Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Threads - Should wedding pros be on the new social platform?

Transcript

Threads - Should wedding pros be on the new social platform? · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

0:01
Becca: To thread or not to thread.
0:02
That is the question we're gonna be talking about today.
0:05
If you've missed it, I dunno where you've been, but just this week,
0:08
meta launch, their brand new social media platform threads, and with
0:12
already having over a hundred million users, it's hard to miss it.
0:16
So the question is, how does it work for us as wedding professionals?
0:19
Should we be on it?
0:20
What's all the fuss about?
0:22
And how on earth do we use it?
0:24
Now, let's be honest, this is no masterclass.
0:26
It's a brand new platform even I don't really know what I'm doing.
0:29
But today we're gonna have a discussion about threads.
0:31
What I've so far, and what I think you should be doing on there.
0:37
I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger,
0:40
and you are listening to The Wedding Pros who are Ready to Grow podcast.
0:44
I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
0:48
examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
0:51
If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
0:55
and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you
0:59
love, then you're in the right place.
1:01
Let's get going with today's episode.
1:04
Threads.
1:05
Threads.
1:05
Threads.
1:06
It is definitely the talk of the internet this week.
1:09
If you're listening in real time, and if you're listening to this in the future,
1:13
I'd love to know, is thread still a thing or has it already died a death?
1:16
Only time is going to tell, but if you're listening to this right now, in
1:20
July, 2023, threads is the talk of the moment, and we need to have a, a think
1:24
about it as wedding professionals.
1:27
Now, as I said in the introduction, this is.
1:28
Definitely no kind of masterclass.
1:30
Anyone that's already trying to sell you some kind of how to get rich on threads
1:34
or how to use threads Masterclass.
1:36
Well, let's be a little bit careful about that because really no one
1:40
knows what they're doing right now.
1:41
It's s brand new platform.
1:42
People are testing it, people are trying it out, but no one is an expert.
1:46
And if they're telling you that they are, well, I would probably take a step.
1:50
Away.
1:51
Right now Threads is brand new.
1:53
We've been on it less than a week, and it's already got a lot of users and
1:58
lots of people are asking questions about whether they should be on
2:00
it, how it works, how to use it for business, and many other things.
2:04
So I just wanted to put out this episode this week to talk about it from our
2:08
wedding industry perspective, to talk about what I've learned in my few days
2:11
over on Threads, what's working, what's not working for me personally, and
2:15
some thoughts for you guys as well.
2:17
So let's start with what.
2:18
Is Threads.
2:20
Well, threads is right now less than a week old.
2:22
It's a brand new app.
2:23
You can download it in your app store.
2:25
It's available in the US and the uk.
2:27
I know it's not available in all countries yet, but I think it will be coming.
2:30
And it's owned by Meta.
2:32
Meta Own Facebook and Instagram.
2:34
And now they've launched.
2:35
The Reds, and it seems like they're kind of marketing it as their answer
2:40
to Twitter, although it's not exactly the same as Twitter, but that's kind
2:43
of the market that it's falling into.
2:46
For me, it gives me old Facebook vibes.
2:49
If anyone was on Facebook like I was in the early days, like when you could
2:53
only join it when you're at university and all you could do was put status
2:56
updates in the occasional picture.
2:58
Well, for me, threads is like going full circle.
3:00
I feel like, wow, this is like the days when I could just
3:03
post It's raining today and.
3:05
I'm enjoying it.
3:07
You know, all those ridiculous status updates we see on Facebook
3:09
all these years later, it feels like threads is a little bit like that.
3:13
It's like going back full circle and I think that's why the millennials
3:16
like me are really enjoying it.
3:18
It's a little bit retro, basically.
3:21
If you've ever used Twitter before, it is very similar.
3:23
You.
3:23
Write short form messages up to 500 characters.
3:27
You post 'em on there.
3:28
You can use pictures and video content on there as well.
3:31
But right now, most people are just typing out thoughts.
3:34
There's no scheduling, so it's all real time.
3:38
But what's interesting about threads is it's link to Instagram.
3:42
So how on earth do we go about setting threads up if you
3:45
don't already have an account?
3:47
Well, this is ridiculously easy, almost scarily easy because it's all
3:52
linked to your Instagram account.
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So when you download the app and you go into it, as long as you're logged
3:57
into your Instagram account, it will generally pick that up and ask you
4:00
to log into your Instagram, and then basically it takes your information from
4:04
Instagram and pops it onto threads in.
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Even more ways than once.
4:09
So not only does it set your account up for you, it also allows you to import
4:14
your profile image from Instagram.
4:16
It also allows you to copy over your bio and your links from Instagram and it lets
4:22
you follow anyone that you are following on Instagram already, which is a really
4:27
interesting feature because it means that you can end up following lots of people.
4:31
And getting lots of followers very, very fast.
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But they're not new people.
4:35
They're people who are already in your world over on Instagram.
