Why You Should Be Posting On Bluesky

The social media landscape has felt relatively stable since TikTok's meteoric rise in 2019, but with BlueSky beginning to make big waves it's important that creators, brands and marketers start paying attention.

Bluesky is a microblogging social media platform in the vein of Twitter/X. It's been quietly humming along for several years now, but as online audiences have begun to find X increasingly inhospitable as a platform, many have started migrating to BlueSky in search of greener pastures.

BlueSky is currently approaching 25 million users, with daily visits increasing by over 500% since October! So while it is yet to reach the user numbers of competitors such as Twitter or Threads, it's astronomical growth and a few other key features are making it an incredibly valuable platform for anyone looking to connect with an audience.

Let's take a look at the most important reasons why you should be on BlueSky:

When compared to the social networks you're likely to already have an established presence on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X, Bluesky has an undeniably smaller pool of users. But this isn't a downside, it's an opportunity.

By getting started now, you have the chance to grab attention, form connections, build an audience and carve out your niche on the platform before it gets oversaturated. Dissuaded by the smaller user numbers and lack of an ad network, most brands and creators haven't yet put the time into Bluesky, leaving ample room for you to stand out and assert yourself as a key player on the emerging social network.

And remember, the people who have already gotten started on Bluesky are your fellow early adopters. They're the trendsetters and influencers, and they're an incredibly valuable group to connect with and open the door to future engagement and collaboration.

The only strike against Bluesky right now is it's small user base in comparison to the titans of the social media landscape. But as I mentioned before, this isn't abad thing because 1) it gives you the chance to establish yourself in a less crowded marketplace and 2) the growth is coming.

Total user numbers have doubled since October to nearly 25 million users, 76% of them in the US. Daily visits in the US have also skyrocketed from under half a million at the start of the year to over 2.5 million in November. As someone who started using BlueSky early in the year I can tell you the vibe has dramatically shifted from the awkward small talk when you get to a party too early to a thriving online community that's only going to get bigger.

As a text-based social network, Bluesky has all the features you need as a brand or creator.

You can post text, images and videos, pin important posts, utilize hashtags and mentions, link to your website, share and reply to posts, DM other users, and create categorized lists and feeds. All the features you're used to, you'll find on BlueSky.

Bluesky has a dedicated Followers feed so you can easily stay in touch with your audience, and an algorithmic Discover feed which will help you connect with new users.

You can even easily verify your account by syncing it with your domain and adding your website to your username.

The only notable absence that brands might notice is the lack of an ad network, but as the platform continues to grow and eventually looks to monetize, it seems inevitable that ads will eventually come.

Over the years, many brands and creators have found that sharing links to external websites on other social media platforms often results in those posts underperforming. This is likely due to a combination of users wanting to stay on the platform, and social media platforms themselves wanting to reduce the amount of users leaving their site.

The good news is that links seem to be thriving on Bluesky, with many finding that the combination of Bluesky's userbase and algorithm are leading to their external links being following at a much higher rate than on other platforms. This is incredibly valuable for creators and brands looking to use Bluesky as a promotional channel.

If you've spent some time on Bluesky you might have noticed that it has a generally positive atmosphere. There's lots of friendly discussion, positive engagement and online community building going on, which makes it an ideal space to connect with new users and grow your online community.

You want people to think about you in a positive light, and encountering your brand in a friendly environment is a big help in this regard.

The reason you're on social media is because you want to engage your audience and customer base. There are lots of different ways you can do this, and thankfully Bluesky makes it easy to utilize one of the most effective: running a giveaway.

Running a promotional giveaway is an exceptionally effective way to drive engagement and incentivise meaningful actions.

How it works is simple, you offer up a prize and let people unlock chances to win it by completing various actions like signing up for your email address, visiting your website and referring friends.

With Gleam’s powerful giveaway software, you can create your own powerful giveaway in minutes and use it to start driving valuable user action. We’ll automatically track entries, filter out fraud and let you instantly draw random winners so you barely have to lift a finger.

You can even use our Bluesy integration to help you grow on the platform by running a fun giveaway and encouraging entrants to follow you on Bluesy, share your posts, refer friends and so much more.

Take a look at this easy template to see what your Bluesy Giveaway could look like with Gleam:

  run your own giveaway

So these are just some of the reasons you should be getting yourself setup on Bluesky today. And remember, the early bird gets the worm. If you want to set yourself up for success on what’s poised to be the next big social network, it’s crucial that you start driving engagement and building a following as soon as you can.