In our time on Threads, the Buffer team has picked up some patterns — here are our tried-and-tested strategies for growing your following on Instagram’s new platform. (image)
There's no doubt about it: Threads is here to stay. After a record-breaking start, Threads is fast proving that it was no fly-by-night fad but a force to be reckoned with among the other social media giants.
Threads by Instagram now has 150 million monthly active users and counting. To put that into perspective, that’s a little over a third of X’s (formerly Twitter) monthly active users of 550 million — and X has a good 16 years on Threads.
The platform bears a striking resemblance to X, but fans are quick to point out the community-building focus. Introducing a clever tags system — a bit like a marriage between hashtags and subreddits — and a host of handy new Threads features has been a catalyst for growth in recent months, with more to come.
Buffer users are big fans of the platform, too. Plenty of Bufferoos have become regular users of the tool, with a handful of teammates finding success (and community) in some niches.
Head of Communications and Content Hailley Griffis has loved connecting with other moms. Staff Product Manager Amanda Marochko has been growing a following by sharing more about how Buffer builds in public. Staff Product Manager and alt-rock musician Brandon Green has gained over 500 followers in just over a month on Threads — which is particularly impressive, considering he wasn’t active on Instagram and didn’t have a following he could migrate over.
Successful as it may be, Threads is still in its infancy, so it’s difficult to predict a guaranteed path to growth — though with social media algorithms constantly evolving, we can’t really say that about any social media platform!
Still, in our time on Threads, we’ve picked up some patterns. Plus, as we’ve seen with platforms like Instagram and, more recently, TikTok, growing a following early, before the space becomes too crowded, is often a little easier — so it’s worth investing in now.
In this article, I’ll share nine tips for doing exactly that. Here’s how to grow on Threads, with advice from Bufferoos doing just that.
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Threads scheduling is here! With Buffer's Threads integration, you can cross-post to other platforms, analyze your content performance, store all your ideas in a single hub, and so much more. Buffer for Threads is available on all plans, including free →
1. Let your other followers know you’re on Threads
The good news: When you first set up your Threads account, you probably won’t be at 0 followers for long. Your Instagram followers who are already on Threads will get a notification when you sign up and prompt to follow you — this is how both Hailley and I built up sizeable chunks of our Threads followings at the outset.
Unsurprisingly, Threads and Instagram integrate really well, so it’s easy to cross-post from one platform to the other. Tap the paper plane icon below any threads you post to share it to your Instagram Stories or straight to your feed.
Your content will appear over a Threads background like the one below (but note that any media you add won’t be automatically shared as a regular feed post).
Tapping on the thread in an Instagram Story will send your followers straight to your Threads feed, so if you’re looking to drive traffic there, Stories may be your best bet.
It’s worth letting your followers on other social platforms know they can find you on Threads, too — especially if you’re leaving those platforms to focus on Threads. Social Media Consultant Matt Navarra, a formerly avid tweeter, ditched X in favor of Threads several months back and ensured his X followers knew how to find him by amending his bio and handle.
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News you’re active on Threads doesn’t have to be quite as all-or-nothing, but the occasional tweet or LinkedIn post reminding people they can find you on Threads — and what you’ll be sharing there — can help grow your following.
2. Find your niche
Brandon has found particular success from “leaning hard into a niche,” he says. The beauty of Threads is that even the nich-est of niches are finding homes. For Brandon, that’s being a “music theory nerd with specific tastes, but also working in tech.”
In this guide, we’ve collected some ways to get started with content curation and to do so as efficiently and expertly as possible.(image)
Museums curate works of art. We marketers curate digital content.
Though our link shares may not be artistic contributions, the idea of curation is at least the same at museums and online: We’re all seeking only the best material to pass along to our patrons, customers, fans, or followers.
Finding and sharing exquisite content has never been more valuable. With the vast volume of content being shared every day, it’s harder than ever to sift through and find what’s most valuable to you.
People love being told what’s good to read or essential to see. Curators are the tastemakers of the modern creative landscape.
With that in mind, we’ve collected some ways to get started with content curation and to do so as efficiently and expertly as possible.
What is content curation?
Content curation is sorting through a large amount of web content to find the best, most meaningful bits and presenting these in an organized, valuable way.
Social media users are looking for a one-stop shop in a world of nearly infinite content – most social media platforms offer that. However, it is also helpful to note what content curation is not.
Content aggregation relies on automation, using algorithms to find content – it’s what the social platforms do. Content curation features handpicked content, often introduced with a snippet of copy from the curator. When performed correctly, content curation can add a lot of value.
