SMMs… have we made a mistake by dismissing Meta’s Threads too early? While many social media marketers are excluding the platform from their strategies, the latest social media buzz deems it a top downloaded app in recent months. We have a few theories as to why we may be seeing a spike in new users — and why Meta’s strategy for growth on their platform is chef’s kiss. 🤌

META’S THREADS: A TIMELINE

Let’s kick off our deep dive by taking a look at the timeline. Meta’s Threads was released in July 2023, and within just two days, over 70 million users jumped in to use the latest social media platform. Brands and marketers alike had no hesitation in joining Meta’s Threads to optimize their efforts. As a text-based app, it created new opportunities for creators and brands to engage with their audience on multiple platforms. We saw the internet’s biggest brands, like Starbucks, Target, and Duolingo, dive into creating content on the app and they received great engagement. We quickly created our own account for Meta’s Threads and built it into our strategy by hosting team member takeovers to engage our audience across a new platform.

However, after a week of the new platform being live, the active user count dropped by over 50%, falling to below 23 million. This prompted social media marketers to gradually shy away from dedicating too much time and resources to Meta’s Threads, further contributing to the drop in active users.

Since then, Threads has slowly regained momentum. Just when many thought Meta’s Threads had officially taken its place in the social media graveyard (right next to Vine… RIP), Mark Zuckerberg announced in October 2024 that the app had grown to 275 million active users, with industry experts predicting that Meta’s Threads will grow to 300 active users by the end of the year. Prior to this surge, the platform had steadily grown by 7.5 million new users each month between October 2023 and February 2024, with the growth rate increasing to 9 million new active users per month by July 2024. This led the industry to second guess whether the latest social media platform had truly fallen off.

META’S THREADS: DISSECTING META’S STRATEGY FOR GROWTH

So… how did this growth come to be? Two words: user experience. User experience has become vital for driving digital growth strategies, especially in the competitive world of social media platforms. For Meta’s Threads, this was key in driving user engagement and creating a lasting appeal.

Meta’s strategy for growth included rolling out dozens of its updates throughout 2024 aimed at improving the user experience. The latest social media updates were designed to encourage more users to remain active on the platform, including:

Access to analytics on mobile devices
Profile switching when posting
Active status indicators
Expanded media limits up to 20 images or videos
Threads.com for desktop access
Algorithmic updates to boost Threads with high engagement
Disappearing posts for 24-hour visibility
Side-swipe feature for liking or disliking

And So. Much. More.

In our opinion, Meta’s Threads' greatest strategy for growth was making downloading the app practically unavoidable. While the internet’s latest social media app was still growing in active users, Meta still has control over Instagram and Facebook — a combined 6 billion+ community of active users. They took this as an opportunity to push their newest platform onto its already active users and hook them through content that would appeal to them.

When you scroll through your Instagram feed, you'll likely see posts from Meta’s Threads (whether you have an account or not), with content the algorithm predicts you would enjoy. Naturally, once the algorithm successfully feeds you an appealing post, you're more likely to click on it and explore more of what the latest social media app has to offer. Additionally, because Meta’s Threads accounts are linked to Instagram accounts, the signup process is practically effortless. This seamless integration and minimal signup friction are key drivers behind Meta’s Threads’ rise in active users, proving that improving the user experience is indeed a genius strategy for growth.

By focusing on user experience improvements, Meta’s Threads built on their platform to make it feel accessible and responsive to user needs. This strategy for growth, centered around a user-centric model, not only made Meta’s Threads easier to navigate but also made it difficult to avoid. As a result, the app has re-entered the competition for the latest social media platform to enter the download charts.

SHOULD YOU INCORPORATE META’S THREADS INTO YOUR STRATEGY FOR GROWTH?

This begs the question: should you incorporate Meta’s Threads into your social media strategy? It’s no secret that different demographics live on different platforms, and Meta’s Threads has been proven to work for brands looking to target Gen Z audiences, as they are savvy to jump on the latest social media platforms. Gen Z makes up the largest portion of users on Meta’s Threads. For example, the skincare brand, Bliss, embraces a fresh, playful voice that appeals to younger audiences — making them the perfect brand to leverage Meta’s Threads. On the platform, they post relatable content to build relationships with their community members and promote their products. This earns them great engagement, as nearly every single Thread received multiple responses! Plus, it lands them a “Thread Recommendation” spot on their IG followers’ IG Home Feeds.

If your brand is focusing on older demographics, however, we would not recommend prioritizing Meta’s Threads just yet. As tried-and-true platforms like Instagram and TikTok continue to grow and maintain their older audiences (along with Gen Z and Millennials), it is better to focus your efforts on these — while keeping an eye on Meta’s Threads for future developments.

Overall, Meta’s Threads still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of unique features, brand partnerships, and overall market share. But if the app continues to innovate and provide value to its users, it could eventually carve out its own space in the ever-evolving social media landscape.

We hope you found this blog post on Meta’s Threads’ strategy for growth insightful toward your social media strategy! Want to dive further into how you can sharpen your social media strategy for growth? Book a strategy session with our CEO, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Xx,

The Homies