Threads amassed 5 million users within its first 4 hours of launch. The app went live at 7pm EDT in the US and midnight in the UK. However, regulatory concerns mean it is not available in the EU at this time.

What actually is Threads?

Threads is a free text-based conversation app made by the brains behind Instagram and Facebook.

Meta describes Threads as: “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”

In other words, it’s a place to talk about the things you love with other people. How original.

How does it work?

After downloading Threads myself and taking it for a spin, I can confirm that it’s reassuringly simple to use. It features one main news feed and the classic like, share and comment functions we’re all familiar with. Meta aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. The app looks very clean, minimalistic and unsurprisingly, exactly like Twitter. You can publish text posts, reshare (the same as a retweet on Twitter) and quote share (like quote tweeting). You can also create a series of text posts, much like Twitter threads, which does beg the question: what will threads be called on Threads? Threads squared? A spool? Yarn? Who knows…

Despite Threads being text-centric, this isn’t to say you can’t post images and videos here too – in fact, you can post videos up to 5 minutes long. However, much like Twitter, the main focus of the app is to connect with others through snappy, insightful conversation. Having said that, Thread’s character limit for text posts is 500, which is nearly double Twitter’s.

The interesting thing about Threads is that it’s directly linked to your Instagram account. In order to set up a profile on Threads, you have to log in using your existing Instagram username. So, in a way, Threads is quite literally an extension of your Instagram presence.

This could be relevant to brands if, for example, you wanted to post visually striking content across the image-orientated Instagram, and then use Threads for starting conversations with your customers, gaining feedback and engaging further within your niche.

Another interesting thing: at the tap of a button, you can connect with all your Instagram followers on Threads. There’s no need to manually find and follow all your friends. This means most people won’t be starting from scratch on the platform and, if you’re a business, you can easily connect with any of your existing, loyal followers from Instagram.

Should Twitter be worried?

Twitter currently has around 400 million active users, whereas Instagram has an eyewatering 2.35 billion. Granted, not all of these users are going to transfer over to Threads. But there’s a lot of potential here, nonetheless.

While lots of marketers have been hyping up the release of Threads, we don’t truly know if it’s going to be a success or a flop. Not yet. With apps like Clubhouse riding fast then dying hard within just a couple of years, versus TikTok giving Google a run for their money, there is a lot of potential for Threads to take the social media world by storm. But equally, it could quickly run out of steam. It’s a waiting game for now, and that makes it hard to know whether it’s worth investing into this app, or if it’s going to be a waste of your time and energy.

However, one thing that will work in Thread’s favour is the growing number of people dumping Twitter because, to be blunt, they’re fed up of Elon Musk. From bringing back controversial banned accounts, to laying off masses of Twitter staff members, to recently limiting the number of posts accounts can read in a day, Elon has made some drastic changes to Twitter since taking over the platform last year. It’s been a bumpy ride and, in all honesty, he’s rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.

As more and more accounts are leaving Twitter, presumably, these people will be looking for somewhere more refreshing to hang out. Could Threads become their new haven? It makes sense, but we will have to wait and see…

There has also been recent talk about the relentlessness of social media – the never-ending doom-scrolling that platforms like Twitter and TikTok encourage. With this in mind, I thought it was a nice touch that Threads has a ‘take a break’ function, which will remind you to leave the app after 10, 20 or 30 minutes.

Additionally, Threads has the option to completely hide any replies on your posts. This function isn’t available on Twitter and has been praised by many marketers, journalists and entrepreneurs already. For example, marketing tycoon Steven Bartlett described this as “the most overlooked feature in [Thread’s] pursuit of creating healthy / friendly conversation” and explained that “if someone abuses, scams or trolls in your replies, you can remove it from view completely”.

Should my business be using Threads?

This is a tough question. Why? Because it all comes down to context.

If Twitter is already a significant part of your business’s social media strategy, and you’re making great progress there, you could assume that you’ll do pretty well on Threads too. Particularly if you’re seeing a lot of your followers leaving Twitter amid the Elon Musk fiasco, Threads could be a great opportunity for you to connect with them elsewhere.

However, it can be dangerous to assume that something that works well on Twitter will work well on Threads too because, currently speaking, we don’t know what kind of culture is going to develop on this new platform. You could end up catering to a whole different crowd.

