The Formula for Crafting an Appealing Bio (and More!)

Welcome to Issue #2 of How To Win Thriends!

We’ve got a new look, but the same content. Enjoy x

You Can Finally Delete Threads Without Losing Your Instagram

TLDR:

• The headline says it all.

• A couple of days ago @mosseri posted the following:

  • ‘we’re rolling out a way for you to delete your Threads profile separately from your Instagram account. To delete your Threads profile, visit Settings → Account → Delete or Deactivate Profile, then select delete.’

Why you should care:

• You shouldn’t. You were never gonna delete Threads…

• In all seriousness:

  • Not having your Threads and IG accounts linked in this way is long overdue.

  • Before the update, someone (not you, obviously) might’ve tried Threads, realised it wasn’t for them but then been stuck with an account that couldn’t be deleted unless they also deleted their IG account.

    • Not anymore.

Threads users can keep their posts off Instagram and Facebook now

TLDR:

• You can now opt out of cross-posting to IG and FB!

• Here’s how to do it:

  

  @datadrivenmd

Why you should care:

• As I mentioned last week, ‘having the option to disable the cross-posting is better than not, so I say this is a win!’

Other updates

• 📌 Everyone can now pin posts! See the update from @mosseri here.

• 💬 Meta’s not building DMs into Threads. See the update from @mosseri here.

  • I’m personally pretty happy about this one. I already get DMs from enough apps. Not adding another one to the list is fine by me. Especially because it’s easy enough to simply DM the person through IG.

• #️⃣ Hashtags on Threads? Not quite. A new tagging feature is being tested on kangaroos in Australia. Read The Verge’s coverage here.

Tool: Threads insights Notion table

What is it?

• We’re waiting for a Threads API that automatically gives you metrics on your posts.

• I got a bit impatient and created my own Notion table that does a similar thing.

  • Take a look at the table here and duplicate it if you’d like to analyse your own posts!

What this can do for you

• In short, more data helps you get better results.

• Here’s what the table taught me:

  • Posts that are celebratory, emotional and express gratitude perform well.

  • Generally speaking, shorter (less than 250 characters) is better.

  • Get straight to the point with your first sentence. If it doesn’t ‘wow’ your audience, they’ll keep scrolling.

Test: bios!

What is it?

• Think of your bio as the first impression you make on someone; a digital handshake, if you will.

  • Do you wanna give someone a firm handshake, or a floppy fish? 🤝🐟

• Practically speaking, your bio matters because, depending on its contents, it will either get someone to follow you or ignore you.

• Given the importance of bios, over the past week, I’ve posted a poll and asked some of my thriends for their opinions on four different bios. Check out the poll here.

• Here’s the bio I went with:

  

• Many thanks to these beautiful people for the insights: @vikkotaruc (for personal growth and content creation), @luqmanarabofficial (for study and mindset tips), @kawsarkana_ (for entrepreneurship), @ideasbymax (for tech insights), @sarahlouiseanderson (for female business owners), @luke_reelfs (for faith and marketing) and @babajide_idris (for content strategy).

What this can do for you

• I used the feedback from the poll and the thriends above to create the Formula for Crafting an Appealing Bio:

  • 1st line: who are you?

  • 2nd line: what are you doing?

  • 3rd line: how does that help me?

  • 4th line: what’s your mission?

  • 5th line: what do you want me to do [CTA]?

UPDATED: Please note this addendum that was added in Issue #3 of HTWT!

(as of 16/11/23)

Key Takeaways

• Each post:

  • Raves/talks about Threads.

  • USES LOTS OF WHITESPACE (to be discussed in a future issue).

  • Is useful to the reader in an unexpected way.

    • 1: This doesn’t just list 5 good things about Threads. It also discusses why less clickbait news is nice.

    • 2: This isn’t just about my goal. The second last line also motivates people to start building.

    • 3: This isn’t just about community. It’s also about how good the community is on Threads.

Key Takeaways

• Each post has to do with this newsletter (ruh roh 🙄).

• Seriously though: it’s fascinating that my Top 3 are about Threads and my Bottom 3 are about a Threads newsletter.

• The point: promotions on Threads just don’t get engagement.

  • People are clearly coming to the platform, at least in part, to get away from the ad-style content that’s on every other platform.

  • Let’s enjoy the lack of ads while it lasts!