4:39
So it's kind of bringing everyone over from Instagram into threads.
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Now, what I found interesting is because not everyone's doing threads
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and not everyone's vocal on threads.
4:48
I'm seeing people that I haven't seen on Instagram for months and months and months
4:52
suddenly popping up in my threads feed.
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And it's been nice to see some of these people reconnect and see what they're.
4:58
Up to, because we all know that the Instagram algorithm just shows
5:01
us the same people all the time.
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So it has been refreshing to do that.
5:05
Now obviously, if you're not happy with your Instagram audience at the moment
5:09
and the people that you are following, well, you might not actually want to
5:12
bring them over to threads with you.
5:15
So what am I.
5:16
Talking about here.
5:17
Well, lots of you often say to me, my Instagram's just full
5:20
of other wedding professionals.
5:21
I wish I could start it again.
5:23
I'd rather be following brides, et cetera.
5:25
If that is you and that's what you want on threads, then you don't
5:28
have to bring your followers over.
5:29
You can start fresh now.
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It is gonna take you longer to build up your account.
5:34
Actually, that may be better for you in the long term.
5:37
It's up to you.
5:38
But yes, you've got that choice.
5:39
You can either bring people over from Instagram or you don't have
5:43
to, and you can start from fresh.
5:46
One of the questions and discussions I've seen coming up quite a lot over
5:49
the last few days about threads is, should I be on there as a wedding
5:52
professional in the first place?
5:54
I'm busy, it's the middle of wedding season.
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I don't really have time.
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Should I be on threads?
5:58
Should I have an account?
5:59
Now, this of course, is the multimillion pound question because honestly, in
6:04
your business, it's your business.
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You don't have to do anything.
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There is no have to do.
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It's totally your choice.
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Now, one thing I've been saying to people is, if you're on Instagram, you
6:13
might as well go ahead and grab your threads, username, get your account set
6:17
over there, and maybe just put out one thread to say that you are there, but
6:20
you're mostly hanging out on Instagram.
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So if anyone is looking over there for you, then at least you have a
6:25
presence, but you don't have to do that.
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Now, one thing that's quite interesting that's been coming up quite a lot over
6:30
the first 24 hours that I was on threads is as always the conspiracy theory start.
6:35
People start panicking and one thing that kept getting shared was that in
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the terms and conditions of threads, it said that you couldn't delete threads
6:43
once you were in there, and if you did, it deleted your Instagram account.
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Now obviously this has caused some alarm bells.
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I've had some questions about maybe I shouldn't have a threads
6:52
account because I don't wanna.
6:53
Set it up and then if I delete it, have to lose my Instagram account.
6:57
So I wanted to just answer that head on to start with.
7:00
Now, what's really, really interesting on Threads is the actual guy who owns
7:05
or runs Instagram, Adam Mosseri, dunno how you say it, Adam Mosseri , is
7:10
actually on the platform and he's very, very vocal on the platform and he's
7:14
been very involved in the launch of Threads, which means that he's actually
7:18
been replying to some of these things.
7:20
So I'm gonna read out what he put.
7:22
About this very subject, cuz as I said, it was being all over the place on threads.
7:26
People asking this and this is what he said to clarify, you can deactivate
7:31
your threads account, which will hide your threads, profile and content.
7:35
You can also set your profile to private and you can delete
7:38
individual threads, posts all without deleting your Instagram account.
7:42
Right now, threads is powered by Instagram, so it's just one account,
7:45
but we are looking into a way to delete your threads account set.
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So if that's what's making you panic about threads, then there we go.
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You've heard it from then.
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Now, ultimately with Meta, all of our data is all linked together.
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Facebook, Instagram, everything.
8:01
We know that they own everything and once you're in, it's quite hard to get out.
8:05
But I don't really think that matters if you've already got a
8:07
public presence on the platform.
8:09
It doesn't really matter to me if you have a Threads account and then you
8:12
make it private or don't post on it very much or hide it later down the line.
8:16
And I think there will be a way where you can deactivate your threads account.
8:19
As well in the future without deactivating your Instagram account.
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And as I always say, sometimes it's good to be on these platforms.
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Just have your account have your name on there.
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Even if you just have one post that says, I'm not active on here,
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but if you're looking for me here, you can find me most active on.
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Instagram or wherever you are most active.
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So if you have got audience, people looking for you there, at least they can
8:40
find where you're hanging out rather than you having no presence on the platform.
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So I don't think, not wanting to give meta your information or linking your
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threads account to Instagram is a really good reason not to be on the platform.
8:52
However, there may be some other reasons you may want to avoid the platform.
8:56
So, for example, If you already feel overwhelmed with your marketing, if
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you already feel overwhelmed with social media presence, if you feel like
9:04
you've got too much going on in your business and you don't need another
9:07
distraction, then you absolutely don't have to be active on threads.
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You don't need to go there.
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You can wait.
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You can see what happens.
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You can join it later down the line.
