In 2017, Twitter (now X) increased its character count from 140 to 280. Many brands felt that this would be a game-changer, helping them express themselves better. However, time has proven that even the 280-character limit is insufficient for compelling storytelling, especially when leveraging the new X algorithm to increase visibility.

If you have used Twitter for marketing, the character limit can hinder you from sharing in-depth ideas. That is where threads come into the picture. This article will take you through the steps of increasing your followers and engagement. But before we do that, let's understand X threads.

What is X Threads?

Known initially as Tweetstorm, X Threads are a series of tweets interlinked to tell a larger story in the same way that Meta Threads works. Instead of limiting yourself to 280 characters, you create one tweet and then continue with it in the reply section. All your tweets appear in chronological order, allowing your followers to view all messages. You can add different tweet formats in a thread, such as social media marketing GIFs, videos, emojis, and images, to make it livelier.

Benefits of Using X Threads

Unlike what some creators think, using Threads isn't only about fixing more words in a tweet. It is a feature that can offer significant benefits for your brand and community, such as:

Attention-Grabbing

With Threads, multiple tweets are added to one narrative, enabling your posts to stand out and increasing the chances that people stop scrolling to interact. This can be particularly effective when you are covering major topics or sharing live updates. Because of their unique appeal, threads are great for stopping people in their scroll and encouraging them to click the thread to see what comes next.

Higher Reach

All tweets in a thread are considered separate content. The more tweets you get, the more opportunities for likes, replies, and retweets. More people engaging with the different sections of the tweet can cause your news feed to reach new audiences.

Through Threads, you can develop ideas of setting a scene, offering solutions, building tension, and wrapping everything in a call to action, as you do in a book. When you have a well-followed narrative, you can have your readers invested in all your tweets.

Higher Engagement

When your X followers understand you will be posting more content, they can look forward to your posts, react, respond, and share throughout, increasing the engagement. When your audience asks questions in the comments, it's a good opportunity to drive the conversation. This can also be key to creating a livelier community.

Position Yourself as an Expert

Threads make it easy to break down some complex topics into bite-sized insights and steps, showing your readers that you have a deep knowledge of the subject. Threads are a good choice for sharing case studies, industry tips, behind-the-scenes previews, and thought processes, positioning you as an expert. It can also encourage your followers to keep coming back for more.

Steps in Creating a Twitter Thread

To create a smooth, scrollable story, you must follow the steps below:

Open Composer and Create

You should click on the Tweet button on X or the What’s happening. This will take you to a blank box. You can now add a strong introduction to your tweet that will also serve as the hook, determining whether readers view the Thread or scroll away. Therefore, this is the most essential part that should be captivating. Once you are satisfied with it, click the plus (+) icon.

Add Tweets

You can now click the + icon to add a tweet box. Add the next point, including all relevant details, such as an image. For all additional tweets, click the + sign until you have provided the different angles of the story.

Add Media

A good X thread includes multiple media formats, such as videos, images, poll icons, and GIFs. These are an excellent choice for grabbing the user's attention and keeping readers engaged.

Review the Flow

You want to go through a draft of your thread to ensure that everything is reading well and in an orderly way. You can also edit or rearrange the tweets if they need some more polishing.

Threads Publication

Once all your Threads are ready, click Post All. All your posts will be published at the same time, ensuring a cohesive, easily navigable thread. Threads allow you to queue up to 25 tweets at the same time. The platform doesn't have a cap on the number of tweets you can link. Therefore, be sure to expand on different ideas as they evolve.

How to Improve the Performance of Your X Threads

Now that you understand what Threads are, you need to know how to use Threads to improve engagement. Here are some creative tips to enable you to do that:

Organize Your Threads in Listicles

An effective way to increase the visibility of your threads and drive engagement is to present them as listicles. When you organize your threads in a listicle format, it becomes easier for audiences to find everything they need. This is the same way organizing your Threads information in bite-sized pieces also drives engagement.

You don't have to make your listicles about your product. You can share any information as long as it's of value, such as growth apps, budgeting apps, workout tips, etc. For instance, Bill Gates created a listicle of the best books to read. This resulted in thousands of retweets and likes. This is a clear indication of the power of listicle threads for driving engagement. They work great for providing value, increasing shareability, and getting new followers.

Create a Content Roundup

If you want to become a curator for your follow-ups, you can create a thread that gathers a lot of information in one place, without even including links. Having such a Twitter thread can be a good choice because it provides your followers with a lot of information without them having to leave the platform.

Rounding up threads can help improve your reputation as a curator. This is because your followers will trust what you post in the threads if it provides valuable information.

Create Different Types of Content

If your thread is only text, it might struggle to drive engagement. This is why it is essential to try out different types of content to find one that resonates with your audience. You can use a wide range of content, such as:

• Video snippets. If you have some new features, you can share them in a 15-second demo. You can also share behind-the-scenes reels that show your team in action. This is always good for driving engagement.
• Animated GIFs. This is a good option for illustrating your main points and adding humor. A good example of a brand that does this is Nike, which often adds a looping clip of athletes' highlights that leaves your audience wanting more.
• Questions and polls. You can add a poll at the center of your thread to get immediate conversation and feedback. The poll can be a simple preference question: “Which of these templates do you love?”

Make sure you check the X Threads analytics to determine which type of media is driving the most shares, likes, and comments. This will help you understand the kind of content that resonates better with your target audience.

Use Storytelling

Threads is a good platform for taking your audience on a journey, either as industry insight or personal anecdote. Brand storytelling is an effective strategy for:

• Creating an emotional connection. Stories can help you create an emotional connection with your audience by making them feel valued, understood, and seen. 
• Digestibility and brevity. Threads allows you to create posts of up to 500 characters. However, ensure that all posts in a thread remain brief.
• Add personality and authenticity. X encourages raw, authentic, and personal content instead of curated and polished posts. This makes it a good platform for storytelling, enabling individuals and brands to demonstrate the value they add and humanize their presence.
• Higher attention span. Threads feature a threaded format that will enable readers to go through a post sequentially. This increases the attention span compared to the single-scroll posts.

In Conclusion

There is no doubt that X Threads is a powerful feature for sharing more details with your audience. It can increase engagement in your Twitter account. If you are wondering how to use Threads, the tips above will be helpful. We also recommend reading our guide on why Meta Threads is the new X rival.