In case you missed the memo, there’s a new social media platform that is taking the online world by storm: Instagram Threads, a text-based app that launched a little over a week ago with a lot of controversy (we’re looking at you Elon).
While Instagram has long been hailed as a visual haven for sharing photos and videos, Threads takes a refreshing departure from the traditional format. Designed with a more intimate and personal touch, this app is perfect for hotels looking to enhance their online presence and connect with their guests in a whole new way. And with 100 million new users in more than 100 different countries signing up to use the app in less than a week, can you really afford to be missing out on this new, exciting platform?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the world of Instagram Threads and explore how hotels can leverage its unique features to engage with their audience, build brand loyalty, and ultimately drive bookings.
Let’s dive in!
What is Instagram Threads?
The best way to think of Threads is Meta and Instagram’s answer to Twitter. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described it as a fresh take on status updates and rapid-fire conversations, one “that takes the best parts of the Instagram experience and creates a whole new app around text, ideas, and sharing what’s on your mind.”
Threads was rolled out as an alternative to Twitter, following Elon Musk’s controversial takeover, which saw Twitter users disappointed by the platform’s changes. And as such, Threads takes a lot of inspiration from Twitter; encouraging open-ended discussions and fostering a community vibe with the option to include links, photos, and videos alongside text.
While many features well known to Twitter such as hashtags have yet to be implemented on Threads, it does have some unique tricks up its sleeve. The biggest is its special integration with Instagram, which allows users to transfer their existing Instagram community over in one quick tap. Pretty cool, right?
Here are some of the key features of the platform:
- Threads can be linked and connected to an existing Instagram account
- Posts can be up to 500 characters
- Photos, videos up to 5 minutes and links can be included in posts
- Users can have either a public or private Threads account
- Similarly, users can choose who can reply to their Threads posts: anyone, profiles they follow, or only profiles they mention.
- Deleting your Threads account will not delete your Instagram account
Benefits for your brand
Simply put: there is a huge opportunity for brand awareness, engagement and reach on Instagram Threads right now that hotel brands should be capitalising on. In fact, according to research carried out by Website Planet, Threads is already drawing more online engagement than Twitter itself.
The study showed that brands that have already successfully made the pivot to Threads have 87% more engagement on their Threads posts compared with their Tweets. This has resulted in a higher engagement rate also – 0.45% vs. 0.02%.
More than 30 million people downloaded Threads in 24 hours, making it one of the fastest-growing social media apps ever, opening up a whole new pool of potential guests for hotel brands to interact with. For many hotels, this new platform provides an opportunity to create engaging content for the first few million people looking to interact with the app.
Since competition is low right now, hotel brands have a better chance to claim the spotlight. And in a time when Twitter looks to be monetising all of its most well-loved features (not to mention the infamous ‘tweet limit ‘), Threads provides a less-expensive alternative.
So, now that you know how Instagram Threads can benefit your hotel brand, it’s time to figure out how to use it…
How to find and set up Threads on Instagram
If you already have an Instagram profile for your brand, then setting up a Threads account is easy! Simply follow these steps to get started:
- Firstly, you’ll need an iPhone or Android phone to download the Threads app.
- Once downloaded, open the app and tap the ‘login with Instagram’ button on the bottom of the screen (there is a switch accounts option underneath it if it hasn’t brought up the account you want to set up in Threads).
- You can then choose to manually enter your Profile information or import it all from Instagram.
- Threads will then bring up the two different privacy options. For brands, it’s recommended that you set your profile to public so that you can get new followers and leads.
- Finally, there will be a section about how Threads is powered by Instagram, the Fediverse and how the app uses your data. Once accepted, you’re in!
Using Threads as a Hotel
Start with a strategy
Like any new social media platform or marketing channel, it’s always recommended that you plan and map out a strategy, as well as set some goals before you start posting content. Start by spending some time on the Threads app to familiarise yourself with its features and to figure out where your target audience is, what topics/accounts they are engaging with, and what type of content they’re interested in.
Of course, unlike Twitter, Threads is still limited in its search capabilities – a lack of hashtags is one challenge that brands will have to face when it comes to discoverability. Instead, Threads is all about growing your community – we recommend you import your followers over from Instagram, as well as manually searching for new users using the app’s magnifying glass icon.
Then, decide on exactly what it is you want to achieve by adding Threads to your marketing mix – this could include growing a brand community on the app, reaching new target audience segments or driving traffic to your website.
Brainstorm content ideas
The type of content you share on your hotel’s Threads page is crucial to engaging your target audience.
When it comes to Instagram Threads, engagement is the name of the game. To make the most of this interactive feature, hotels should focus on creating posts that prompt responses and foster meaningful conversations.
One effective strategy is to craft content that includes questions, hot takes, or thought-provoking statements. By asking questions that pique the curiosity of your audience, you can encourage them to share their opinions and experiences, creating a lively exchange of ideas. Similarly, presenting controversial or unconventional perspectives can ignite discussions among your followers, making them more likely to engage with your posts. Ultimately, leveraging Instagram Threads with captivating and interactive content can help hotels build stronger connections with their audience and cultivate a vibrant online community.
Some content ideas you could post include:
1. Short question prompts such as ‘Do you skip the hotel breakfast?’ or ‘Name your favourite destination to travel to in Europe.’
2. Humour, such as memes, unconventional perspectives and hot takes. Like Twitter, Threads looks to be a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
3. Photo and video content: although the primary focus is text on Threads, sharing photos, videos and links is still very much encouraged. This could be mini video tours of different areas of your hotel to highlight the property’s unique selling points, links to your latest blog article, or resharing a user-generated content image from one of your guests. Where possible, always try to foster interaction with other Threads users.
4. Like Twitter, jumping on trending topics is a great way to speed up your brand’s account growth and reach millions of new users. This could be anything from celebrating National Holidays to posting a travel meme using an image from the Oscars. However, we always recommend sticking to your content strategy, though, by only selecting trends that are relevant to the type of content you want to share.
Create your first Thread
Once you have your strategy and content ideas in place, it’s time to craft your first Thread! Like a gripping new headline, the first post of your thread should pipe the interest of the audience instantly. This can be a funny ‘controversial’ statement, a curious question, or an interesting fact.
To draft your first Thread, tap the pen and paper icon in the middle of the navigation bar. Remember that there is a 500-character limit, but you can add a photo, video, or GIF to it by pressing the paper clip icon.
Interacting with others
One key feature of using Threads as a hotel brand is interacting with others on the app.
Although you want to start conversations and discussions with your own Thread posts, to get the most out of the app, interacting with other users’ Thread posts is the best way to go if you want to build a presence and gather engagement. This can be as simple as tapping the heart icon to ‘like’ a particular Thread post, but you could also:
- Reply to a Thread with your own comments on the topic/discussion
- Repost the Thread to your feed with the option to add a quote.
- Add the thread to your Instagram story or post it to your Instagram feed using the paper plane icon.
These interactions will not only keep your audience engaged but also strengthen your online presence!
Does your brand need help marketing on Instagram Threads?
If your hotel or hostel brand wants to use Instagram Threads to drive business growth, engage new audiences and grow brand awareness, then drop us a message and let’s see how we can support you.
Our service includes full management of your brand’s account on the app, from content planning to editing, posting and audience engagement. We work closely and collaboratively with our client’s teams on the ground to help gather content suitable for this new and exciting platform.
Our team at Stay the Night work with creative businesses around the world that are changing the way people stay, work and play. We manage social media accounts for some of the world’s leading hospitality businesses. Drop us a message to find out how we can help you.
