A Meta exec explains what Threads posts get the most engagement, from sports to ‘conversation starters’

• At CreatorIQ Connect, a marketing conference in LA, industry leaders shared tips and best practices.
• Meta exec Jackie Pimentel spoke about the launch of Threads. 
• Pimentel broke down what formats have been performing well on the app.

The team at Meta working on the company’s buzzy new app, Threads, has been hard at work recruiting influencers, celebrities, and users to help build communities and sub cultures to compete with X, formerly known as Twitter.

At CreatorIQ Connect, a conference series in Los Angeles, the marketing platform hosted panels with industry professionals like Bridget Dolan, global managing director of YouTube Shopping, and Jackie Pimentel, senior global marketing director at Meta.

There, Pimentel spoke about the strategy behind Threads, and how her team is working to create communities within the app.

Weeks before its official launch, Meta onboarded influencers like Connor Franta and Gary Vaynerchuk to start testing out the platform, and create content for the new app, according to a screenshot of the app’s homepage viewed by Business Insider in July.

“Creators really needed to be at the center of the content, from day one,” Pimentel said. “The minute a person opened the app, we wanted content in there.”

Meta is still actively recruiting celebrities, sports stars, and influencers to create content and help build communities, Pimentel added.

The app’s initial buzz has died down a bit since its massive launch. Still, in October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Threads had nearly 100 million monthly users. And some prominent X users, like tech reporter Casey Newton, are pivoting away from X to posting on Threads.

“The content that is working is conversation starters,” Pimentel said. “We see a lot more engagement on Threads on content that’s a conversation starter. We are prompting people to respond, and we want people to respond. A join-in kind of effort, too.”

Sports content and a photography community are some examples of sub cultures growing organically on Threads, so far, Pimentel said.

“We’ve been doing a lot of activities with the NBA, reaching out and trying to bring on more and more sports content because we are seeing it organically grow,” Pimentel said. “Working with different verticals is something we are working on. What are specific features to those verticals? How do we bring on everyone from the superstars to the amplifiers and the fans?”