Operating under the Meta banner, Threads was launched in 2023 as Instagram’s text-based social media sidekick. Many people called it the "Twitter Killer" because it focused on the same text-based posting as X (formerly known as Twitter).
When it launched in 2023, Threads racked up 100 million users in its first week. This explosive adoption rate was due to the app's association with Instagram. Since day one of its launch, Instagram users could easily activate their Threads account with one click. It hasn’t been a cake walk for Threads, but it still counts as one the fastest growing social media platforms in history.
Meta reports that the app has reached 175 million monthly active users as of mid-2024. For context, Instagram has about 2 billion monthly active users globally.
In its short life, the app has launched a ton of core feature updates to remain competitive against X (and other social media platforms in general). It's also carving out an identity separate from Instagram, offering what it hopes is a differentiated experience that attracts more users and encourages regular usage.
In this article, we break down Threads and provide everything you need to know about the app, including:
- What is Threads?
- Why your brand should be on Threads
- How to grow your Threads account
- How to create a Threads account
What is Threads on Instagram?
Instagram's Threads app is a text-based conversation app where users can share text posts (along with images, videos, GIFs, voice memos, and polls) with the goal of generating conversation "threads." Sound familiar? Threads is Meta's answer to X (formerly known as Twitter) and was dubbed the "Twitter Killer" when it arrived on the scene in 2023.
Source: Loomly
Threads is an extension of Instagram — it is only available to people with an Instagram account. The two apps are interoperable social networks. You log into Threads using your Instagram account, but the Threads experience feels very different from its parent app. That's because it’s a predominantly text-based platform, designed for written updates and public discussions. This contrasts with Instagram, which is a visual and video-driven app.
Businesses or influencers looking to expand their social media audience and connect with followers in a new way should consider Threads as an emerging platform with potential benefits. More on that below.
4 reasons to be on Threads
We've come a long way from marketing strategies that force you to be on every social media platform. Now social media best practice is about being where your audience is. But when 100 million Instagram users joined Threads in its first week, the list included lots of brands. At the one year mark, many of those brands are still active on the platform and generating solid engagement on their posts.
Source: Wendy's
The burning question remains: Is Threads a worthwhile platform for your brand? The answer is more nuanced than a "yes" or "no."
In contrast to visual-dominant platform like Instagram and TikTok, Threads is more of a "microblogging" app. Captions matter on the visual platforms (especially for social SEO) but they're secondary to the images and videos in posts. On Threads, words are everything. It's your ability to drive conversation that makes you successful on the app.
The more you interact with your audience, the higher you'll ranking in the Threads algorithm, pointing more users toward your posts and profile. This style of microblogging also gives you space to expand on your current social media content to demonstrate your expertise in a niche. When executed correctly, this can be a valuable tool for building brand awareness, credibility, and trust.
Here are a few ways Threads can benefit your business:
1. Built-in audience
You can’t import your Instagram followers to Threads. That’s a common myth about the platform.
However, you can import who you follow. When you sign up for Threads via your Instagram account, you are prompted to follow Threads users who you also follow on Instagram. It’s a quick, seamless way to build your feed with the type of content you’re interested in instead of training the algorithm on your interests from scratch.
On Threads you can follow the same accounts you follow on Instagram.
Since this in an easy, automated step in the Threads sign-up process, many new users opt in. That means chances are high that users who follow you on Instagram will automatically opt in to follow you on Threads. You don’t have to put in as much work growing your following as you do when starting out on a different social media platform.
Plus, your Threads posts can be cross-promoted on other Meta platforms. If you post a Thread, it might show up to your followers on Instagram or Facebook. That's a nice boost to your reach!
2. Interaction with audience
Threads was created with interaction in mind. Since Threads is designed for conversations, you can engage beyond a like or short reply. Interact with your community on hot topics in the industry. Or, go one step further by participating in conversation happening on other popular Threads accounts in your niche.
Source: REI
Some businesses now recognize Threads as a useful platform for customer support. You can easily deal with multiple issues at the same time using Threads posts or direct messaging. This not only looks good for your brand, but it also adds genuine value to the customer.
3. More microblogging opportunity
Source: Shannon Mckinstrie
One advantage of creating content specifically for Threads is that it allows you to post up to 500 characters, compared to X’s 280. This gives you more room to cover topics in depth, a feature of zero-click content strategies that are winning out across social media platforms. Essentially, fewer people click links to the "open web" — they prefer to stay on the platform they're using. That means your content has to be engaging upfront and you can't rely on a CTA to a blog or a website to do your marketing. Platforms like Threads offer you this microblogging experience.