Equally, if you have a substantial following on Instagram, many of these users will transfer over to Threads and you could continue to craft a relationship with them here. However, you need to bear in mind that your strategy on Instagram, where reels and images take front seat, will look very different to your strategy on Threads. You can’t simply copy and paste your content from one platform to the other – and frankly, that would be pointless to do anyway.

But possibly, threads could offer a place for you to nurture relationships and focus more on gaining feedback from customers. For example, if you run a hotel, you could ask your followers ‘what are the key qualities you look for when choosing somewhere to stay?’ or ‘we’re revamping our website – does anyone have any requests?’ or ‘what are your favourite family days out in the area?’ But this is only really worth doing if you have enough followers on Threads to conduct a decent-sized survey.

The truth is, if you’re already performing well on a social media platform, you might be better focussing on that rather than trying to branch out to Threads. This is especially relevant if you’re already overworked, burnt out, and trying to balance multiple tasks as a business owner.

But on the other hand, if you have room to experiment, why not give it a go? It might be all for nothing if Threads crashes and burns within 6 months. Or, it might be the best social media decision you ever make. Where are your bets lying?

But be warned: once you’ve made a Threads account you can’t delete it without also deleting your Instagram. So, if you give Threads a go and then decide to back out of the platform, you can deactivate your account but please don’t delete it! This would wipe all of your following across Instagram too – and building that back up would be a monumental task.

If you use social media to create a lot of paid ads, Threads probably won’t be much use to you. Not for now, anyway. According to The Guardian, “Meta will not be accepting ads on Threads for this year at least.”

Final thoughts

All in all, this is an exciting time and the Mihi team will certainly be keeping a close eye on this new app. Happy threading (or not)!

Need some help growing your business via social media? Or need a hand identifying which social platforms will work best for you? Get in touch with us today.

Call us on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk.

The post What we know about Threads, Meta’s new rival to Twitter appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Set up ways for people to order from you online

If people can’t come to your shop, bring the shop to them. Make it easy for them to order from you online! If you have a website use plugins such as WooCommerce and Shopify so people can order products directly from your website. They also allow you to take payments through things like Paypal, so it really couldn’t be any easier. You can also use Instagram Shopping to sell products online. This is especially useful if you’re really active on Instagram, as you can tag in products on your feed which can link to your website. If you don’t have a website, don’t worry. Instagram Shopping can be set up without a website, so you can sell your products directly through Instagram without the need of a website.

Name images on your website

When it’s busy it’s easy to upload images and forget to name them properly. But those images can help your Google ranking if you give them titles and descriptions. If you find that you have a bit more time, go through your website’s media library and give each image a title and a description that include keywords you want to rank for.

So for example, if I owned a shoe shop in Plymouth and I wanted customers to find me when they search ‘Plymouth Shoe Shop’, I would use key phrases such as ‘Plymouth Shoe Shop’ ‘Shoe shops in Plymouth’ ‘Mens shoes Plymouth’ and so on. This will help your Google ranking and make it easier for people to find you online.

Re-engage with people online

When your business is in full flow during normal working hours, it’s really easy to neglect your social media platforms, in particular engaging with other people. But engaging with your customers and other businesses can increase your sales, engagement and reach. This is particularly important for platforms that focus on conversations and encourage interaction between accounts like Twitter and Instagram, because both of those platforms like to connect you with people that you know or interact with a lot.

So if John in Exeter comments and likes a lot of photos on Tesco’s Instagram, Instagram will think that John likes Tesco and will show John more of Tesco’s content. So use Twitter lists to engage with the people you want quickly and easily, and remember to comment and like on other people’s photos on Instagram too.

Keep posting on social media

Because the majority of people will be at home or working from home at the moment, you can get high levels of interaction now throughout the day. Before lockdown it was advisable to post early morning or evening as people get home, but with more home workers you can more flexible with your timings, posting earlier or even as late as 9pm. However, its important to note that although you want to promote your business, don’t come across too salesy. Post behind the scenes photos, what you’re doing to keep yourself positive and other things so that you can connect as a person as well as a business.

Stay positive and look out for one another

It’s a strange time for everyone, and everyone’s business will be in the same boat more or less. So as we’re all in this together, make sure you share and retweet other local businesses’ news and content. They’ll appreciate it and more often than not they’ll share your content too. Remember to keep your feed positive; it’ll keep your engagement high and you never know which of your customers will appreciate the positivity.

