into a playground for showing off your brand’s creativity, personality, and wit. Talk to customers with sincerity, humor, and warmth, and turn your interactions on Threads into memorable moments.

Bonobos, a men’s fashion brand, has successfully built a community on Threads using a friendly, witty tone. For example, its post “Did you hear the news? Panta Claus is coming to town” drew attention and positive engagement from users.

Use Eye-Catching Visuals

According to statistics, visual content attracts attention and is remembered 43% more than text-based information. This highlights the great power of images in delivering a message and attracting customers.

With this in mind, brands should make the most of visuals to market effectively on Threads. Be creative and use a variety of visual formats, such as:

• Single images: Product photos or other brand-related images that catch users’ eyes.
• Infographics: Present information in a visual, easy-to-understand way.
• GIFs and short videos: Entertain and capture users’ attention.
• Graphs and charts: Present data in a clear, professional way.
• Screenshots: Showcase products and services or share useful content.
• Tables: Summarize information concisely and make it easy to follow.

However, Tom Golubovich, Head of Marketing and Public Relations at Ninja Transfers, stresses that keeping a sensible balance between images and text is very important on Threads. Although the platform is primarily text-based, the ideal ratio can vary depending on the topic and the purpose of the content. A 40/60 rule for images and text is considered a good way to keep posts engaging and effective.

Ninja Transfers and Shopify are two prime examples of applying this strategy successfully on Threads, using videos from TikTok and repurposing them at a sensible ratio. Shopify has also proven the power of visuals in B2B marketing by creating and using memes to attract its target audience on the platform.

Team Up With KOLs

When advertising on Threads, don’t overlook the power of partnering with influencers (KOLs). It is an effective way to strengthen brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads, while boosting sales. In practice, 89% of advertisers say promotional campaigns with KOLs and KOCs deliver a return on investment (ROI) eight times higher than campaigns that don’t use this approach.

To succeed, choose KOLs that fit your brand’s industry and test different types of engaging content, such as sponsored posts, product reviews, giveaways, or product introduction videos. What matters is tracking and measuring results such as likes, shares, comments, and sales.

On Threads, KOLs (influencers) should use the “Paid Partnership” label to show their partnership with a business.

Conclusion

Threads is becoming one of the most popular platforms and is competing with the leading players. It is an ideal tool for advertisers and brands that want to reach Gen Z, build global awareness, and take advantage of cross-posting content. By engaging with users meaningfully and building long-term relationships with customers, you can reach your strategic goals on Threads.

>> See more: 8 Highly Effective TikTok Optimization Strategies for Businesses

 

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By Minh Tân

Source: Marketing AI