Aggregation is algorithmic. Curation is handpicked.
The human element of curation is a huge source of its value. Algorithms can do a great job at surfacing stories that meet certain standards, but there will always be posts that fall through the cracks. Handpicked human collections can find content that might resonate outside of standard measuring tools, and the end product of a handpicked curation will always be unique.
4 benefits of content curation
Here are some of the significant benefits to a good content curation strategy. These benefits include:
You improve your relationship with the creators, publishers, and brands whose content you share.
You grow your authority on a subject (provided the curation is top-notch).
You add quality content to your site or timeline and create a great resource for others.
You save time by creating content yourself from scratch.
Examples of content curation
Content curation can work itself out in a number of different ways. Depending on your marketing focus and content strategy, one of these three curating methods—or multiple methods—could be a fit.
Curate content in a weekly blog post
You may be familiar with these link roundups. They’re simply posts that collect helpful resources from around the web on a given topic (the very definition of curation).
Curate content in an email newsletter
This is my preferred method of curation for Buffer’s newsletter. I put in the latest content from the blog, one trend from our social media manager to give our audience something actionable to take away, and three or four of the most relevant social media news of the week.
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Curation is big in the newsletter space. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorite newsletters before – Morning Brew, Lia Haberman to name a few, and they all incorporate content curation in one way or another.
Here’s an example of one from Substack newsletter, as seen on that highlights content from around the web as well as the other interesting links they’ve found elsewhere.
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Curate content on your social media profiles
On social media, curation is likely to be part of the mix of content you share. You’ll still post personal updates, brand mentions, and miscellaneous other content – curation would simply join the schedule.
Girl Power Marketing is a fantastic example of content curation done right on social media. Founder Annie-Mai Hodge pioneered the “social media updates” format, curating the top news of the week on social media from around the web in one-line snippets.
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How to curate content as efficiently and expertly as possible
If curating content is something you’d love to try for your marketing efforts, you’re likely wondering about the one big hurdle: time. How much time does quality content curation take?
Certainly, a time investment is involved in doing it right (as with most things done well). But don’t let this dissuade you from getting started. There are a number of resources, tools, and tricks that help make the curation process even easier. Here’s what’s involved.
Source content from unique places
Off-the-radar spots are often quite good – there’s content on those sites that your audience may not have seen before, which adds an immediate boost of credibility for you and a boost of value your readers.
Try a Google News search to see what current stories are bubbling up and might be of interest. Also, content aggregators like Alltop can be good resources for finding new types of content to read and share.
Of course, the social networks themselves can also be quality sources of content. Specifically, you can dig down into communities or advanced topic searches to find gems that are specific to the areas you want to target and curate. There are many ways to create swipe files in and out of social media to sort your ideas so you can revisit them when you need inspiration. Inside your email, you can filter the RSS feeds and newsletters into their own curation folders.
As you can see, there are a wide variety of sources. The big job is to narrow them down to what suits you and your audience best.
Read what you find
I can admit to being tempted to skim a story and share it – or skip the skimming altogether and jump straight to sharing! There’s just so much content to read and so little time.
However, there are some pitfalls to sharing without reading.
The story could be of far lower quality than you anticipated, which would reflect poorly on your tastes and opinions.
The story could have a misleading headline. It could take an entirely different angle than you expected.
The words, language, and visuals may not be in line with your brand standards or policies.
You might be asked to give your opinion on the article.
Many people view it as a shady practice or even dishonest.
Take the extra time to read the valuable posts you’ve saved. There are a handful of tools that make reading a bit quicker: read-it-later apps like Pocket or text to speech tools for the audio-inclined like Speechify.
Pick out your favorites
As you read, make note of the stories that really stood out to you and that you’d like to share. There are a number of different ways of organizing these, ranging from old-school to highly automated.
Use a content curation tool to store your best finds.
Compose your curation post or email as you find the content. Keep an ongoing draft.
Create a bookmark system. Use your browser’s built-in saving mechanism for a curated folder of content.
Automate your best finds with a simple workflow in Zapier
Share right away. Skip the saving step and go right to sharing (more on that below).
Depending on what you’ve decided for your curation strategy—blog posts, newsletters, social, something else, a combination—you can jump right in at this point. Sometimes, after searching for the right content and reading over it, sharing can be the easiest part.
Batch and schedule: The shortcut to social curation
If you choose to share your curation on social media (great idea!), you have a number of tools at your disposal and one neat time-saving trick: Batch and schedule.
