The past few days have been a whirlwind for Meredith Almond.
The social media manager for Jimmy John’s found out along with the rest of the world on Wednesday that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, was about to launch a new app designed to compete with Twitter.
Threads debuted later that night and within hours had amassed 10 million users, making it the fastest-growing mobile app of all time. That included virtually every large restaurant brand you can think of, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Domino’s and Panera Bread.
Jimmy John’s was also in the mix. Almond had the sandwich chain up and running on Threads shortly after it went live and was soon asking followers to share the last thing they ordered from JJ’s.
Like many brands, Jimmy John’s typically takes a test-and-learn approach to new social media platforms, Almond said. But it dove into Threads head-first.
The decision was driven in part by the recent instability on Twitter. The app has had problems since it was acquired last year by Elon Musk, who has implemented a series of controversial changes, including limiting the number of tweets some users could read. That has hurt engagement and led some people to flee to similar apps like Mastodon and Bluesky.
“We’ve seen user decline, not just on our account but across the board,” Almond said.
While other Twitter competitors have generated some buzz, Threads appears to be a serious contender, especially for brands.
“Meta has created such a place for brands, an open invitation for brands,” Almond said. “Regardless of the advertising opportunity, we knew [Threads] was gonna be a place we wanted to play.”
Functionally, Twitter and Threads are almost identical. Posts are text-based, though you can attach photos and videos. You can share, like and reply to posts. And all the content appears in one endless feed.
One big difference is that Threads connects to Instagram, and users’ Instagram followers will carry over to Threads.
Despite the similarities, Jimmy John’s is not simply grafting its Twitter strategy onto Threads.
“It’s been very off the cuff. It’s been very different,” Almond said. She compared it to the first day of school, with everyone rushing to get the lay of the land.
“We’re really leaning into the social media manager POV,” she said. “It’s really human right now. It’s really relatable.”
Twitter has been a key part of Jimmy John’s overall social strategy, and it doesn’t plan to leave the app anytime soon. At the same time, it’s fully embracing Threads. “I think they’re gonna work for us in different ways,” Almond said.
She doesn’t know yet what Jimmy John’s Threads strategy will be long-term. But for now, what she’s doing is working.
“Everyone’s so excited to be there, they’re just throwing around likes like crazy,” she said.
Not every restaurant has taken the Thread first, ask questions later approach. At multiconcept operator FB Society, Head of PR and Communication Jami Sharp plans to wait and see how the platform develops before deciding whether to join.
“A lot of people are jumping on it really fast because they want to be early adopters,” Sharp said. “We just want to make sure that we’re very much authentically engaging with our audience before just jumping in on a new platform just because it’s new and exciting.”
Dallas-based FB operates seven sit-down concepts, including Sixty Vines, Whiskey Cake and Mexican Sugar. Some of its brands are on Twitter, but they mainly use it to reply to customers’ tweets or messages.
That said, Sharp didn’t rule out joining Threads with some or all of FB’s brands at some point.
“Any brand has to take a look at it,” she said. “When it comes to reaching your audience, you definitely need to understand where they are and how they’re engaging.”
FB is far more active on Instagram and Facebook, and that could help inform its Threads strategy.
“What’s great about Threads is that it’s built off Instagram and you can leverage your Instagram roots,” she said. “As soon as you join, you already have followers.”
She also noted that from an advertising perspective, it will likely be seamless to buy ads on Threads if you’re already doing that on Meta’s other platforms.
For now, she is content to watch and learn. “It’s kind of interesting to be on the sidelines for a bit.”