🎯 Work Smart Wednesday

1. 🏃 Should you join Threads?

Threads is a new social media platform launched by Meta (the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). Threads is practically a carbon copy of Twitter. However, just five days after the launch, the app reached 100 million downloads and became the fastest-growing app ever — even breaking ChatGPT's recent record of users in two months. 

The key question: Should you join Threads? Will it benefit your business?

There is often a HUGE advantage to being an early first mover on a new platform.

1. There is less competition when you’re early. Fewer creators will be producing content on Threads AND the algorithm is more favourable in the early days. Threads wants engaged users, so ads are minimal and engaging content is 'super-boosted' in the first 6 months or so.

2. But, there is a cost associated with it. If you want to be a first-mover on a new platform, you have to be prepared to put in the work. To really capitalise on the opportunity you need to go all in for a while. It will be a slog. Nobody knows what works best yet.

3. The platform might die out. New platforms often go through rapid growth and then most completely collapse. From YikYak and Google+ to Vine and Clubhouse, the landscape is littered with the many corpses of failed platforms. You could build an audience, then it may all just disappear overnight through no fault of your own.

4. It might still be worth it. While your account on the platform might be completely useless if it collapses, you can still win. 

A famous example comes from Chris Do, who went all in on Clubhouse and amassed a huge following there but lost it all when the app disappeared from our collective cultural consciousness. Many of the people that found Chris on Clubhouse now follow him elsewhere. They watch his YouTube videos, are on his email list, and buy his products. Clubhouse disappeared, but his audience didn't.

Chris was careful to mitigate the risk by capturing his audience and bringing them across to his other platforms. You would be wise to do the same.

5. My take on it all. There is clearly an advantage to moving on Threads now, but it depends where you currently 'are' with your business. Let me explain. Platforms tend to come in two varieties - 'discovery' platforms and 'relationship' platforms.

Discovery platforms help people hear about you for the first time, they are relatively low engagement with content that is quick to consume. Think Instagram or TikTok. These are great for top of funnel, to build awareness and initial interest in potential buyers. Threads looks like it is going to be a discovery platform.

Relationship platforms help people to trust you, to feel connected to you, and to understand how you can actually help them. Content tends to be long form and have a personal touch, such as as podcasts and email lists. These work wonderfully to support the mid-stages of your funnel, to help your audience evaluate your offer and feel comfortable buying from you. They move you from being that person the buyer has vaguely heard of to someone they feel they can truly trust.

An image is below to illustrate the point then a little more explanation... This is a basic overview of a sales funnel.  Please note: Most businesses are better served with a sales "flywheel"

What does your business currently struggle with? Do not enough people know you exist OR do plenty of people know about you but they don't feel ready to trust you with their money just yet?

If you currently struggle with awareness and discoverability, then joining Threads could be a good idea for you. The case is made more compelling if you are a strong writer and you aren't halfway through building an audience on another platform - you should only focus on one platform at a time.

If you struggle with buyer trust, then Threads might not be the thing for you right now. Focus on your mid-funnel for now.

If you are unsure which part you struggle with, then you likely need some help with your strategy and funnel tracking overall. We want to know exactly what the focus should be for maximum results. Your business would benefit from looking into your current customer journey, your sales funnel, and your overall marketing strategy. You would benefit from a clarity call, we can identify what you should focus on together in one free session and create a step-by-step action plan so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact. 

For me, I have decided against joining Threads for the time being for 3 reasons - I am currently focused on building my email list, I have a strong personal dislike for social media (including Meta as a whole and Threads' data policies), and due to the risk of audience capture (the next point in this email). Opportunities are not in short supply, but my time and focus are. Threads doesn't seem to fully fit my goals at this time so I have chosen to pass and focus on things that better fit my preferences. That doesn't mean it won't work for you though.

If you go for it and join Threads, here is a bonus tip. Currently, any good post can go viral on Threads. I see this among my friends and clients using the platform already. Be creative. Put a lot out there. Test as much as possible.

To slightly adapt Facebook's own motto, move fast and MAKE things