I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to believe that I used to share all my content on social media one post at a time, direct from the native client, whenever I happened to be logged in. There are simpler, more efficient ways of doing things now.
Batch your curation
Set aside time in your schedule to search, find, read, and collect at once. I know I’m always quite tempted to dip in and out of my various curation sources like RSS and newsletters, but that’s never the quickest way.
Schedule time each day, every other day, or once a week. Then, sit down and do it all. Curating in real-time is seldom a good idea unless it meets a very specific need for your brand or strategy.
If you happen to come across a particularly fine piece of content outside your curation batch time, have some safeguards in place. Linda Dessau recommends emailing the link to yourself, adding it to a bookmarks folder, or using tools like Pocket or saved.io.
Schedule your curation
The potential pitfall of collecting all your shareable content at a set time is overwhelming your audience by sharing it all at once. Scheduling tools like Buffer were built to address this pain point. You can share great content whenever you want, regardless of when you discover it.
Learn exactly how this founder used Reddit to build his profile as a thought leader and gain new customers.(image)
Like many small businesses, I had essentially zero marketing budget when I started my PPC (pay per click) agency Getuplead.
Even though my colleagues and I are experts in handling paid marketing for other brands, it wasn’t something we could initially afford to do ourselves.
But with so many competitor agencies out there, it was hard to stand out without getting our brand in front of customers via ads or by ranking at the top of search results. Instead of hustling to try and compete on the channels everyone else was using, I decided to turn to an underutilized social network for marketing: Reddit.
I spent a lot of time on Reddit myself, and I noticed that business owners would frequently ask questions about pay-per-click and social ads and only get answers from random people, not experts.
And, while my competitors were busy posting on other social media platforms like LinkedIn, writing articles for SEO and content marketing, and doing webinars, none of them were showing off their expertise on Reddit as a marketing strategy.
So, I jumped in and started participating in as many open threads as I could that related to the services my company offered. I didn’t initially see any traction but after a few months, my work building thought leadership and brand equity on the platform started to pay off.
Potential clients suddenly reached out, saying they saw my response on Reddit and were looking for exactly my expertise. We closed two clients from Reddit in six months, which is an incredible ROI (return on investment) given we only aim to have about a dozen clients at any given time and they generally commit to a long-term relationship.
I had another marketing agency owner who doesn’t have PPC experience reach out about collaborating to give clients broader support, and was even invited to speak at a major industry event because of my thought leadership on Reddit.
I also started to notice my responses gaining traction on search result pages (thanks to a 2024 update from Google that saw forums appearing in the search results), elevating our SEO in a surprising way.
While this strategy is fairly manual and certainly won’t have the reach of ads or larger social channels, it can be an impactful way for small business owners to get in front of folks seeking their exact expertise or offering — without breaking the bank.
If you want to try it for yourself, here’s what you need to know about Reddit, plus the process I’ve used to maximize Reddit marketing.
How Reddit works
For those who don’t already use the platform, Reddit is a social media platform that is essentially a large-scale message board. Reddit is organized into hundreds of thousands of subreddits, which are communities based around a specific topic.
Subreddits can range from incredibly broad (like r/marketing) to extremely niche (like r/LinkedInAds). Within those subreddits, “Redditors” (as Reddit users are called) can start threads for the rest of the Reddit community to respond to, sometimes sparking conversations that span hundreds of messages.
These threads could be absolutely anything relate to the subreddit topic — think a question, a problem they need help solving, or even an “AMA” (or ask me anything), where they offer to respond to any based around their area of expertise. (And, yes, there are also lots of memes and GIFs on Reddit.)
Within each subreddit, community members can upvote or downvote specific threads based on what they find more or less interesting or relevant. Within each Reddit post, Redditors can also upvote and downvote specific responses.
Posts with a higher ratio of upvotes to downvotes get put at the top of landing pages and conversation threads so, when you’re posting in Reddit as a social media marketing strategy, you want to aim to be relevant and helpful to get plenty of upvotes.
Each subreddit has its own community guidelines and moderators, so you’ll want to check out the rules of engagement before you start trying out any Reddit marketing strategies.
Reddit also has the option to run Reddit ads. I have not needed to use Reddit advertising to achieve my marketing goals yet, but it’s on my to-do list to experiment with.
How to use Reddit for marketing
Don’t be anonymous
The first step in using Reddit for self-promotion is crafting a profile that tells people who you are and what you have to offer. I created a simple Reddit profile with my real name, my headshot, a short description of what our company offers, and links to my website and LinkedIn.