4. Repurpose or expand on your other social media content
You don’t always have to come up with novel ideas for social media. Repurposing content is important and useful. 42% of marketers enjoy success with a good repurposing strategy.
Letterboxd uses the same TiKTok video clip on Threads, but adds some new context to the post with a reply thread. Source: Letterboxd
Using your old Instagram stories, photos, or videos to inspire new Threads and vice versa is easy. If you frequently post on other text-based platforms, like LinkedIn or X, you can also try remixing your content for Threads. Plus, since Threads allows you to post videos, you can repost your Reels, TikToks, or Shorts, adding more or different context to make it stand out.
A social media scheduling tool makes this a quick and painless process. Instead of navigating to each platform and developing a brand new post in their native content editors, you can connect Threads to Loomly and create and schedule all of your social media content in one go. In Loomly's Post Builder you can draft your content in the Generic Content panel, then use the Fine-Tuning panel to remix your copy for each social media platform. You can also use Loomly Studio to quickly change your image and video dimensions and length based on platform requirements.
3 ways to grow your Threads account
If you've already created a Threads account and post there somewhat regularly, that's great! The app has a smaller pool of daily active users compared to the major social platforms like Instagram, so it can be harder to build reliable engagement. Think of it this way: On Instagram, you're a small fish in a big pond; on Threads, you're a big fish in a small pond. This is how plenty of brands and business owners have carved out a space for themselves on the app.
The Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has alluded to how the Threads algorithm works. Keep these algorithm tips in mind and you might see your Threads engagement tick up.
1. Reply more than you post
Threads is a conversation app, and Meta wants you to treat it that way. Here's Mosseri talking about the power of replies in an interview with Platformer.
"I think what a lot of people don't realize, because a lot of people are coming over from Instagram — they don't realize how important the reply game is. If you're really trying to grow your presence [on Threads], you should reply much more than you post. And the sum of all your replies is about as valuable as the sum of all the value of all your posts."
Replying to threads that mention you is an easy way to boost engagement!
Takeaway: Of course you should always respond to comments on your content with thoughtful, substantial replies that generate conversation. Don't stop there. Make it a habit to spend half your time on the app interacting with your followers' content as well as relevant content from other brands and industry personalities.
2. Aim for real time relevance
Figuring out your posting schedule is important because initial engagement on your posts signals to the algorithms whether that content is worth showing to more users (including followers and non-followers). But there's no universal "right" time to post. It depends on a complicated mix of factors, including your audience's peak app usage times and the type of content you're posting.
It's a bit more straightforward on Threads. While these factors still come into play, Mosseri has said that "We intentionally focus way more on real time in the ranking for Threads than we do on Instagram."
Think about how people use X (Twitter) — the most popular real-time social media app. It is THE place for real time updates and commentary on news, sports, and events. Presidential debate? NBA finals? Met Gala red carpet? Threads, as a clear competitor to X, want to work in the same way. Here's Mosseri from that same interview:
"Threads is actually for a broader use case, which is sharing your ideas. It's a place for commentary about what's happening in the world."
What does this mean? Essentially, chronological relevance to hot topics is a big ranking factor on Threads. However, it is important to note that Threads is trying to distance itself from being a news and political discourse app like X, instead favoring more lighthearted conversation. Political discourse is allowed on the platform, but Mosseri has said that it will not make an effort to recommend political content from people you don't follow.
Find Trending topics on Threads via the search tool
Takeaway: To maximize your reach on Threads, your content has to be relevant to what's happening in the world. You don't need to cover geopolitical events as they happen, but monitor your feed to see what Trending Topics and other popular conversations that you can join in real time when its relevant to your brand.
3. Focus on community
In a Threads user survey, Meta found that "For the majority of respondents (60%), connecting with others is the most important part of social media, and many people on Threads believe the app helps build strong communities and fosters friendly conversations."
A post using the BookThreads topic tag. Source: @booksofabaker
One way to build community is to use Topic Tags consistently, which are essentially hashtags without the # mark. These tags help your content surface to the right audiences. Some of the most popular Threads Topic Tags are:
- PhotographyThreads
- BookThreads
- GymThreads
- ArtThreads
- TTPD (aka Taylor Swift's album “The Tortured Poets Department")
A post using the ArtThreads topic tag. Source: @feyincarnate
Threads might be returning to the classic hashtag model in the future. Other social apps have vocally downplayed the role of hashtags in account reach, but on real-time platforms like Threads and X they act as essential post elements because they help they algorithm quickly sort and prioritize incoming streams of content.
