As Twitter (now Threads) initially attracted public attention due to its rapid growth and promise as a less fragmented alternative to Twitter. It looked set to be a great platform for B2C campaigns as well as for promoting content and thought leadership more typical of B2B PR.
The secret to Threads’ rapid growth was its integration with Instagram, which allowed users to onboard seamlessly. Although Threads’ growth has certainly slowed in recent weeks, it could offer PR and communications specialists an opportunity to increase engagement, strengthen outreach efforts, and reach audiences with specific interests. Threads’ format is like a mix between Twitter and Instagram. It’s very user-friendly and allows for precise messaging. However, it still lacks important features like content search capabilities. Here are five ways PR professionals can use Threads to maximize value to their clients and grow their business:
Opinion Leadership and Brand Positioning
Threads provides PR and communications specialists with a unique platform to build thought leadership and improve brand positioning. The focus on real-time conversations and exchanges gives you the opportunity to showcase your industry expertise through engaging content. Threads’ tight integration with Instagram allows you to take advantage of visual storytelling, making it perfect for communicating complex ideas in a visually appealing way. Additionally, while it’s not as large as some of the major platforms, its user base is highly engaged, allowing for a stronger connection with its audience.
However, the lack of content search capabilities makes it difficult to explore and discover specific topics. Unlike other social media platforms, Threads makes it difficult to search for related conversations or even trends. The good news about this platform is that, because of its origins on Instagram, it already has a ton of celebrities and influencers, but it’s still playing catch-up in terms of attracting the type of business influencers that most B2B brands partner with. They want to work with you.
Fast Response
According to a recent survey by Capterra, more than three in four business leaders who have implemented a crisis communications plan in the past said they would expand the tools they use to communicate. Thus, PR professionals should look for new tools for rapid response communications.
Threads can be used to disseminate important information, address concerns, and maintain transparency during a crisis, and the “softer, kinder” environment of threads can be a welcome change from other platforms like Twitter and Reddit. And its simplicity helps keep crisis messaging streamlined and focused, ensuring a clear and consistent response. However, Threads lacks key features such as hashtags and trending stories that distinguish Twitter as a global conversation center. In an emergency, access to trending topics and the use of hashtags can increase the reach and impact of crisis communication efforts.
Community Participation and Feedback
When it comes to community participation and gathering feedback, Threads has the potential to build meaningful connections with your audience. Like Twitter, its design focused on public dialogue encourages open conversations and direct engagement with stakeholders. PR specialists can use Threads to conduct polls, gather feedback, and quickly address community concerns. The simplicity and visual elements of Instagram’s platform make engagement even more compelling.
However, Threads currently lacks features such as customizable alt text for user-posted images, reducing accessibility. Additionally, it doesn’t offer captions for user-created videos, which may hinder participation from users with hearing impairments. Still, Threads offers communications professionals a new way to interact and reach new users who may not be present or who may have felt alienated from other social media platforms.
Amplify campaigns and efforts Depending on the target audience, PR specialists can use Threads to amplify campaigns and efforts. Its user-friendly interface and focus on public conversation make it a great way to share campaign updates, engage supporters, and generate buzz. Threads also gives users a direct line of communication, fostering a sense of participation in ongoing efforts. Additionally, the ability to share multimedia content improves storytelling and campaign visibility.
However, Threads lacks the advanced targeting and analytics features available on other social platforms. PR specialists may find it difficult to tailor messages to specific audience segments or accurately measure campaign performance. Expanding the platform to include more powerful and robust targeting and analytics tools is an area for communications professionals to continue to focus on, as it allows for more efficient measurements to evaluate campaign success.
Building Influential Partnerships For PR and communications professionals looking to build influential partnerships, Threads represents a real opportunity because of its focus on real-time conversations and dialogue. Threads’ simplicity also helps to start conversations and network with like-minded professionals.
Integrating it into a communications specialist’s toolkit opens up a wealth of opportunities to enhance PR strategies and target high-value audiences. However, Threads still lags behind established social platforms when it comes to the features business users need. It will be important for PR specialists to keep platforms like Threads up to date to adapt to the rapidly changing media and social environment.
