Even if you don’t use Bluesky, you will have probably heard or read about it. But how can you as a marketer use Bluesky to attract, engage and influence your target audience?

What is Bluesky & How Can Marketers Use it?

what-is-bluesky-how-can-marketers-use-it

What is Bluesky &amp; How Can Marketers Use it? 

[[p]]Even if you don&rsquo;t use Bluesky, you will have probably heard or read about it. The social platform has been heralded as an alternative to X and as consumers flock to join (26 million users and counting), it&rsquo;s popping up on the radars of digital marketers looking for new and untapped opportunities.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]There&rsquo;s no doubt this most recent growth has been due to users leaving X following many issues on that platform, while some big companies have taken the decision to [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/advertising-problems-for-x" target="_blank"]]stop advertising on the platform[[/a]] altogether.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Bluesky is flourishing for many reasons. First, it&rsquo;s a &ldquo;democratic republic-type platform&rdquo; rather than a billionaire-led platform, it offers a place for people to get informed and connect without ads flooding their feed, and it&rsquo;s proving to be a hit for the media industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]But what is Bluesky&rsquo;s future in such a competitive [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/social-media-marketing-trends" target="_blank"]]social media landscape[[/a]] (especially Meta&rsquo;s rival microblogging site [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/a-guide-to-marketing-on-threads" target="_blank"]]Threads[[/a]]) and how can marketers leverage the platform to inform and engage its audience?&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]In this blog we will explore the platform and offer ways for digital marketers to use it by covering:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]][[a href="#heading_79296"]]What is Bluesky?[[/a]]&nbsp;[[/li]]
	[[li]][[a href="#heading_79298"]]Who uses Bluesky?[[/a]][[/li]]
	[[li]][[a href="#heading_79302"]]How do you get started using Bluesky?[[/a]][[/li]]
	[[li]][[a href="#heading_79307"]]What brands are on Bluesky?[[/a]][[/li]]
	[[li]][[a href="#heading_79312"]]How can you use Bluesky to promote your brand?&nbsp;[[/a]][[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]Bluesky is a microblogging social media service where people can share short text messages, images, and videos.[[/p]]

[[p]]It started as an initiative in 2019 by [[a href="https://my.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/twitter-marketing-your-ultimate-guide" target="_blank"]]Twitter[[/a]]&#39;s ex-CEO Jack Dorsey to explore the possibility of decentralizing the platform to give users more control over their data and experience.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The Bluesky project was launched as an invite-only beta site in 2023 and launched to the public in February 2024 with 3 million users.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]While Bluesky may have the same founder as X and have a similar look, the people managing the platform now don&rsquo;t want it to merely be an alternative.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]][[em]]&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not positioning ourselves against X,&rdquo;[[/em]] Rose Wang, COO of Bluesky told Marketing Brew. [[em]]&ldquo;We&rsquo;re positioning ourselves as the new social web.&rdquo;[[/em]][[/p]]

[[p]]Bluesky has approximately 26 million users, a number that&rsquo;s climbing every month. According to Backlinko, the app has 3.5 million daily active users in the US and UK.[[/p]]

[[p]]The US accounts for over half (52%) of website traffic to Bluesky followed by the UK (8%), Japan (6.6%), Brazil (5%), and Canada (3%)[[/p]]

[[p]]Data from Similarweb shows that more men use the platform while a third are between 25-34 years of age.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Bluesky demographics Source: NamePepper and Similarweb

[[p]]When it comes to high profile names, Star Wars star Mark Hamill joined the site, proclaiming himself a "Twitter quitter", author [[a href="https://bsky.app/profile/stephenking.bsky.social" target="_blank"]]Stephen King[[/a]] already has over 600k followers while American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) became the first person to surpass 1 million followers.[[/p]]

[[p]]Starting an account on [[a href="https://bsky.app/" target="_blank"]]Bluesky[[/a]] is simple. To become a member just go to the main page and create an account.&nbsp;[[/p]]

Screenshot of setting up a Bluesky account

[[p]]You can then download the Bluesky app for iOS or Android, or use it on your desktop.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]It will ask for your email address and phone number (to send an authentication code) and tell you to choose a username and password.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]After that you can upload a picture or create an avatar. Then that&rsquo;s it, you&rsquo;re done![[/p]]

There’s a lot of hunger to have a place to have global conversation that isn’t a partisan platform. There’s not many places that serve that need anymore. We’re fulfilling that need.