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I mean, I was a quite a late adopter to Instagram.
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I really didn't understand Instagram at all, and I joined the party quite late.
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But I've grown my account fairly well.
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I've got a good following on there.
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I have good interaction on there now, so don't feel like just
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because you're not on it in the first week that you're missing out.
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Secondly, we are in the middle of a very busy wedding season for many
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people, and now might not be the time to start testing a new platform out.
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You've got clients to service.
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You've got.
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Weddings to be at, and actually this may be more of a
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distraction than it is a help.
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So again, you do not need to do anything in your business.
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It's your choice.
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It doesn't matter if you don't join the party.
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However, if you are able to just get your account set up, like I said,
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and just have one post on there, then there's nothing to harm in that.
10:00
Even if that feels too much, then you don't have to do it at all.
10:03
So hopefully that answers your question.
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There is no right or wrong to any of these things.
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You don't have to be on any platforms.
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It's your business.
10:10
It's your choice.
10:11
It's your freedom to do what you want.
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But if you wanna explore threads or if you wanna get your
10:14
username set up, then go for it.
10:18
Okay.
10:18
Next then, who is on threads and can we find clients on there?
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Now, again, this is a really interesting question.
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It's very new, and so we don't really know what's gonna happen
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with the platform as of yet.
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Right now, I would say that most of my threads is full of marketers
10:37
and business owners and brands.
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So people like Aldi and Mark and Spencer's have all jumped on the threads bandwagon.
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Now, there's a couple of reasons that this is happening.
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Number one, for me, I've pulled over my followers and following
10:50
from Instagram, and it tends to be wedding pros, businesses and marketers
10:54
that I'm following on Instagram.
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So obviously that's who is now coming up in my Threads account, and that's
11:00
gonna be the same for you if you pull over your followers from Instagram.
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If you already had a lot of wedding pros following you or you following
11:07
them, then that's what's going to be pulled across over to threads as well.
11:12
The Instagram is just coming across from there, which is why you might
11:15
wanna start with a fresh start.
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The other thing is I think that in general, and this is a generalization,
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I think in general business owners, marketers are more likely
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to be on these platforms as early adopters than the general public.
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Now, I said threads is everywhere for me, but that's because I'm
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in loads of business groups.
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I'm talking to wedding professionals, I'm talking to wedding business owners, and
11:38
therefore it's part of the conversation.
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But if I talk to the mums on the school run this morning, half of
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them probably are not interested, don't really know what threads.
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Is they're not going to be the first people on the platform.
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Will they arrive at a later date?
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Well, quite likely if it starts to grow that they will eventually come over.
11:56
But if I look at the people following me on Instagram who have come over to
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Threads, it's very few of my, what I would call normal friends, as in people
12:06
who have not got businesses that are coming over to threads the moment.
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So that being said, I would say right now, There is a lot of other wedding business
12:16
owners and brands on the platform.
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I'm not sure right now there's a lot of couples or engaged couples on
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the platform, although I guarantee there are some but not loads.
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Now obviously sometimes those categories crossover, so you
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may have wedding business owners who are also getting married who
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may be on the platform as well.
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But right now, I would say business and brands are the early adopters,
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which means you really need to consider who you are talking to right
12:44
now on your threads and who you want to be talking to on your threads.
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So I think there's two ways.
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As a wedding business owner, you can approach threads.
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Way number one is that you're like, right, I'm just here for networking.
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A bit like you're in Facebook groups, I'm not here to reach clients.
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Although if that happens, great, but actually I'm here for business tips.
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I'm gonna follow people like Becca who are giving me marketing advice.
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I'm gonna be here for people talking about how to grow their Instagram.
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I'm gonna be here for trend alerts and I'm gonna follow other businesses
13:15
and connect with influencers in those fields in order to get that content.
13:20
I'm gonna be using it for networking with other wedding professionals, so
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I'm gonna be talking in my copy to them.
13:26
I'm gonna be asking questions of other wedding professionals.
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I'm gonna think about how I can network with people, how I can
13:31
find people in my local area.
13:33
So that is option one.
13:34
Definitely possible with threads.
13:36
That's how I used to use Twitter back in the day when I used
13:39
Twitter has been for a long time.
13:40
It was much more of a networking tool rather than a sales tool.
13:45
The second way that I think you can use threads is I think down
13:49
the line, there definitely will be an opportunity to reach couples.
13:53
On there.
13:54
And I think there will be a gap in the market, and this is my prediction, my
13:57
opinion, you may choose to ignore it.
13:59
There will be a gap in the market for people to be like the Mrs.
14:02
Hinch of wedding planning on threads.
14:05
So if you know Mrs.
14:05
Hinch, she's on there, she's talking about cleaning tips and
14:08
hacks and that kind of thing.
14:09
I think there will be a place in the market for wedding
14:13
professionals who become.
14:15
Influencers in that sense of wedding planning advice on threads.
