Australian creators and influencers ride Threads to mass followers

Meta’s launch of microblogging platform, Threads, has widened the space for creators and their followings on Instagram. 

The text based conversation app, many call a Twitter killer, has amassed millions of downloads since it opened July 5. 

For the influencers, the new social platform promises more engagement if creators invest in the upload and evolution of Threads, says Steph Pearson, national head of social and innovation at Omnicom Media Group. 

“Threads uses a single login which means that Instagram handles and verification badges are reserved based on existing Instagram accounts," said Pearson.

"As part of this ecosystem, creators can also follow the accounts on Threads that they already follow on Instagram with just one tap."

Pearson (pictured right) notes this has meant a significant number of influencers both globally and locally have expanded to the new app and have amassed great followings in a short time.  

For it to take full effect and be of benefit, creators will need to engage with Threads on a continual basis, she said. 

“The platform has globally had more than 100 million downloads, and is the #1 downloaded app in Australia today,” said Pearson.

“To date we are seeing influencers post on their accounts at an extremely high frequency of up to 20 threads being posted in the last 24 hours, with engagement being very low with just a handful of replies or likes.” 

Emily Hatzopoulos, senior talent manager at independent influencer marketing agency Born Bred Talent, said as Meta provided the function to "follow all" when users made a new Threads account, they removed the main barrier that stops creators from wanting to jump on a new platform.  

“Having to start fresh on a platform can be daunting for creators as they do essentially have to rebuild and reconnect with their audience, but it can also be vital opportunity to connect with a new audience,” said Hatzopoulos. 

“Threads did a great job at providing influencers with a sense of security in the ‘follow all’ feature.” 

Creators Taz & Alessia, prominent on TikTok and Instagram, said influencers and creators are early adopters by nature, so they’ve been quick to create an account and start experimenting on Threads.  

“There is a huge incentive to jump on Threads, which is the automatic follow button. We don’t have to start from scratch again which is a major bonus!,” they said. 

“A lot of creators are using Threads as a way to show a different side of their personality which has been nice to see and interact with. There are so many creators who are smart, funny and have needed a place that feels more like a diary, and isn’t as polished as Instagram.” 

Creator Brooke Styles (pictured right) agrees that Threads can only benefit the influencer sector. 

“Not only because it’s a sister app to the very familiar influencer ground, Instagram, but because any new app is a new opportunity,” said Styles. 

With the rapid rise of short form video content, Hatzopoulos said she isn’t sure if Threads will be the platform where promotions will take off.  

“People certainly can promote through Threads, however I haven’t seen this happen quite yet,’ she said. 

“It raises a lot of questions as to how creators can promote something authentically simply using text posts, but I suspect we may eventually see brands asking creators to repost some of their branded reels onto Threads to ensure they are having a presence on the platform.” 

Hatzopoulos thinks the real question is whether or not promotion on Threads would be effective for advertisers and media buyers. 

“At the moment, a lot of people are enjoying threads for how unfiltered and candid it is, and seeing influencers utilise it for sponsored content may have adverse effects - only time will tell,” she said. 

As a creator in the space, Styles said at the moment, individuals and brands are currently self promoting their own product or service but it hasn’t quite hit the mark.  

The tone in the app is quite different to other social media spaces, users love the fresh air of ad-less content, she said. 

“In time like most apps, ads will adapt but I think only the most light hearted and creative ones will shine through - no more billboard approach.” 

Taz and Alessia said they’ve heard branded content tool will be launching shortly, but they believe it’s too early to be doing that. 

“Of course, when you have an audience there is always going to be an opportunity to promote to them; however, do we think it’s a good idea to do this so early on? No; time and place matters,” said Taz and Alessia.  

“Creators and brands should be focusing on building their community on Threads first, and then think about monetising further down the line.” 

Pearson notes that there are currently no immediate plans for monetisation on Threads. 

“Instead it's being explored as part of an influencers’ organic social marketing approach,” she said. 

Much could emerge from Instagram’s rollout of the latest chat-based platform, said Pearson. 

She suspects that for Meta, text-based conversations will add a lot of real-time signals about user interests and behaviours, and will continue to for some time, assuming the platform does scale and adds advertising opportunities. 

“Threads is already working on improvements using feedback from creators with the intention to improve trends and topic, search functionality and messaging,” said Pearson. 

These additional signals will help to influence the types of ads that are delivered and importantly improve the training of their AI algorithms in ad delivery, she said. 

