Meta’s new social media platform, Threads, which debuted about a month ago, accrued 100 million users within five days of its launch. With strong early adoption from transportation and logistics brands like XPO Logistics, Fluid Truck, and Blue Grace Logistics, it looks like Threads will be around for a while. But as a business, making the decision to jump onto a new social media platform - with an unknown future - is a big one.
Keep reading as we go over what Threads is, what you can expect from the platform moving forward, and key considerations to take into account when deciding if you’re ready to add Threads to your social media strategy.
What is Threads?
Most users are calling Threads ‘the new Twitter.’ But Meta, Thread's parent company, explains it as “a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations.” To join Threads, users have to have an existing Instagram account. This means two things for businesses considering the platform:
- You already have to be on Instagram
- You can’t leave Threads without deleting your Instagram account
In some ways, it’s worth looking at Threads as an extension of Instagram. To join Threads, you must log in with your existing Instagram account. After your Threads account is created, you’re promoted to follow all of your Instagram followers on Threads. This means that if your followers already have a Threads account, you will follow or request to follow them, and if they don’t have an account yet, you will automatically follow them once their account is created.
After creating an account, users can share text posts of up to 500 characters accompanied by links, photos, or videos up to five minutes in length. As we’re all learning the ins and outs of this new social network, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, shared some hidden gems to help us all navigate the platform. Check them out here!
What Does Threads Have Planned?
Although its launch was only a few weeks ago, the Threads/Instagram team has big plans for the future. Mosseri posted a few features that users should be on the lookout for, including hashtags, multi-account switching, and more which you can learn more about here. Recent posts from Mosseri have also indicated that the platform's development team is working hard to resolve bugs and minimize spam on the platform.
Is the Transportation and Logistics Industry on Threads?
A lot of them are! While there are many industry brands that have joined, but haven't posted, several are gaining attention for being early adopters. Scroll through some of our favorite examples below.
Things to Consider Before Joining ANY Social Platform
Before deciding if a new social media platform is right for your transportation and logistics business, there are questions to take into consideration.
- Does your team have the time and resources to take on this platform?
- What, if any, of your personas are active on the platform? Can you reach your target audience?
- Are your competitors on the platform? Is there a benefit to being an early adopter?
- Do you have something valuable to add to the conversations happening on the network? This could just be a fun meme, or it could be industry news. Find your niche, join in on relevant conversations, and engage with others.
Answering a few of these questions should be a good way to begin the decision process for joining a new social media platform, but it’s important to remember that your answers to these questions might change as the platform grows and evolves.
Should You Join Threads?
It’s important to remember that Threads has only been here for a little over a month, so it’s too early to decide whether it will stick around, how it might evolve, and whether this platform is right or wrong for your business. Forbes reported that user engagement is drastically down while Reuters stated that Threads could lure ads from Twitter, so there are contradicting opinions about the platform's future success.
If you don’t have the time or resources on your team to integrate Threads into your social strategy right now, a great course of action is to keep an eye on how the platform continues to grow and reassess in a few months.
If you are ready to join Threads, we say go for it! Many brands on the platform are having fun experimenting with new, fun, witty ways to interact and engage with their audiences. If you prefer to take a more conservative approach to the new platform, we suggest following a strategy similar to your existing Twitter efforts and making tweaks as needed. Don't forget to engage with your followers; social media should never be a one way communication tool.
At drop & hook, we specialize in transportation and logistics marketing, so you can be sure that we’re the experts you need when you decide to add Threads to your social media strategy. Reach out to us here when you’re ready to get started.