14:20
I dunno who it's gonna be.
14:21
I don't know when it's gonna be, but I do think there's a gap in the market for it.
14:24
So it may be that you want to take more of a risk.
14:28
So that means that right now it may feel like, okay, everyone on here's a business.
14:33
So I feel stupid talking to couples.
14:35
However, if you start curating a feed of really helpful advice and being the
14:41
florist that's giving really helpful small tips or, Funny comments, whatever it is
14:46
designed for couples directly on threads.
14:49
Eventually, as couples starts to join the platform, hopefully
14:53
you'll be able to bring them over.
14:54
Hopefully people will be able to find you and you can grow in that way.
14:57
Now, as I said, that's a bold decision that you have to make because.
15:01
To start with, you will feel like you are talking to crickets, and
15:04
you'll feel like no one is listening.
15:06
However, if you start off this platform by growing it, talking to
15:10
wedding business owners, that's all you are ever going to be using it for.
15:13
So again, it may be a controversial opinion.
15:15
We don't quite know where this is going yet, but.
15:17
Personally, I think you need to decide early on, are you gonna try and use this
15:22
platform to network and grow your business and get business advice, or are you
15:26
going to try and be the next influencer?
15:28
Are you gonna try and be the person that couples want to follow on threads?
15:31
Because from day one, you have been pumping out loads and loads of great short
15:35
little bits of wedding planning advice.
15:38
So when they get engaged, they wanna follow your account.
15:41
There's no right or wrong.
15:42
We're all in a testing process, but right now, that's my personal opinion
15:46
and it's worth you having a thinking about who is it that you want to speak
15:50
about on there and who are you talking to and why are they going to listen?
15:56
So, Yes, we can definitely be personal on there.
15:58
We can definitely share a little bit about ourselves, what we're doing,
16:01
but you also need to make sure you are sharing relevant information for
16:05
whoever it is that you are talking to.
16:08
That's the only way that people are gonna wanna come back and
16:10
keep visiting your threats.
16:13
Okay.
16:13
So in terms of wedding professionals, what is going on on threads right now
16:17
that I think is good and helpful for you?
16:21
What's good and what's not so good?
16:22
So first up, one thing that I think's been really interesting on threads is
16:26
how excited photographers are getting, particularly because you don't have
16:30
your photos cropped on the platform.
16:32
So if you've got those.
16:33
Gorgeous images, you can add them to threads and they do look stunning,
16:37
especially if you've got these gorgeous portrait images that usually
16:40
on Instagram would get cropped.
16:43
They do look really nice on threads.
16:45
However, one thing to say is at the moment what I'm seeing is that
16:49
the threads that are doing really well are the ones that are more
16:51
text-based rather than image based.
16:54
Does that mean that that's not gonna change?
16:56
No.
16:56
Not really, but you do need to think about what you are doing on
16:59
there and what makes it different to what you're doing on Instagram.
17:02
Remember, if you are bringing your followers over from Instagram, they're
17:05
already seeing pictures on Instagram, so do you need to repeat pictures?
17:09
Do you need to do the same content on threads as you do on Instagram?
17:12
Probably not.
17:13
Otherwise you're just repeating yourself on a different platform.
17:16
But it is exciting that you can have those big videos and photos with.
17:20
Out them being cropped.
17:22
So I know that that's been great for photographers, but again, think about
17:24
the message you're putting out there.
17:26
What makes it different to Instagram?
17:27
What are you trying to create a conversation about?
17:31
The other thing that is good on threads right now is you can have clickable links.
17:35
So you can do calls to action, you can send people on
17:38
clickable links somewhere else.
17:39
You don't have to say, go to the link in my bio, like you do on an Instagram post.
17:43
You can add clickable links into your threads, threads.
17:47
No one knows the terminology yet, so I dunno if I'm saying it right,
17:51
but I'm calling them threads.
17:52
When you create a new thread, you can in fact add a link to it.
17:57
Again, I would probably wouldn't be doing this loads because right now
18:00
it's much more of a conversational based platform rather than just
18:03
people promoting themselves.
18:05
Especially if you're wanting to grow and you are generally talking
18:08
to people who already know who you.
18:11
Give a reason.
18:12
If you're gonna share a link, maybe it's a new article, maybe it's something helpful.
18:15
And yeah, think about it that way, but you definitely can
18:18
share links on the platform.
18:20
I think the big thing right now is it's a testing process.
18:23
Nobody knows what's gonna work.
18:25
Nobody really knows what the algorithm is.
18:27
These are all my personal opinions from my own experience.
18:30
I'm no expert.
18:31
I dunno what's gonna work on threads.
18:32
You may have better ideas than I do at the moment.
18:35
So it's all about testing and learning as you test, try different things.
18:39
That's what I've been doing over the last few days.
18:41
I've been trying to do a few different kinds of posts, seeing
18:44
what works, seeing what people like, seeing what people reshare
18:47
and then doing more of those things.