Takeaway: Focus on building a community on Threads by niching down your audience and using Topic Tags to categorize your content and surface it to the most engaged groups.
How to create a Threads account
If Threads sounds like a platform you’d like to try out, it’s time to set up an account.
Before we take you through the steps, note that Threads is only available to those with an existing Instagram account. If you don’t have one, setting one up is your first step. Once that’s taken care of, here’s what to do.
Step 1: Download the Threads app
The Threads app is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store so you can download it for Apple or Android devices.
There's also a desktop version which has seen some major updates. If you're familiar with TweetDeck, the Threads desktop version will look familiar. It lets you customize your Threads homepage with your Following feed, For You feed, saved posts, recent notifications, and more.
Source: Adam Mosseri on Threads
You can also access Threads from your Instagram account on the notification page and your profile page.
You can display your Threads profile link on your Instagram profile
If you’re a social media manager who controls multiple accounts, you may create separate Threads profiles for each one. Switch back and forth between profiles quickly by hitting the “Switch Accounts” tab at the bottom of the screen, as you would with Instagram.
Step 2: Set up your profile
Next, Threads will prompt you to enter information to complete your profile. The good news is that you can auto-import the details from your Instagram page, speeding up the process.
The default username for your account will be the same as your Instagram account. If you want to change your handle, you’ll have to edit your Instagram username first.
You must use your Instagram username on Threads
You can add a different bio and profile link than you have an Instagram, but you can also import this data from Instagram.
You can import your bio and other profile details from Instagram.
Step 3: Follow other accounts
The first step toward growing a Threads following is to start following other users. Threads gives you the option of following all the accounts you already connect with on Instagram.
If you want to expand your following, Threads has a robust search function. Manually search for users using the search symbol at the bottom of the main page. When you hit search, you’ll be met with suggested profiles based on your information. You can also use Topic Tags to find people who post about a certain topic.
Step 4: Connect your Threads account to your social media scheduling tool
Before you start posting, take a minute to connect your Threads account to your social media scheduling tool, like Loomly. Instead of opening the app every time you want to post, you can access it from the Loomly Post Builder, along with all your other social accounts. This makes it super easy to plan social media content in advance and get it scheduled on your calendar. You can create a generic post about a topic, then fine tune the message and the media specs to fit each social channel. Cross-posting has never been this easy.
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Loomly's Post Builder lets you create a generic post, then fine-tune for every social media channel
To connect Threads to Loomly, head do your Calendar Settings in Loomly, then click on the Social Accounts tab. Scroll down to Threads and click Connect. Once you've granted permission for Loomly to access your Threads account, you can start scheduling and auto-publishing content.
Step 5: Create your first Thread
Now that you’re up and running, you’re free to create a Threads post. While you can share the same content as on your Instagram page, try planning and scheduling exclusive content on your Threads profile to differentiate.
Publishing on Threads couldn’t be easier. Hit the plus symbol, create your content, and press Post. You can click Add to thread to create another post in the series, or thread. Right now you can add multiple images to a post, along with GIFs, voice notes, and polls. There's a camera function to snap a photo directly for your post, and there's a hashtag button that pulls up Topic tags to select from. You can also...
- Repost other users’ content by hitting the repost button on their post, which looks like a dual clockwise arrow. Reposted content shows up in the Reposts tab on your profile.
- Quote other users' content by hitting the repost button on their post and selecting Quote. This is like a reshare, and you can add your own thoughts. Quotes appear on your main profile feed.
Final thoughts on Threads
Threads isn't for everyone, but it does have the potential to be a breakthrough platform for conversation and community building. Already the app is catching up to X in terms of functionality, and it's working on additional features to encourage even more content creation. If your brand is focused on any of these three areas, then it's time to start experimenting on Threads:
- Community building: If you regularly engage with and spark conversations with your followers on other platforms, Threads is a great channel to expand on that strategy.
- Microblogging: If your content strategy includes educational content, news and analysis, and any other kind of original thinking, try translating that to microblogging on Threads. The platform is built primarily for sharing ideas in a text format.
- Real-time relevancy: If your brand is tied to news and/or pop culture, Threads' algorithm might love you. The platform wants users who are talking about what's happening now.
We know it's hard to commit to yet another social platform, even if you're just testing it for a few months. Let's make that easier for you. Use Loomly as your social media scheduling tool, and create, collaborate on, and schedule content for all of your social platforms from one place. Try our 15-day free trial today and connect all of your social media accounts — including Threads!