[[p]]Not many brands have taken the leap to be present on Bluesky yet.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The reason for this is the platform is still pretty new, there are no advertising options for now, marketers are unsure of the audience, and its receptivity to promotion and there&rsquo;s a focus on user experience rather than hypergrowth.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]One sector that is performing well on Bluesky and worth noting is the media industry. Publishers are reporting a 3 to 4 times higher engagement rate and conversions compared to other platforms.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]This [[a href="https://bsky.social/about/blog/11-29-2024-engagement" target="_blank"]]Bluesky blog[[/a]] highlighted testimonials from The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and The Guardian on the results they&rsquo;re seeing on the platform.[[/p]]

[[p]]There are also brands that are testing the waters. Duolingo (3.6k followers), Beyond Meat (3.7k followers), Calm (1.8k followers), and [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-unstoppable-success-of-netflix" target="_blank"]]Netflix[[/a]] (40k followers) have accounts on the app and all of them are using it to promote and repost, albeit on a much smaller scale than other platforms.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]With so many new users signing up on a daily basis, it&rsquo;s clear that there&rsquo;s momentum on Bluesky.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Publishers are seeing great results on the platform which may mean that Bluesky users are interested in news or analysis type content.[[/p]]

[[p]][[em]]&ldquo;A lot of digital marketers are complaining about their reach and click stats on platforms like X and Threads at the moment, particularly if you post a link to a website,&rdquo;[[/em]] said Alison Battisby on DMI&rsquo;s [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/webinars/webinar-2025-trends" target="_blank"]]2025 trends webinar[[/a]].&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]At the moment Bluesky is pretty absent of brands promoting their wares and seems similar to the early days of Twitter - full of conversations and a focus on news-style content. So right now the opportunity for marketers remains limited, due to a lack of ad products, and a restrictive audience scale.[[/p]]

[[p]]Instead the platform is focused on paid subscriptions, payments, and getting more people signed up.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]But that doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s not a [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/10-of-the-hottest-alternative-social-media-platforms" target="_blank"]]social media platform[[/a]] to consider. It&rsquo;s the early adopters that can get ahead of competitors to create a niche or do something different such as trying out a different personality.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]A great example is Channel 4 who have adopted a more sarcastic and combative tone on Threads.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The platform has also announced a [[a href="https://bsky.app/profile/flashesapp.bsky.social/post/3lg3ozr45ts2m" target="_blank"]]photo-sharing app[[/a]] called Flashes developed by the creator of Skeets. Flashes will support photo posts of up to four images and videos of up to one minute.[[/p]]

[[p]]So, if you want to boost organic traffic on social media or see what people are saying about your brand or a topic through [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-your-brand-should-shut-up-start-social-listening" target="_blank"]]social listening[[/a]], then Bluesky may be worth experimenting with.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]It&rsquo;s also worth considering if your brand wants to build and nurture a community and has content that&rsquo;s useful to your audience.&nbsp; Bluesky could also be useful for social listening to see what people are saying about a brand or trending topic.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]][[em]]&ldquo;Not everyone has to be nerding out about decentralization; it&#39;s just a foundation to create a better experience,&rdquo;[[/em]] Bluesky&rsquo;s CEO, Jay Graber, told [[a href="https://www.wired.com/story/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-wont-enshittify-ads/" target="_blank"]]Wired[[/a]].[[em]] &ldquo;I want people to be using this, to have social be a playground for innovation again, for users to be having a great time on services that have been built in this ecosystem, where it&rsquo;s social-built by the people, for the people.&rdquo;[[/em]][[/p]]

[[p]]Social media provides marketers with opportunities to connect with audiences from all demographics on a global scale. But there&rsquo;s an art to using social media channels effectively for your audience. DMI&rsquo;s [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/students/courses/professional-diploma-in-social-media-marketing" target="_blank"]]Professional Diploma in Social Media[[/a]] covers everything you need to know to be effective across all social networks. You&rsquo;ll learn about social research, social content, social commerce and affiliate marketing, social customer service and social strategy. You&rsquo;ll also explore the features of all the key platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, X and WhatsApp. Enroll today to get started![[/p]]

What is Bluesky & How Can Marketers Use it?

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