And that’s our list. If you have any questions about anything we’ve spoken about let us know in the comments. Stay safe and stay positive everyone.

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Who’s the event for?

The event is aimed at any business in North Devon wanting to understand how they can increase the performance of their online presence. You’ll go away with some simple actions to implement which will improve your results over the coming months.

The Speaker

Mark Worden, Director here at MiHi Digital will be speaking. Mark has been specialising in digital marketing for more than a decade, and having set up his own business four years ago, has worked with more than 200 across a wide range of industries and generated more than £1 million in client enquiries.

The Venue

The event will be held at 9:30am – 12:30pm on Thursday 14th of March 2019 at the North Devon Plus offices – Caddsdown Business Support Centre, Caddsdown Industrial Park, Bideford EX39 3DX

Booking your Place

To book your place please give Vicky Fether a call from North Devon Plus a call on 01237 426 426 or email her at VFether@northdevonplus.co.uk

The post 10 ways to reach more people through online marketing – Event with North Devon + on 14th of March 2019 appeared first on MiHiDigital.

What are Twitter Lists?

Twitter Lists allow you to pick certain Twitter users and place them in a separate newsfeed where you can see only their tweets. You can make the list public so those users are aware you’ve put them in a list, or you can make it private so they don’t know that you’ve picked them out.
You can have as many people as you like in a Twitter list, but we recommend that you don’t have any more than 50 each… otherwise your Twitter List will be just as big as your newsfeed!

Why should I be using them?

As mentioned previously, Twitter Lists are a great way of cutting through the noise and really focusing on particular Twitter users that you want to engage with. But they’re not just useful for targeting potential customers; they are a handy tool to have in a variety of situations such as:
Events – Events are a great way to network, so if your business hosts an event make sure you add your attendees to a public Twitter list.That way, everyone who is attending/attended can interact with each other before and after the event, and can create a big buzz before your big day!
Competitors – No matter what industry you are in, you will have competitors. So it’s always good to add your competitors to a private Twitter List just so you can see what they’re up to, how they’re approaching social media and what’s going on at their company. 
Current customers – It’s always good to be consistently engaging with your current business partners and customers. It’s a great way to show support for their business, which could lead to recommendations and further business for you!
If you have any questions about Twitter, social media management or anything else, send an email to hello@mihidigital.co.uk or give us a ring on 01566 232323

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Entertainment

Video– whether they are entertaining or educational, short videos which are about 1 minute long engage a lot of people due to their “snackable” nature – short, sharp bursts of content.
Light and funny – it doesn’t always have to be business! Laughter lightens the mood and keeps people happy!
Photos – from memes to photos of your working day, a snapshot of your day-to-day life shows a bit of businesses personalities, and people like to engage with people rather than faceless companies.

Inspiration

Quotes – quotes are all over social media right now and for good reason. Whether it’s the mantra your company abides by, or something you believe in which is still appropriate for your business, like-minded people will engage with your business because of that.
Personal stories – everyone loves a rags-to-riches story, so why not include some of your own stories? Whether it’s about how you started from the bottom and got to where you are today, or a new development has occurred within your business, share it with your followers!
Facts and trivia – did you know MiHi Digital won their 200th client last week? Little facts and trivia about your business will inspire people to engage with you.

Education

Tips and tricks – a little bit of free advice goes a long way. Whether it’s in the form of a video, blog post or series of images, if you can impart a little bit of knowledge to your followers, they will want to know a bit more.
News – social media platforms like Twitter are designed so that users can get information and news as it happens. Staying up to date with relevant news stories can keep you in those conversations with like-minded users who you may not have engaged with before.
Industry news and research – the entire industry will have an effect on your business, so keeping up to date and updating everyone else on the latest news will show you’re definitely in the know.

Conversation

Newsletter – there’s a limit to the amount of information you can post on social media, especially on Twitter. People like to get updates of the what’s happening at your business this month, so a monthly e-newsletter will start those conversations and engage those people with your business.
Recipes – this one is mainly applicable if your business is food-related, but other businesses can use it too! Recipes keep you top-of-mind, even if you don’t sell food-related products.
Q&A – ‘Twitter chats’ or Q&As are the easiest way to start a conversation with your following. By either selecting an allotted time, or through a personal hashtag, you can answer any questions your followers might have as well as promote your business further.
Advice – need advice on something? Ask your followers! Showing that you need them as well as them needing you is a great way to build rapport with your customers.

