To post or not to post

Just when you thought you had your social media strategy all buttoned up, everything changes. Do we still call it “Twitter,” or now call it “X,” Twitter’s official rebranded name? Should you opt in for the blue checkmark or not? Should you post more or less?

You may be feeling overwhelmed with all the updates. Before hopping onto Threads or shelling out for a subscription to reclaim your blue checkmark, it’s important to take a beat and determine what is right for your brand.

This is what I recommend so you can confidently decide how to move forward:

• Ask questions
• Be where your audience is
• Experiment and adjust

Ask questions

Whether you have an agency like ours helping you out with digital strategy or if you have an internal marketing team of your own, ask them questions to understand the different platforms like Threads, for example.

Threads—which launched on July 5, 2023, and developed by Meta—is one of the newest and “hottest” apps in the social space. Users can post live text updates of up to 500 characters, along with an image or a video. Sound familiar? It’s essentially X for people who don’t like Elon Musk’s changes.

Speaking of changes to X; you may be wondering, “Do I need the blue checkmark?” The blue checkmark used to be for those who had to verify their identity, like big-name celebrities, for instance. Since April 2023, the blue checkmark is now a subscription you must pay for to be verified. Your brandneeds can determine if it’s worth subscribing to X. To learn more about the blue subscription, read here.

Be where your audience is

Where does your audience hang out? Maybe they’re active on LinkedIn and X, which would make it unnecessary to join Threads.

Posting where they spend the most time will get your content seen. But how do you know where they are (or more importantly, where they may be going)?

Check out the conversations they’re having in real time. If they mention any movement toward Threads, that’s your cue to move too.

Try it out yourself

How can you decide on a platform when you aren’t even certain how it works?

This is especially true to for apps like TikTok, which can feel far too mysterious and complicated for some brand managers to try. Avoidance is not the answer.

Download Threads or TikTok during your personal time to understand the basics of the app. Only then will you know for sure whether they are worth folding into your social media strategy.

You will know if Threads is right for your brand if you try out the app yourself and see there is an opportunity to hold thought-provoking conversations within your industry. If you find Threads is an app where your brand won’t be able to build a community, then it’s best to not join it. Your brand does not need to be on every platform!

The only constant is change

Now that you know more about the new changes with X, blue checkmark, and more, you can start planning your next steps for your brand’s social media presence. You may or may not have a social media plan set up. If you do, there’s no need to make changes to the strategy just yet.

We’re all still getting used to these updates and their purpose. There is no right way to tell what the best practices are yet. If you don’t have a social media strategy, it’s beneficial to gain a grasp on the changes happening in the digital world first.

The digital world moves fast. But with curiosity, research, and conversations, you’ll learn to keep up. As American model Gigi Hadid once said, “We get to live in a time where we get to use social media as a tool.”

How you yield that tool to reach your brand’s goals is up to you.