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This is perhaps obvious, but so many people on Reddit are anonymous, and showing my face has helped me build brand awareness and drive new customer outreach. After all, people want to work with a human, not a Reddit avatar.
Strategically choose subreddits to participate in
Next, you’ll want to identify relevant subreddits for your business.
Generally, I’ve found more success participating in niche communities. Yes, the broad subreddits generally have a bigger user base, but there are so many comments on each thread that it’s hard to stand out. Meanwhile, in smaller, niche groups, I would notice questions related to my expertise might go days without a single response, which gives me more visibility when I chime in and has allowed me to become the go-to expert in some subreddits.
The sweet spot is finding subreddits where people are engaged enough that you’ll have an opportunity for conversation but not so much activity that you get drowned out. I recommend targeting a few keywords related to your expertise and searching those on Reddit to find options for specific subreddits.
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Then, spend some time watching those communities before you start participating. Are there enough active users that people are regularly posting threads that you could add value to? Does each thread immediately get dozens of responses, or is there space for you to make your mark?
I often find that groups between 500-5,000 members tend to be best, but you want to pay attention to engagement as well. For example, r/LinkedInAds only has 600 members, but I could see that there were new posts at least every couple of days (meaning those members are engaged). That said, many of those posts were lacking expert input, which meant I could step in and make an impact.
There is one exception to the rule of avoiding popular posts, and it’s an SEO tactic I wish I had known when I was starting to market on Reddit. If you Google questions people commonly ask related to your expertise, sometimes Reddit threads will show up in the top results (thanks to that Google search algorithm update I mentioned earlier).
Not only is this another great way to identify potential subreddits to join, but it might be worth contributing to that ranking thread, even if it is old or already has a lot of responses. This can help you build visibility, both on the platform itself and in web search results.
Provide immediate value instead of selling
OK, you’ve found some Reddit threads to participate in — but what should you write?
My biggest piece of advice is to focus on immediately helping the poster out instead of trying to sell your services. In fact, I almost never include any kind of CTA or mention that they can work with me if they want more help. It’s just about answering the question and showing that I’m an expert — if they like what I have to say and need more help, they can easily click on my profile and explore ways to work with me. It’s a softer way to sell.
I’m also not afraid of giving away so much of my expertise that people will be able to do it themselves and not need me. Folks on Reddit are often asking very specific questions, and I try to give very specific answers — but it’s still just one piece of the puzzle of succeeding with PPC. My response may get them unstuck at that moment, but when they realize there’s still so much to do, they’ll likely decide to reach out for support.
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The one exception is that I sometimes link back to a case study or blog article on my website when it could provide additional context to answer the poster’s question. But, again, I only do this to give them extra help in the moment, rather than trying to push them to a sale.
Build a system to streamline the process
This may sound like a heavy lift on your time as a founder, and it can suck all your time away if you’re not careful. For instance, I was originally getting email notifications every time there was a new thread on one of my target subreddits, and I’d stop everything I was doing to try and answer as quickly as possible. That was not sustainable.
Thankfully, I learned that Reddit is not as fast-paced as other social media platforms. You can still get exposure if you’re responding a few days later. In fact, you’re likely to get more upvotes if you take the time to write something thoughtful instead of dashing off a quick answer.
Now, I spend a couple of hours each Tuesday and Thursday morning going through the specific subreddits I’m a part of and answering any new questions that feel relevant, which isn’t any more time than I’d have to spend creating content for other social channels or managing ads.
Reddit is unlikely to be the be-all and end-all for marketing your brand. We also market on LinkedIn because we’ve found that, while Reddit helps us reach a lot of entrepreneurs, LinkedIn is better for connecting with marketing leads at larger companies. We also write articles on our website to boost our SEO.
But Reddit has been foundational in starting to carve out our corner of expertise on the internet — and in helping us find the customers who most need to hear it.
In this article, discover 6 ideas to add to your Threads content strategy(image)
If there’s one thing you’ve heard about Threads, it’s probably that it’s an Instagram-X hybrid – which isn’t entirely accurate.
Yes, it’s very much “Instagram in text form” – you get a bit of the curation of your Instagram feed with the rawer nature of Instagram Stories mixed in with the format of content on X/Twitter. This makes it feel familiar but also sets it apart as its own thing.
But one thing about Threads is clear: it’s for having conversations.