18:49
So it's definitely a testing phase.
18:51
It's definitely something you can be trying out.
18:53
You.
18:53
Don't necessarily need to be following any kind of how-to guide, if it even
18:57
exists, because nobody really knows.
18:59
So just be brave on there.
19:01
Be professional.
19:02
Be in your brand voice, but give it a try.
19:04
See what sticks.
19:05
See what works.
19:05
But remember back to what I was saying earlier, that if you go for this, I'm
19:09
gonna try and talk to couples, then you may need to just do that even when
19:13
you feel like no one's responding yet.
19:16
Because I think over time you'll start to see more traction on that side of things.
19:20
When I'm talking about that as well, I'm not talking about
19:23
like just promoting yourself.
19:25
I'm talking about starting conversations, giving useful things.
19:28
The thing that's really working on threads is when people have
19:31
conversations, that's what it's all about.
19:33
That I believe is what meta want people to be doing, is
19:35
talking backwards and forwards.
19:37
So the threads that tend to show up in my newsfeed and my timeline, Are often ones
19:43
that people have started replying to.
19:45
So if you have a bit of a conversation with people, people talk to you, you
19:48
reply to them, then it seems to show it to more people in the algorithm.
19:53
Because that's what they want to do.
19:54
So again, you need to think about asking questions.
19:56
Think about asking for opinions.
19:58
Think about asking, you know, do you prefer this or this?
20:02
Because then it gets people to reply to your thread, and then your
20:06
thread gets seen by more people.
20:08
Okay, that's some of the benefits of threads.
20:10
Let's talk about some of the limitations.
20:12
Now, it's a brand new platform and meta themselves have said that
20:15
they're testing it and changing it and working out what people want from it.
20:19
So I imagine it is gonna change and shift as of recording.
20:23
Here are some of the limitations.
20:24
Now, one thing you cannot do on threads at the moment is search.
20:27
There is no hashtags to search by.
20:29
You can't search by topic either.
20:32
The only way you can search is by people.
20:34
Now, again, because we can't really.
20:38
Search for things.
20:39
It's hard to find conversations outside of those that either they're putting
20:43
into your newsfeed, which sometimes can be a little bit random and possibly
20:47
not really what you wanna be seeing.
20:49
And obviously, people you are already following on
20:50
Instagram that have come over.
20:52
So it is hard right now to reach people who aren't already in your world.
20:57
Now, one of the ways you can do that is by trying to interact on other threads
21:01
that with people maybe that you haven't interacted with before and trying
21:04
to get people to see you that way.
21:06
The other way that's definitely been working for me is when you put out
21:09
content that people like and then they repost it or rethread it, whatever
21:13
the terminology is, they quote it and then that shows it to their Instagram
21:17
followers, which obviously may be not the same as yours, and so therefore
21:21
you can bring new people over to your threads page and they can follow you.
21:25
That's definitely been working for me.
21:26
If you haven't had a look at my Threads account, what I've been doing
21:29
with it and what I've been testing, Is putting out some wedding truth
21:34
bombs, wedding marketing, truth bombs.
21:36
So basically the idea is things that I often think or see, but maybe I'm a
21:42
little bit shy about saying I wouldn't wanna say to someone because it's a
21:45
little bit blunt or maybe isn't very, Encouraging, but I can kind of say it
21:51
to large groups of people rather than it being aimed at someone directly.
21:54
So that's what I've been doing with it.
21:56
It's a little bit different to things I've done on the other platforms.
21:58
You can go and have a look if you are on threads and see the
22:01
kind of things I've been doing.
22:02
I've been creating it as a series, so each one starts with a number.
22:06
The idea being that if someone comes across number 14, that
22:10
they might think, oh, what?
22:11
What came before 14?
22:12
Go to my page and then start reading through some of the old threads as
22:15
well, just to get a bit more engagement.
22:17
That's definitely been working.
22:19
And what I've been finding is quite a lot of people are resharing or requoting what
22:24
I said, because it resonates with them.
22:26
They like what I'm saying.
22:27
So one of my things was all about the fact that you should charge your
22:31
worth or you shouldn't look at what your competitors are doing and people
22:34
resonate with that and then share it with their audience, which then
22:37
obviously brings me more people.
22:39
It's important to note that my audience is very different to the audience you might
22:44
want, so I am looking to connect actively with other wedding professionals like you.
22:48
So the fact there's loads of businesses on there is really beneficial to me.
22:51
I'm trying to bring new people into my world, help new people
22:54
with their marketing, bring new people into my programs.
22:57
However, for you, that's not necessarily your objective.
23:01
As we talked about earlier, you may be trying to reach couples, so you
23:05
don't necessarily want to copy what I'm doing because your objective may
23:08
be different, and it may be you wanna do something similar, but going down
23:11
the wedding planning advice or advice, mistakes that couples make to avoid or.
23:16
All those kind of things, but getting re-quoted is definitely a way to be
23:21
found and for more people to follow you.
