With Ads On Hold for Threads, Branded Content Is A Viable Alternative

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Threads

Threads, Instagram's competitor to Twitter, has been running for a week and a half, and its debut can already be considered a success. Despite its relative lack of features, Threads has quickly amassed over 150 million users, making it the fastest app to reach 100 million users in just five days.

Addressing the Missing Pieces

Acknowledging the app's current lack of features, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has openly shared their plans to add the "obvious missing features." These include a following feed, chronological feed options, an edit button, and post search. Leaked documents shared with creators reveal that future updates will focus on messaging and content discovery related to specific trends and topics.

What About Ads?

There is currently no set timeline for introducing advertising on Threads. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the company's focus on refining the app's functionality and aiming for a billion users before shifting attention to monetization. However, brands and advertisers are eager to invest in advertising on Threads due to their familiarity with Meta's other advertising solutions and the availability of budgets previously allocated to Twitter. This demand may prompt Zuckerberg and his team to accelerate the rollout of advertising features.

Branded Content Is a Viable Alternative

Branded Content Tools Are on the Way

In the meantime, branded content is an option for brands and advertisers to expand their reach on the platform. Reports suggest that Instagram plans to introduce Branded Content Tools similar to those found on Instagram soon. These tools will include the Paid Partnership Label, allowing creators to disclose sponsored content with brands. With formal tools for creator-brand collaborations and ads currently on hold, partnering with creators for sponsored Threads posts becomes the best alternative.

Why It May Be a Strategic Move

Introducing Branded Content tools on Threads before ads may also be a strategic move by Meta to support its show for creators. Being the option for brand advertising could lead to more brands experimenting with creator partners early on. This will help creators monetize quickly on Threads, and as we continue to see, most creators tend to invest time and effort into platforms where they can make money. To go along with this, I also predict that Partnership Ads, formerly known as Branded Content Ads, will be the initial advertising format for ads to arrive on the platform. This ad format allows brands to amplify creator-produced content—either from the creators’ handle or their own. This move, again, would make creators a core part of advertising on Threads. 

What Does Branded Content Look Like on Threads?

Early Examples

Even without Branded Content tools available on Threads, creators and brands can still conduct influencer marketing campaigns, provided that proper disclosures such as "ad" or "sponsored" are included in the content. Some examples of early branded content include Kristen Bousquet/Hashtag Pay Me and Adam Rose/Hulu.

Text Plus Photos or Videos Is Probably Best

Due to the early days of Threads, and the low volume of branded content, there’s no defined strategy for strong branded content on Threads. Yet, leveraging text and visual content, such as photos and videos, looks to be effective. Threads is text-centric, so creators' text/captions can potentially have a greater impact than on Instagram, which is more visually oriented. However, visual content, specifically “tall” photos, and carousels, also make sense on Threads as they can capture people's attention in the feed. With clickable links in posts, having creators include relevant links in their content also makes sense. 

Giveaways, Promo Codes, and Q&As

Other collaboration opportunities for creators and brands could mirror sponsored content that can be found on Twitter, such as giveaways, where creators help amplify brand posts promoting giveaways through reposts or creators sharing promo codes and exclusive offers on behalf of the brand. Q&As between creators and brands are also a good option due to the back-and-forth nature of the platform. Regardless, the tone of these should be less informal to match how users communicate with each other on Threads. 

Added Value for Instagram-Focused Campaigns

From a broader standpoint, the best way to get started with branded content on Threads is to include it as an add-on deliverable for existing Instagram-focused campaigns. By utilizing the various formats supported by Instagram, such as Reels, Stories, Broadcast Channels, and now Threads, creators can take advantage of the unique benefits offered by each format to reach different audiences, expand reach, and drive engagement on behalf of brand partners. One key thing to keep in mind is that these campaigns should not be copy-and-paste. Creators should tweak their content to match what is native to each format.

How to Measure Threads Branded Content

The absence of standard post metrics, such as impressions or reach, on Threads poses challenges for brands in accurately measuring the impact of sponsored content. As a result, brands should primarily rely on available engagement metrics, such as likes, replies, reposts, and link clicks via tracking links, as key indicators.

It is also important to consider qualitative measurements or things that cannot be measured specifically by numbers, such as any learnings and takeaways gained by being an early adopter. Rose and Hulu's partnership shows that earned media is also worth considering. When there are new platforms or opportunities for creator-brand collaborations, those who are among the first to adopt can benefit from earned media as they become topics and articles that journalists want to cover. 

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