How Hubspot brings it all together on Threads
Nearly a year on, tips for using this still-emerging social platform.
Kennyatta Collins is a freelance brand strategist. Follow him on LinkedIn.
The emergence of new social media apps has blessed us with tools and features to enhance how we communicate. After Elon Musk purchased Twitter and subsequent changes led to a mass exodus of users from the platform, Threads became the ideal destination for many social media marketers, including Hubspot. The customer platform saw the Meta-owned network as a unique alternative that provided what many enjoyed about the early days of Twitter and Instagram.
Chi Thukral, Hubspot’s senior team manager of brand social, has adeptly navigated the changing social media landscape while spotting opportunities for deeper connections for the brand’s audience. Her latest social media strategy positions the text-based app Threads as a core platform for building stronger connections with the Hubspot audience.
“When it first launched, it was a special moment where everyone was exploring it, people were having fun and brands were just showing up as people. You could see how much the audience enjoyed that, and we decided to keep that going,” said Chi. Hubspot entered the platform in proper form with a meme and caption that spoke to the mood of many social media managers at the time.
With almost a year on Threads under her belt, Thukral shares how to get the most out of Threads, especially when looking to connect with Gen Z, extend the lifespan of your visuals and maintain relevance.
Threads is not Twitter
“Sure, Threads is a Twitter competitor, but that’s a completely different audience there. It might lean closer to your Instagram audience or even your LinkedIn audience, but you can’t assume it’ll match your Twitter audience,” says Thukral. Being born of Instagram, Threads naturally skews to a younger demographic than Facebook or X, as 61% of users fall within Gen Z and Millennial categories.
Similarly, user behavior on Threads takes root from years of Instagram use, so it’s just as important to consider when building a strategy around it. “Things that are going viral on Twitter don’t necessarily go viral on Threads,” Thukral said.You have to think more in line with what would work on Instagram now and what would have worked on Instagram when great copy and long-form captions were a thing.”
The value is in the visuals
Even though it’s touted as a text-based app, Threads is built to harness the power of visual storytelling, combined with text to build deeper context for narratives. “Because of how many people are using Threads from Instagram, we know that visuals work well. Threads is the one platform where you can include 10 mixed media in one post and build a digital storyline,” said Thukral.
Hubspot’s strategy takes advantage of this by extending the lifespan of graphics and visual media that may have worked well on Instagram and repurposing it for their growing audience on Threads.
“Because Threads is tied with Instagram, people are switching between those two so easily,” Thukral explained.”So when people are enjoying our content on Instagram, they can head to our bio and engage with it even more on Threads and vice versa.”
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Post by @hubspotView on Threads
Experimentation is essential
The name of the game is experimentation, and that has served Hubspot well, especially when it comes to connecting with Gen Z and resonating with their tone of voice.
“This is where the Gen Z audience is at their purest form,” said Thukral. |”With Threads still being a small pool, they’re comfortable sharing memes and expressing themselves more freely, so we are embracing that too.” Hubspot freely engages with its audience by using memes and tapping into cultural moments with commentary that coincides with the broader conversations of the day.
An added benefit is the brand enjoying increased relevance while becoming more approachable to its target customers due to relationships being built over shared interests.
“We’re keeping the same energy, especially in the replies and comment section, to keep that vibe going. That way if you’re going to hit the comment section, audiences can feel like we’re having fun just like they are,” Thukral said.
Post by @hubspotView on Threads
Enjoy the ride
As Threads continues to welcome more users around the world, we’ll continue to see more creative ways people are using the platform to express themselves. Being in flow with the pace of the platform works to your advantage as an increase in relevance improves connections and audience synergies across relevant channels. Thukral points out Threads is more akin to early Instagram or even Tumblr in the way users engage with each other and share their experiences.
“Threads is a great place where people can still engage with long captions, share unique visuals and lean more into goodwill rather than being hyper-critical.”
How long that lasts, we won’t know. For now, however, it pays to enjoy the experience and contribute to helping the audience do the same.