23:24
Now again, if you wanna go down the route of finding new people to connect with
23:29
on threads, you cannot search for them.
23:31
If you wanna be finding, are there couples on threads right now?
23:35
Then this is a little bit of a hack that I would go with.
23:38
So I would follow or go and have a look at some of the big
23:41
branded accounts for weddings.
23:43
So some of the blogs, some of the places where, you know, couples hang out.
23:46
So places like Love My Dress, for example, here in the uk, or
23:50
maybe Style Me Pretty in the us.
23:52
Go and find their accounts.
23:53
Look at what they're doing, see what questions they're asking.
23:56
Are they speaking to couples?
23:58
And then look at who's replying to them.
24:00
Now, a lot of them are still just getting businesses replying to them.
24:03
But I have seen that there are couples starting to filter through on them.
24:08
So do go ahead and have a look and maybe follow some of those people.
24:11
If they don't have private accounts, you can just go ahead and follow them
24:14
and maybe they'll follow you back.
24:16
Now, I think one of the biggest limitations, and this is gonna
24:19
be impactful for most of you that are listening to this, is because
24:23
you can't search at the moment.
24:25
I actually think it's really difficult to find people that are local to you.
24:28
So you may be able to find couples on the platform.
24:31
You may be able to find.
24:32
Other businesses to network with, but it's quite difficult to work out where
24:35
they are or to make sure you're finding people locally that you can serve.
24:40
So if you only work in a very small area, then it probably right now isn't
24:45
the place for you to be finding clients.
24:47
Because it's hard to differentiate where people are located and to find
24:51
people who are located near to you.
24:52
Now again, this is fine for me because I can work with people on
24:56
their wedding business in Australia, America, the uk, it doesn't matter
24:59
cause everything I do is online.
25:00
However, for you, if you're only trying to find other couples who are
25:04
based down the road in Bedfordshire, well, it's quite tricky to do
25:07
that on the platform right now.
25:10
The other thing that's really bothering me right now with threads and is definitely
25:14
a limitation, is you cannot edit.
25:17
So if you put out a thread, you write something, and like me, you
25:20
constantly make typing errors.
25:22
You can't go back in and edit that thread.
25:24
Now I'm really used to doing that on Instagram or I post something,
25:27
notice I've made a mistake with my grammar or spelling, and
25:29
then just edit it and change it.
25:31
You cannot at the moment, as I record this, Edit your thread.
25:34
Now you can delete the thread immediately and then rethread
25:37
it, and correct the mistake.
25:39
But if you notice the mistake after a little while then and you've already
25:43
got some traction or engagement on that thread, then well, quite honestly, it's
25:47
annoying cuz you can't go in and edit it.
25:49
I'm hoping this is a feature they're gonna add in, but again, I'm like,
25:53
let's not take ourselves too seriously.
25:55
Does it matter if there's a bit of a spelling or grammar mistake right now?
25:59
I mean, that's how I'm playing it.
26:00
If anyone wants to call me out on my spelling or grammar, I'm gonna tell.
26:03
A walk by my account, I can't edit the threads.
26:06
Obviously you wanna try and check what you're doing, but on the whole,
26:10
I wouldn't stress too much about it.
26:11
Don't not post because you can't.
26:14
Frustrating.
26:19
Before we end the episode, I asked in my free Facebook group, wedding
26:23
Pros were ready to grow, what people wanted to know about threads, if people
26:26
had questions or thoughts so far.
26:28
So I'm gonna share some of those thoughts with you now and answer some of the
26:32
questions again in the best way I can.
26:34
I'm no threads expert, just from my experience so far on the app.
26:37
Here's what I'm thinking.
26:38
So first of all, lots of people are saying that right now they're
26:42
seeing more businesses than individuals on the platform.
26:46
So it might not be where your customers are.
26:47
I think we've covered that off already.
26:49
Steph asks, do we think that Threads is gonna help with the
26:53
algorithm on our Instagram page Now?
26:56
I think this is really interesting.
26:57
I have definitely seen that people have followed me across
27:01
from threads to Instagram.
27:03
So it's an easy thing for people to do.
27:05
Your Instagram bio is linked and therefore they can click on your profile and click
27:08
straight through to your Instagram.
27:10
I have definitely seen people coming from Threads who have found
27:13
me on their over to my Instagram.
27:15
It'd be interesting to know if you've seen the same, so yes, I do think it
27:18
will grow my Instagram being on threads.
27:21
I think if you are gonna use that as a.
27:23
Strategy.
27:23
Again, it's important that you have a different tone or a different thing going
27:27
on on threads than you do on Instagram.
27:29
If you're just repeating everything, why is anyone gonna come across?
27:31
So right now, for me, more of my in-depth content, more of my behind the
27:36
scenes stuff is going on in Instagram.
27:38
My video content, my reels, my threads is these wedding marketing truth bombs.
