Threads is here: should your business open an account?

For now, a business in Romania can't open a Threads account: the app Meta launched on July 5, 2023 isn't available in the European Union. What you can do is understand how it works, decide whether it fits your business, and get your Instagram account in shape, because that's where everything starts.

What Threads is, in short

Threads is an app for short text posts and public conversations, built by the Instagram team. The basics, from the official announcement:

• you sign in with your Instagram account, and your username and verification badge carry over;
• a post can be up to 500 characters and can include links, photos and videos up to 5 minutes long;
• the feed mixes posts from people you follow with recommended content from accounts you haven't discovered yet;
• Meta says it plans to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the protocol behind networks like Mastodon, but that's a promise for later.

At launch, the app rolled out in more than 100 countries on iOS and Android.

Why it isn't available in Romania

The European Union was left out. Meta told Ireland's data protection regulator it had no plans yet to launch in the 27-country bloc and cited "regulatory uncertainty." Press coverage linked the decision to the EU's strict rules on personal data.

For you, that means there's no point looking for workarounds. An account opened through a back door, for an app that hasn't officially launched here, is a shaky foundation for a company's communication.

Does it fit your business?

Threads is about text and conversation. It works for businesses that have something to say about their trade:

• B2B services, where a sharp observation about the industry brings in clients;
• local businesses with opinions: a bookshop, a specialty coffee shop, a workshop that explains how it works;
• businesses with frequent news: changed hours, new products, events.

For products that sell through pictures (clothing, food, interior design), Instagram stays the main place. Threads can be, at most, one extra channel.

One honest question before any new account: do you have someone who will write a few times a week and answer comments? A conversation network with no conversation looks worse than having no account at all.

What to prepare until it opens in Europe

1. Your business Instagram account, because Threads pulls the name and badge from there. If the business still posts from a personal account, now's the time to set up a separate one under the company name.
2. Your username. Make sure it's short, easy to type and the same everywhere you're present.
3. A list of topics. Ten ideas for short posts about your trade: questions you hear often, mistakes you see, what's changed in your field.
4. Your tone. On a text network, people can tell right away whether a person is writing or a press release. Write the way you'd talk to a customer at the counter.

All four help on Instagram too, even if Threads doesn't reach us any time soon.

What we're watching

We're watching three things: when and on what terms it launches in the European Union, whether business features show up (analytics, ads, scheduling), and whether people stick around once the novelty wears off. Until then, your time is better spent on the channels that already work. We wrote about splitting your effort between Reels and static posts in our article on Reels for small businesses, and if you want a social media plan, see our marketing studio services.