As a former engineer turned B2B demand gen marketer 13 years ago, I've seen firsthand the importance of targeting the right audience with the right message. With the fall of Twitter, B2B marketers are scrambling to find new channels to reach and engage technical decision makers. That's where Threads comes in - a platform that's rapidly gaining traction and offering a unique opportunity for account-based marketing and lead generation. In this post, I'll share why Threads should be on your radar and how to leverage it to win over developers and drive success in B2B SaaS.
What is Threads?
Threads is the latest addition to the Meta family of social platforms. While it’s promoted as a text-based platform, users can share photos and videos, as well, with up to 500 characters of text.
With more than 150 million monthly users, Threads became the fastest-growing social media platform in history. Recent data suggests Threads Is seeing more daily users in the US than X.
The Rise of Threads:
Twitter's decline has left a void in the market, and Threads is filling it. With its community-driven features, long-form posting capabilities, and hashtag campaigns, Threads offers a more engaging and targeted approach to reaching developers and technical decision-makers. As a B2B marketer, it's time to consider new channels and strategies to reach your target audiences.
Why LinkedIn Shouldn't Be the Only Game in Town:
While LinkedIn is a staple for B2B marketing, it's not the only platform worth considering. With its more formal and professional tone, LinkedIn may not be the best fit for every brand or audience. Threads, on the other hand, offers a more conversational and community-driven environment, making it an ideal platform for building relationships with developers and decision-makers.
Why Developers Matter for B2B SaaS:
Many executive decision-makers in your target accounts have a technical background, and many non-executive technical people are key advocates / influencers for your potential deals, thus, making developers a crucial audience for B2B SaaS marketing. By building relationships with developers, you can influence purchasing decisions and drive adoption within your target accounts.
Threads' Unique Features for B2B Lead Gen:
Threads offers a range of unique features that make it an attractive platform for Account-Based Marketing (ABM) lead generation. With its community-driven features, you can engage with developers and decision-makers in a collaborative environment, building relationships and trust. Share in-depth tutorials, case studies, and success stories through long-form posting capabilities, and utilize relevant hashtags to increase visibility and attract potential leads. Engage in discussions, host AMAs with industry thought leaders (many leading B2B SaaS have been doing this), and gather feedback through polls and surveys to refine your product approach. Share user-generated content to showcase customer success stories, and target specific accounts with developer-focused content to build credibility.
Here are some of the product features that Threads is currently offering:
Post: Threads allows users to share posts with a maximum of 500 characters and also include links, photos and videos.
Video: Threads allows users to share videos no longer than five minutes
Organic Traffic: Brands can still benefit from creating a profile and potentially getting organic traffic.
Branded Content: It seems that the Threads team has already working on making their branded content tools available in the not too distant future.
In my opinion, Threads offers a unique opportunity for B2B marketers, and, it is currently a relatively untapped 'white space', where B2B demand gen marketers can establish a strong presence and gain a competitive edge.
A Winning Strategy for B2B Marketers:
Phase 1: Building Brand and Establishing Thought Leadership
In this phase, create a strong presence on Threads by sharing valuable, informative, and engaging content that showcases expertise and understanding of technical audiences. Utilize Threads' features like polls, questions, and discussions to encourage interaction and build a community around the brand. Collaborate with influencers and other industry leaders to expand reach and credibility, and share user-generated content and customer success stories to build trust and social proof.
Phase 2: Driving Organic Lead Generation
In this phase, share gated content, such as eBooks, whitepapers, and webinars, to capture leads and build a database of interested professionals. Utilize Threads' features like links and cards to drive traffic to landing pages and websites, and host AMAs (Ask Me Anything) and live sessions to build relationships and generate leads. Share case studies and success stories to demonstrate expertise and build credibility, and use Threads' analytics to track engagement and measure the success of lead generation efforts.
Phase 3: Leveraging Future Paid Ads and Targeting
In this final phase, wait for Threads to introduce paid advertising options and targeting capabilities, and then utilize these features to target specific audiences, such as job titles, industries, and behaviors. Create targeted ad campaigns to drive lead generation and complement LinkedIn ads, and monitor and optimize ad performance to ensure maximum ROI. By leveraging paid ads and targeting, B2B marketers can amplify their demand generation efforts and reach a wider audience of technical professionals.
Here is a B2B SaaS example that leverages Threads effectively:
Hubspot: HubSpot, a leading marketing, sales, and customer service platform, has achieved remarkable success on Threads, a social media platform, with an impressive nearly 100k followers within less a year. By leveraging Threads' unique features and engaging with its audience, HubSpot has effectively expanded its B2B marketing reach, built thought leadership in the B2B marketing and sales tech space, and driven demand generation. HubSpot's ability to create and share engaging content, effective use of Threads' features (such as polls, questions, and discussions, to engage with its audience and encourage interaction), consistent posting schedule have contributed to its success, making it a go-to partner for businesses looking to optimize their marketing and sales efforts.
Measuring Success:
While Threads currently supports hashtag search with a twist and some limitations, you can still track the success of your B2B Demand Gen impacts from Threads by monitoring engagement metrics and leveraging UTMs. Here are some ideas to do so:
Engagement metrics: Threads provides basic engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares. You can track these metrics for each post to gauge its performance.
UTM tracking: You can add UTM parameters to the links you share in your Threads posts. This allows you to track clicks, conversions, and other metrics sourced from your Threads campaigns in your analytics or MAP tools.
Third-party analytics tools: Some third-party analytics tools, like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, offer Threads integration and provide more comprehensive metrics and insights.
Hashtag tracking (indirectly): You can use a third-party tool like Hashtagify or RiteTag to track the performance of specific hashtags across social media platforms. This can give you an idea of the hashtag's overall popularity and relevance, segmented by platforms / sources.
Conclusion:
As a B2B marketer, it's time to think outside the box and consider new channels and strategies to reach new audiences in your target accounts. You should consider building a brand and community on Threads, even without ads targeting features yet, due to its potential for long-term strategy and potential for future lead gen tools, differentiation from competitors, content amplification capabilities, and early mover advantage in establishing thought leadership. Don't miss out on this chance to get ahead of the curve and unlock lead gen potential on Threads.
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