This post first appeared in Anthony Bullick’s Daily Post column.
The soaring popularity of an alternative social media platform is adding an extra layer of complexity as many brands create or adjust their social media strategy for 2025.
Bluesky, long heralded as the best X (Twitter) replacement for businesses seeking a microblogging channel, has seen the number of new accounts skyrocket from 13 million in October to 24 million by December.
Created by X’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, it follows a similar content experience, with users sharing text posts limited to 300 characters, images, and video clips to a maximum of 60 seconds.
The surge in sign-ups comes as many organisations and high-profile individuals decrease efforts on X, with fears of misinformation cited as a crucial reason.
However, there are a number of key questions companies should answer before they embed Bluesky into their social media planning. Indeed, the queries should be applied across all PR and marketing tactics.
Firstly, based on your stakeholder mapping and prioritisation, where are your target audiences? Where do they spend their time and are there overlaps with where your brand can join the conversation?
Look beyond the actual platform itself and consider the features. For example, customers may have a Facebook account but only use the groups feature.
Analyse your existing analytics to understand key attributes such as what type of content they prefer and in what format.
For instance, if they prefer long-form video, Bluesky, which limits clips to 60 seconds, may not be the best option. Similarly, if the data shows that people stories from within your business are the most engaged with, ensure this is at the heart of your content calendar.
If early indications are that your target audiences are making the move to Bluesky, or another channel where you don’t have a presence, it may be advantageous to monitor initially instead of fully committing resources to joining them.
It’s still unknown how it will fare. Will the novelty wear off? Will enough people and brands sign up to satisfy the needs and wants of existing users?
In addition, having genuine impact on social media requires a significant amount of time, whether that be carried out internally or via a third party such as a PR agency.
Whether it’s the launch of Bluesky, predicted downfall of X, or Meta going offline, this latest development serves as a good reminder that you don’t own your social media following.
Therefore, consider how you can build an email list as part of your overall PR and marketing plan for 2025.