27:42
I'm just telling people I know about marketing.
27:44
Here's some thoughts, and essentially, if you like me, come over and check out
27:48
my other things, Instagram page, lead magnets, Facebook group, et cetera.
27:52
So yes, I do think it will, interact with the Instagram and I do think you'll
27:57
be able to bring followers over from Threads over to Instagram as well.
28:00
One thing that I saw over the first few days, which seems to have died
28:03
down a little bit now, is that the accounts with the blue ticks from
28:07
Instagram, your blue tick follows you from Instagram over to Threads.
28:10
And to start with, I was only really seeing people with a
28:13
blue tick coming up in my feed.
28:15
So I don't know whether or not threads were prioritizing the blue ticks and
28:19
showing those accounts to more people.
28:21
But then as I said, I've seen that a little bit less over the last few
28:24
days, so I don't know, only time will tell whether the blue tick
28:26
impacts you on threads as well.
28:30
Okay, next thought is from Hannah.
28:32
She said that she thinks threads is so much more relaxed and she's
28:35
enjoying getting to know people's true personalities and thoughts.
28:38
However, right now she thinks it'll be more of a supplier supply tool
28:42
rather than supplier to customer.
28:44
So again, we've covered that off, but I do think it's.
28:46
A nice place to let your personality shine.
28:48
I posted on there that I'm enjoying threads because I don't have to find
28:52
a picture on my computer to post, and I don't have to brush my hair.
28:55
I, I can literally just share my thoughts without an image, without
28:58
any beautiful filters on my face.
29:01
I can just be myself and I can do it in literally 10 seconds.
29:04
So it's definitely refreshing in that way.
29:07
Rosie asks, how long do we think it's gonna be before they fill it full of ads?
29:10
No doubt there will be ads eventually.
29:13
We are not stupid.
29:14
We know Meta are creating this.
29:15
It's another business platform.
29:17
They will be testing it as with all things.
29:19
It's always fun in the early stages, and then over time it
29:21
becomes more and more monetized.
29:24
And we've seen that with Facebook.
29:25
We've seen it with Instagram.
29:26
We will see it with threads, how long it's gonna take.
29:28
I don't know.
29:29
I think they've had more signups than they may be expected quickly,
29:32
so that may speed things up a bit.
29:34
I'm sure there'll be a demand that people will want to start advertising on threads
29:37
because of the numbers of people on there.
29:39
And yeah, it will happen at some point, but right now there's no ads.
29:42
So enjoy it while it lasts.
29:45
Okay.
29:45
Final question was from Jesse, and I think this kinda is how a lot of people
29:49
are feeling, and I've noticed that a lot of wedding pros are on threads, but
29:53
haven't necessarily posted anything yet.
29:55
So Jesse said, I'm gonna really be honest.
29:58
I have no idea what it's for.
29:59
Why should I use it?
30:01
How should I be using it?
30:02
How's it affecting the rest of my marketing?
30:04
How much time should I invest?
30:05
The typical kind of stuff.
30:06
Now, we've covered off quite a lot of that already in the episode,
30:09
Jesse, so I'm hoping that I've answered some of your questions.
30:12
Again, time's gonna tell how it fits into our overall
30:15
marketing strategy at the moment.
30:17
For me, it's a fresh platform.
30:18
It's a fresh place to be.
30:20
It's a fresh place to find new people?
30:21
Where my stuff's actually showing up in the algorithm, is it gonna, last time?
30:26
Will tell.
30:27
In terms of what my content is like where right now for me, and this is
30:32
for me personally, Facebook is where I copy my Instagram post, but mostly
30:36
it's where I'm interacting in groups, in communities, in groups like mine,
30:40
my members lounge in the wedding pros, who are ready to grow group in other
30:43
business groups and chatting with people.
30:45
Behind a closed wall, right?
30:47
If we put someone on threads, everyone can see what we've written.
30:49
If we ask a question inside a a members group or inside a Facebook
30:53
group, the outside world can't see that, and we can be more honest in
30:56
the questions that we're asking.
30:57
So that's Facebook for me, Instagram for me, I'm sticking with the same strategy.
31:01
So it's a lot about me.
31:03
It's my tips, it's my reels, it's my face, it's my portfolio.
31:07
It's kind of my main source on social media.
31:11
And then threads I'm using as more of a, a funny thing.
31:15
I'm using it more as a bit of a short form content.
31:18
Just typed truths and tips engaging with people that haven't engaged
31:24
with for ages in the way that because it's new then we might as well be
31:29
using it for all it's worth right now cuz it's is working right now.
31:32
Will I keep on using it at the same level?
31:34
I don't know, but I think it's.
31:36
Definitely for more short form, words based things.
31:39
I think there's a lot of room for witty banter in there if you're funny, but
31:43
don't try to be funny if you're not funny.
31:45
I think there's a lot of room in there for tips and ideas and things that
31:49
people are going to repost and a place for your personality to shine exactly
31:53
like Hannah said in the comment earlier.