“This will likely have benefits for advertisers in targeting speed and accuracy. With the move to monetization this will provide influencers with the opportunity to deliver incremental value to advertisers looking to expand branded content partnerships on Threads.” 

Hatzopoulos (pictured right) from Born Bred Talent said it’s difficult to say what might come about from Threads. 

“So many platforms have come and gone and whether or not Threads will steadily hold users attention is hard to say. I think it will depend largely on what the top creators around the world do with their Threads accounts,” she said. 

If key influencers and opinion leaders continue to provide quality content, says Hatzopoulos, people are more likely to see viewers continue using it. 

“It also has the potential to open up the doors for people who haven’t found their stride across Instagram or TikTok and could do so in a text-based format. We may see new creators emerge on threads who haven’t successfully gained influence on other platforms.” 

Taz and Alessia say it will be interesting to navigate the Threads space as creators themselves.  

“We have watched platforms come up and fall just as quickly (RIP BeReal),” they said. 

“If Threads is able to stick around, we think we will see a new type of creator emerge who can use this space to mimic the experience of texting your bestie. One post a day won’t be enough to build real connection, it will take many posts per day. 

“The question is, does a text-based app have the ability to hold attention the way video does? We don’t think so.” 

Styles says she believes it’s the unfiltered, consumer-beneficial content that users want to read from their favourite brands and influencers. 

“Whether that be educational, entertainment or relatable. The first few days reminded me of 2012 Facebook status where personalities shined through over filtered lenses,” she said. 

On whether Threads will be used by creators to expand their reach and folowing, Styles said every app brings in different experiences and audiences. 

“Threads gives a different approach to what users see on Instagram,” she said. 

“It’s an open DM for fans and followers to connect with their audience and the creators who jump on board and use it to deepen their connection to community will thrive."

It’s too early to be able to predict the long-term success of the platform, said Taz and Alessia (pictured right), so their approach is to dedicate a small amount of time to scrolling and posting on it each day. 

“It’s important to experiment with new forms of media and it has the potential to help us find new audiences too (depending on if Threads prioritises discoverability),” they said. 

Hatzopoulos said it’s essential for creators to have a presence on all major platforms, even if the content they are posting is the same or similar to what they may post already on TikTok, for example. 

“New platforms mean new ways to tap into a new audience and new ways to connect to a pre-existing audience,” she said. 

“As we have learnt over the years, platforms don’t always last forever, it’s important to be diverse with where and what you are posting as an influencer.” 

It’s expected that opportunities to discover more content and the ability to reach wider audiences are slated to come soon.  

Pearson said that currently, users can discover new accounts through search, including ‘suggested follows’.  

“Within the feed people can also see content from their own connections as well as recommendations featuring creators. This will allow influencers to expand their reach beyond their existing Instagram networks,” she said. 

Unlike the walled garden of Facebook or Instagram, soon Threads will be an open and decentralised social network aligning to global open web standards (ActivityPub), says Pearson. 

“This means that Threads will be inter-operable with other social networks that use the same standards, supporting the sharing of information and followers between different networks such as Mastodon.  

This is a big change from the ‘walled garden’ status that Facebook and Instagram have previously restricted themselves to and could potentially signal more cooperation with other brands, she says. 

“This will again allow influencers to get access to a wider sphere of audience beyond Instagram.” 

Threads has quickly become a rival to Twitter, sparking feud among the two tech giants, now scrambling to compete with one another. Kate Musgrove, managing director APAC of Bazaarvoice, notes how marketers and brands can utilise Threads to drive engagement.

Musgrove (pictured right) said the success of social media platforms or apps relies on convenience, and humans, more often than not, pass on anything that is more complicated than it needs to be.

"Twitter’s recent decision to limit the number of tweets and introduce a subscription model is only going to reduce convenience for users," she said.

"Along with users, those impacted by this new look Twitter include marketers, advertisers and brands who often measure performance via owned and earned channels by setting clear expectations on engagement."

Musgrove notes that as Twitter reduces the opportunity for engagement, it will only hinder those looking to grow and hit engagement targets.

It comes as no surprise that Meta’s Threads has launched at the ultimate time to challenge and generate more engagement capabilities than the offerings of Twitter, she said.

"Brands need to find the right channel mix to communicate with their audience and generate engagement, because gaining attention on social media is as challenging as ever.

"That battle for relevance is not only about engagement capabilities, but collaborating with the social ecosystem to offer authenticity within the right channel mix."