I consider Beyoncé a master of many things, including marketing. When it comes to Threads, the latest social media app, I know she’d tell you to ditch your analytics.

As a performance oriented marketer I obsess over metrics and optimization. But what I’m about to say is going to be a 180 degree reversal from what I usually advise.

Forget content creation for the mere goal of hitting numbers. Threads is your high school friend passing secret notes to you in class. It’s the 4-hour calls with your man who’s temporarily away on business. It’s seeing your favorite cousin you haven’t seen in a long time at a family cookout. Threads essentially is where brands go to meet with their fans to kee-kee and shoot the breeze.

Beyoncé is strategic but she you cannot deny that she loves her fans. You can see the deep respect she has for them through her music, her performances and her drive to give them an unforgettable experience. And in return, her fans love her back.

I remember reading her interview with Harper’s Baazar in 2021 where she recounted an experience with an agency whose data contradicted what she, a mega-star, instinctively knew about her fans. She rejected their recommendations about what they thought they knew about the Beyhive; Beyoncé said they literally had no clue:

I remember being in a meeting discussing analytics, and I was told the research discovered that my fans did not like when my photography was black and white. They told me I wouldn’t sell if it wasn’t in color. That was ridiculous. It pissed me off that an agency could dictate what my fans wanted based on a survey. Who did they ask? How is it possible to generalize people this much? Are these studies accurate? Are they fair? Are all the people I’m trying to uplift and shine a light on included? They’re not. It triggered me when I was told, “These studies show…” I was so exhausted and annoyed with these formulaic corporate companies that I based my whole next project off of black and white photography, including the videos for “Single Ladies” and “If I Were a Boy” and all of the artwork by Peter Lindbergh for I Am…Sasha Fierce, which ended up being my biggest commercial success to date. I try to keep the human feeling and spirit and emotion in my decision-making.

• Beyoncé

CONVERSATE.

Marketing is the a balance of art and science, but when it comes to how businesses and brands approach Threads, and community building in general, it’s more of an art. It’s the re-ignition of the forum days where content creation wasn’t a thing, conversations were.

This post is not about teaching you how to connect with your followers. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably human – so why not tap into that humanity to reach fellow humans? Feel free to talk about anything and hold off on selling on Threads. Keep the energy organic, helpful and funny.

Stop generalizing: marketers and business owners alike have an obsession with averages, demographics and studies. Get to the heart and mind of just one of your followers. Create a post as if you were speaking to them. You’re gonna find out that your post will relate to more people than you think.