31:55
So for me, threads is that side of me, a bit of my personality coming out, bit
31:59
of short form content, and with the aim of getting people over to my Instagram.
32:05
Have a look at what other accounts are doing, see what resonates with you.
32:09
With any platform, you need to know why you're doing it and who you are
32:12
speaking to and what the goal is.
32:15
So if you don't know those things for threads yet, and this may change,
32:18
as you explore the platform, I want you to take a bit of time and
32:21
think, right, if I'm gonna use this for marketing, who am I talking to?
32:25
Why am I using it?
32:26
What's the business benefit and what is the outcome I'm trying to get?
32:29
So for me, my business use is I'm on there to.
32:33
Explore and learn the platform so I can talk to you guys about it.
32:36
I'm on there to try and connect with new wedding professionals that
32:39
maybe haven't heard of me before.
32:40
We've never met before, and then I'm gonna try and bring people across, onto
32:44
my Instagram, into my Facebook groups and hopefully help them with their marketing.
32:48
Maybe they'll start listen to the podcast.
32:49
That's my why and what and what the plan is.
32:52
What is it for you?
32:54
Why are you on there?
32:55
Are you trying to be the next Mrs.
32:57
Hinch?
32:57
But in the wedding world, are you trying to be the place that the
33:00
account that everyone wants to follow if they're getting married
33:02
in order to grow your business?
33:04
Or are you trying to make new connections with other people in the industry?
33:07
And if that's what you're doing, what's the point of that?
33:10
And what are you gonna do with those relationships?
33:12
How are you gonna take them?
33:13
Offline, how are you going to turn them into actual money and actual work?
33:18
If you haven't got that nailed down yet, that's okay, but you
33:21
need to go there before you start spending hours and hours and hours
33:23
just because the platform is new.
33:26
Hopefully that helps.
33:27
Okay.
33:28
As we close, the final thing I wanna answer is will.
33:32
Threads last again, this is the multimillion pound question.
33:36
Nobody knows.
33:37
We all remember Clubhouse.
33:39
It was huge.
33:39
Everyone was on it.
33:40
Six months later, is anyone on it?
33:42
I haven't been on Clubhouse for ages.
33:44
Did I love it while I was on it for that time?
33:46
Yes, I did.
33:47
Did I get business results from it?
33:49
Yes, I did.
33:50
I really enjoyed it.
33:51
Am I still using it?
33:52
No, I'm not.
33:53
There was another one that popped up.
33:54
I think it was called Vero.
33:55
Vero, something like that.
33:56
Am I still using that?
33:57
No.
33:58
I mean, quite honestly, I'm still not really using TikTok.
34:01
I don't love TikTok.
34:02
So is it gonna last?
34:04
We don't really know.
34:05
It may just be a flash in the pan and then it disappears in six months.
34:08
Like, Clubhouse, or maybe it's here to stay like Instagram.
34:11
Now, one thing we do know is meta tends to be very successful and all those platforms
34:15
are linked, so they have got a good track record of making things that work.
34:19
However, only time will tell if people can be bothered to stick around with the
34:23
platform, and it'll depend what happens.
34:26
We don't know the answer to that question, but not knowing the answer
34:29
to that question isn't necessarily a reason not to be on there.
34:32
As I said, I loved my time on Clubhouse.
34:34
I got loads of business connections.
34:36
I've definitely had work and opportunities come from my time on there.
34:40
So why wouldn't I want to engage while this platform is fresh and
34:43
new and exciting because I can see the business benefit for me.
34:48
If you can see the business benefit for you, then jump in and take
34:52
advantage of the fresh algorithm, the fresh voice, the fresh perspective.
34:56
However, if you are busy, if you are overwhelmed, if you don't have
35:01
the time to put in and you wanna wait and see, that's okay too.
35:05
You don't have to be on there.
35:07
It's your business.
35:08
It's your choice.
35:09
It'll be interesting to see where threads goes in the future, and if
35:13
you're listening to this episode in the future, rather than right now in July,
35:17
2023, I would love you to just drop into my Facebook group Wedding Pros who are
35:21
ready to grow or drop into my inbox.
35:23
On Instagram at Becca Pountney and say, Hey, I'm just listening to
35:27
your episode, and it's now 2024 and no one's on threads, or it's now
35:31
2024 and everyone's loving threads.
35:33
I'd absolutely love that because I think it's interesting for us
35:36
to look back and see what happens.
35:39
I hope this episode has been helpful for you.
35:41
I hope it's answered some of your questions.
35:43
As I said at the beginning, it's no means a masterclass.
35:46
We're all new to the platform.
35:47
We don't know where it's gonna go, how it's gonna work,
35:49
and who it's going to reach.
35:51
But hopefully it's giving you a pause for thought about whether you
35:54
should jump in and try it, give it a rest, or maybe try something new.
35:59
I'll see you next time.