Connection

Milestones – everyone likes to see small businesses succeed, so make sure you shout about your milestones as loud as you can! It’s okay to tell the world about your business benchmarks, success sells!
Key recognition or appreciation – whether appreciation of a colleague or another business your working with, share those accomplishments with the world.
Behind the scenes – photos of your daily working life gives a bit of personality to your business; so share a snap or two!
Blog – blogs are the easiest ways to connect to user on social media because you can write a blog post on almost anything, as long as it’s related to your business. Whether it’s about work you have done recently or the state of play of your sector nationally, linking your blogs to your social media is always a good idea.
Other people’s content – similar to showing appreciation, sharing other people’s content will make your timeline a bit more varied, and show your awareness of other great businesses in the area.
Pinterest – for those who don’t know, Pinterest is a social media platform where you can create boards of images which interest you, or infographics of things that you might find useful. Having your own Pinterest account is a great way to start a conversation with your followers, as you will be able to share your business’s similar interests with your followers.

Promotion

Incentives – whether it’s some freebies or money off your products, incentives are a great way to get your followers to share your posts.
Giveaways – everyone loves free stuff, and giveaways are a perfect way to give back to your loyal following. It’s also a great way for people to sample your product, like it, and come back and buy more. It’s a win-win situation!

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Do: be #obvious

Choose a #hashtag that is easy to remember and crystal clear.
When trying to decide which #hashtag is best to use, it’s sometimes easy to use acronyms and multi-word hashtags. The reasoning behind using obvious and simple #hashtags is simply so people know what topic you are talking about at a glance.
A good example of this has been demonstrated by the American version of the X Factor. They wanted to differentiate their show from the British version by promoting the #hashtag #XFUSA. Despite being the “official” #hashtag, fans used the much simpler #xfactor hashtag instead, and was proven to be way more popular. So sometimes the simplest, shortest and easiest is best!

Don’t: #hashtag #every #word

Overusing #hashtags will have an adverse effect on what you are trying to achieve.
Using multiple #hashtags for one post devalues the strength of the #hashtag and make each additional one more meaningless then the last! It could lose you followers and cheapen your brand’s social media reputation. It also makes the post difficult to read; so to avoid all of this, Twitter recommends a maximum of two #hashtags per post.

Do: Develop your brand under a single #hashtag

Choose a single #hashtag to speak for your brand and strengthen consumer awareness.
Whether it’s for your brand or just a specific topic you are talking about, an easy, instantly recognisable #hashtag will increase the amount of people talking about your business, and will make it easier to find on social media.

Don’t: use incorrect #hashtags

From spelling mistakes to slightly different wording; incorrect #hashtags are a no-no.
Simply put, if you mis-spell a hashtag you won’t be part of that online conversation, as your post will be linked to the hashtag you used. Same goes for hashtags which are slightly reworded; for example, if you tweet #TuesdayTravel instead of #TravelTuesday, your post will be linked to the hashtag you used, which may not be the hashtag you intended to use!
So make sure you explore which hashtags you are going to use before you post, and then check your hashtags for any spelling errors before you click send!
So that’s it for your quick round up of do’s and don’ts on Twitter hashtags!
Are you guilty of any of the don’ts? We hope not, but if you are then don’t hang your head in shame, use this blog as I guideline to your hashtag needs and we can guarantee that results will quickly follow.

The post Our quick-guide to using #hashtags appeared first on MiHiDigital.

8pm – 9pm #NewquayHour

Tuesday

7pm – 8pm #FalmouthHour
8pm – 9pm #TruroHour

Wednesday

11am – 12pm #DuchyBizHour
7.30pm – 8.30pm #CornwallHour

Thursday

8pm – 9pm #BudeHour

Friday

12pm – 1pm #StIvesLunch
6pm – 7pm #StIvesCornwallHour

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8pm – 9pm #DevonFoodHour #TorbayHour

Tuesday

8pm – 9pm #ExeterLife #ExmoorHour #PlymouthHour #DartmoorHour

Wednesday

7pm – 8pm #ExmouthHour
8pm – 9pm #DevonHour
8.30pm – 9.30pm #NewtonAbbotHour #SouthHamsHour

Thursday

8pm – 9pm #ExeterHour

Friday

11am – 12pm #TaviHour

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