Now, if you’re here, you were likely lurking slashdabbling on Threads but are ready to get a bit more strategic. So this is a list of some ideas for you to consider as you start crafting your content — with an important caveat. Less creating and crafting is required for Threads posts than, say, X or LinkedIn. Just thought it was worth mentioning.
Let's dive in and discover how you can make the most of Threads for your content strategy.
Introduce yourself or your brand
If you still haven’t posted on Threads, you’re in luck. The user base is genuine and loves authentic content.
So instead of worrying about making the “perfect first post”, start with something that gives people a peek at who you are, whether it’s a simple text, “Hello Threads!” or a request to connect with other folks.
Post by @buildyourwealthboss
View on Threads
Even better, use a hashtag relevant to your primary audience, like “Social Media Managers” or “Creators of Threads” for Buffer.
Threads will give you a neat little “First thread” badge at the top left of your post, and here’s an encouraging theory from @mattnavarra to motivate you to make those first few posts:
Post by @mattnavarra
View on Threads
Spark genuine engagement
The heavy focus on conversations gives you two main tasks on Threads: starting and participating.
Starting is easy if you have an established brand (personal or business) identity. This is evident in how brand accounts like Elmo and YouTube hopped into Threads and got right to posting.
Post by @youtubecreators
View on Threads
If you don’t, you might have more leeway to be creative and start from general conversations before narrowing down to niche ones as you find your audience or they find you. One way to start is to share real, personal stories followed up with a question – these consistently get high engagement.
How to use Instagram notes as a creator or brand — and why it’s a new feature not to be ignored. (image)
Ever noticed those little bubbles atop certain people’s profile pictures in your DMs? Those are Instagram Notes, and — despite a slow uptake on the platform — they’re starting to gain traction.
“Notes usage has grown at a wild pace, particularly with young people,” Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri shared in an update on Instagram.
“Notes have quickly become a popular way for people to share thoughts or status updates with their Close Friends or people who follow them back. They're sort of like AIM status, for those of you old enough to remember that reference,” he joked.
Mosseri also pointed out in the update that notes are designed for “starting conversations with people you care about” and are, as such, only visible to people you follow and who follow you back.
And there’s the rub: why should brands or creators care about this friends-and-family feature?
Well, for one thing, Instagram’s inbox is a well-traveled section of the social media app, particularly for younger Instagram users. Having your name and a message atop that important real estate on the crowded platform could give your content a helpful boost.
In this comprehensive guide to Instagram Notes, I’ll explain exactly how — and why notes is a new feature not to be ignored as grow your following on Instagram.
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Work smarter, not harder, on Instagram: Plan, organize, schedule, and analyze your posts, stories, and reels with Buffer. Get started for free →
Wait, what are Instagram Notes?
As Adam Mosseri explained above, Instagram Notes are little updates you can share with mutual followers that appear in Instagram’s direct messages section.
Like Instagram Stories, Instagram Notes last 24 hours, after which they disappear. Notes can be up to 60 characters long, and you can only share one note at a time.
When the feature rolled out on Android and iPhone in 2022, it was limited to text-only, but now users have a host of options, including music, videos, and even replies. Here’s how Mosseri explains it:
Music note: Share your current favorite song or one that captures your mood
Video note: Tap the photo in your notes tray to record a two-second video to post as a note
Replies: Respond to a friend’s note using audio, photo, GIFS, and stickers
Likes and mentions: You can now like a note or mention a friend in one
These options are still being rolled out to all regions — so if you don’t have the ability yet, you should soon!
How to use Instagram Notes
Viewing others’ notes on Instagram is simple — just head over to your DMs or inbox. You can get there within the Instagram app by tapping on the little message icon (either a paper plane or a speech bubble, depending on your region) on the top right-hand corner of your screen.
How to create an Instagram Note
Creating a new note only requires a few extra taps. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Tap on the DMs icon on the top right corner of your screen.
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Tap ‘Note…’ above your profile picture at the top of your Instagram inbox.
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Type in your note (1). To add music, tap the audio icon (2). To add a video, tap your profile picture (2) and then the blue button at the bottom to begin recording your video. Videos can only be two seconds long.
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Choose who to share your note with (followers that you follow back or your close friends list).
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Tap Share in the top right to share your note.
How to delete an Instagram Note
The note will disappear after 24 hours, but you can delete it at any time. To delete your Instagram note, simply tap on the note, then hit ‘Delete note.’
How to leave a note on an Instagram post or Instagram reel
Instagram recently introduced a clever new way to add a note to another piece of Instagram content. For personal Instagram users, this is a neat way to share content with a comment without having to navigate over to your inbox.