30 million and counting: Will Threads be the next playground for adland players?

 Instagram's highly anticipated app, Threads, that is set to rival Twitter, has officially launched and within a day of its launch, has garnered over 30 million signups, according to Meta's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. 

Threads is an app that was built by Instagram and that will largely function similarly to Twitter. It will allow users to post text-based posts that other users can then comment on, share and like. 

According to Meta in a statement, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations. 

"Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas," said Meta. "Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.

Don't miss: Threads for dummies: 101 on Instagram's upcoming Twitter rival platform

The app comes at an apt time as Twitter users see increasing frustration with ever-changing rules and restrictions on the platform that are causing many to abandon the platform. 

Just this week, Twitter's CEO revealed that the platform put at temporary limit on the number of tweets users can see per day to address the "extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation," according to Musk in a tweet. He added that he also set a view limit because "we are all Twitter addicts and need to go outside".

As a result, verified accounts world be limited to reading 6,000 posts a day while unverified accounts would only get 600 posts and new unverified accounts would get 300. These amounts were expected to increase to 8,000, 800 and 400 respectively, according to Musk in an updated tweet. 

The move caused significant upset among users who responded to Musk's tweets saying that Twitter was now dead, and that Musk was forcing users to pay for Twitter Blue, a paid monthly subscription service on the platform that allows users to subscribe, and thus access, a more premium version of Twitter.

With the introduction of Threads, the question now is if adland players will shift their focus to Threads and if it is a platform that will remain sustainable in the long run particularly as Elon Musk looks to sue Meta for the creation of the app. 

Accordig to Ellen Hendriks, IPG Mediabrands' social lead, Threads has the potential to be a mainstay laregly because it can leverage on Meta’s database, providing them an easy introduction to the new platform by using the same Instagram credentials, usernames and giving them access to the same followers/ 

"As Meta is obviously widely known and used, they don’t have to put much effort into their brand awareness. Also having a similar look and feel as Instagram (almost a mix between Twitter and Instagram), it will feel intuitive and 'safe' to use for new users. Platforms such as BlueSky and Mastoden don’t have these advantages," said Hendriks. "Also, being a Meta brand, the amount of data they can leverage on is a lot more comprehensive than the other platforms, which gives the algorithm more input and provides more detailed targeting opportunities in future."

She added that if Threads rolls out its advertising solutions within the Meta Ads Manager, she expects that advertisers will quickly adopt Threads advertising. "As Meta has a fuller data scope on their audience, targeting options will be more comprehensive than Twitter’s targeting. Next to that, brand safety will be a big reason for advertisers to switch to Threads," she said before adding:

Currently brand safety is far from guaranteed on Twitter, while this is still a priority at Meta.

Agreeing with her, Serm Teck Choon, the co-founder and CEO at Antsomi noted that Twitter has "alienated" advertisers since Musk's takeover and that this is why Meta is seeing it as an opportunity to roll out a public conversations app such as Threads. 

"However, advertisers will not immediately opt to leave Twitter as the two apps do have different types of users. Threads leverages Instagram logins and has a younger type of audience. Also, the growth of Threads and its stickiness are still being observed by the marketers as it’s only been a day since it's release."

Adding on, Serm noted that for any new platform to emerge as a mainstay, it needs a lot of parameters - one of which is the attention of global media.

"Apps such as Bondee are just small apps developed locally and with such a limitation, it’s not easy to have exponential growth. Hence, advertisers should observe for a while when a new app like this emerges, and they should monitor if its growth is sustainable," he said. 

Possible threats to Threads

Saying that, Threads is not infallible, according to Ranganathan Somanathan, the co-founder and CEO at RSquared Global Ventures. "In my opinion, Twitter could still be relevant for brands seeking scaled reach. Based opinion, it seems like Threads is designed for more intimate engagement. As such, brands could end up using both platforms," he said.

He added:

Twitter could be used for building reach and customer support, while Threads might become a CRM tool with a customer retention and engagement platform.

Given the scale and clout of Meta amongst its stakeholders, they have built a strong competitive advantage to launch new solutions like Threads, he noted. "I believe Threads’ success with depend upon how well Meta will execute their strategies to onboard content creators, influencers and service providers, how they make their content discoverable and sharable within desired communities and importantly deliver an UX that is seamless between their own platforms," he said. 

Agreeing with him, Don Anderson, the CEO and founder at Kaddadle noted that advertisers will certainty hedge their bets first and maintain their presence on Twitter in order to play it safe and to honour their existing commitments. 

"That might be a completely different story by Q4 and into 2024 depending on how Threads is received by users and whether it can maintain its initial momentum toward building critical mass. But there’s no question that there will be even more pressure on Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino and her sales teams to maintain whatever loyalties they’ve had from brands, many of whom have jettisoned or pulled their advertising at times throughout Elon Musk’s tumultuous takeover and reign," he said. 

"That said, if I were an investor in Meta or within its sales teams, I’d be excited about the prospects of Threads adding yet another, much-needed revenue stream at a time when marketing budgets have been flatlining or cut on recession concerns, and digital advertising itself is becoming a bit mundane," he continued before adding:

The industry is hungry for something new, or at least something that may offer a bit more stability versus the consistent tedium of the Musk era at Twitter.

Will the app be a hit or miss?

At the end of the day, the longevity of any new app is always going to be a heads or tails issue, said Anderson. 

"Longevity inevitably comes down to mass user adoption and ongoing engagement, intuitiveness and usefulness, global access and consistent developer support and investment, and competitors. Does it serve any real purpose or provide perceived value are the critical measures of any app. Achieve this and advertisers will follow," he said. 

Adding on, Somanathan noted that brands have to reflect if they are early adopters or followers. If they seek to innovate, they have to try new platforms even as they are being developed and deployed.

"Have an experimentation mindset. If their culture doesn’t permit testing, and learning, then wait for success and case studies from other brands to work with," he suggested.

"As such, it’s less about longevity. It’s more about relevance. Understand why you are using the solution. If it's for reach building, use an established platform with built up audiences. In all cases, filter it with a lens of brand safety and accountability," he said. 

Agreeing with him, Chito Jusi, the client president, media group of dentsu Singapore noted that rather than gauging the longevity of the app, advertisers should look at the capability of the app in delivering effective communications to their audiences instead.

"Apps like Bondee rode the hype of building close, social interactions in a virtual world but struggled to explain why users should prefer it to existing communities in Discord or even Whatsapp. So it is important that the purpose of an app is clear and that it fills a consumer need."

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