Instagram and Threads: Which one actually deserves your time this summer?
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By Nick Pandolfi, New Anglia Growth Hub
Using Instagram and Threads for business, summer 2026
What’s the difference? Instagram is a visual-first platform built around photos, Reels, and Stories. Threads is Meta’s text-based, conversation-first platform – closer to a discussion feed than a photo gallery.
How big is Threads now? Threads launched in July 2023 and had passed 400 million monthly active users by early 2026, making it one of the fastest-growing platforms in social media history.
Do I need an Instagram account to use Threads? Yes, Threads runs on your Instagram identity. You cannot create a Threads profile without an existing Instagram account, as the two are permanently linked.
Is this right for every business? Not automatically. The right platform mix depends on your sector, your customers, and how much time you realistically have, which is exactly what I help clients work out.
Every business owner I sit down with in Norfolk and Suffolk eventually asks some version of the same question: “Do I need to be on Threads as well now?” It’s a fair question. Instagram has been part of the marketing furniture for over a decade. Threads is still finding its feet by comparison, but it’s no longer a niche experiment – it’s grown into a genuine platform in its own right, and it works very differently to its older sibling.
This article is about helping you decide where your time is best spent, and how to use both platforms properly if you choose to run them together.
Instagram and Threads: Two very different jobs
Instagram is still the platform to show – a product on a shelf, a finished piece of work, a behind-the-scenes shot from a shoot or a site. It’s built for images and short video, and for most Norfolk and Suffolk SMEs, it remains the stronger platform for building brand recognition and local visibility.
Threads is built for a different purpose entirely: conversation. It’s closer to a running discussion than a portfolio – short text posts, replies, opinions, questions, quick updates. Where Instagram shows people what you do, Threads lets people hear how you think.
Threads: Launch, growth, and where it stands in 2026
Meta launched Threads on 5 July 2023, and its growth from day one was extraordinary – it reached 100 million sign-ups within its first five days, one of the fastest adoption curves any consumer app has recorded. By early 2026, third-party tracking placed Threads’ monthly active users at an estimated 450 million, with daily active users at roughly 150 million – a retention ratio that shows people aren’t just signing up, they’re coming back.
It’s worth noting Threads has now overtaken X on mobile daily usage, though X still leads on total web traffic. For a business owner, the headline is simpler: Threads is no longer a side project for Meta, and it’s no longer safe to assume it’s a fad.
Is It Right for Every Business Across Norfolk and Suffolk? Not Automatically
I won’t tell every client to open a Threads account, and I’d be doing you a disservice if I did. The right answer depends on:
- Your sector – some industries lend themselves naturally to conversation and opinion; others are more visual by nature.
- Your audience – where do your actual customers spend their time, not where you assume they do.
- Your time – running a platform badly is often worse than not running it at all.
This is exactly the conversation I have in every one-to-one session – working through where your energy is genuinely best spent, rather than chasing every platform because it’s new.
Why photographers in particular take to threads
I work with a lot of photographers across the region, and I’ve noticed something consistent: they enjoy Threads more than most sectors do. It makes sense. Photography is often a solitary craft – long days on location or in the edit suite and Threads gives photographers a place to talk about process, technique, and the thinking behind a shot, rather than only showing the finished image.
It becomes the commentary track to the Instagram gallery. A photographer might post a striking image to Instagram and then use Threads to talk through the light, the decision-making, a mistake they learned from, or a piece of kit they’d recommend. It builds trust and expertise in a way a photo alone can’t.
Threads as Instagram’s bedfellow — Not a replacement
Threads was never designed to replace Instagram. It was designed to sit alongside it, feeding off the same audience and reinforcing the same brand. This is why you cannot create a Threads account without an existing Instagram profile – the two are structurally tied together. Your Threads identity is your Instagram identity; your following often carries across; your bio and verification status sync between the two.
Practically, this means Threads works best as a companion, not a strategy on its own. Instagram carries your visual story. Threads carries your voice, your opinions, your quick updates and replies. Used well, together they build a fuller picture of a business than either platform manages alone.
Where stories fit into all of this
Instagram Stories remain one of the most underused tools available to Norfolk and Suffolk SMEs. They’re temporary, low-pressure, and forgiving – which is exactly why they work. A Story doesn’t need to be polished. It needs to be honest: a quick clip from the shop floor, a poll asking customers what they’d like to see next, a countdown to an event, a quick thank-you after a busy week.
Stories are powerful because they keep a business present in someone’s day without demanding much of their attention – and the more consistently you use them, the more Instagram rewards your visibility across the whole platform, feed posts included.
How I help clients get this right
Every session I run works the same way. We sit down and look at:
- Your key message – the one thing you want people to understand about your business, stated clearly enough to survive a five-second scroll.
- Your offer – what you’re actually selling, and whether that’s obvious from your profile within seconds.
- Your location – making sure your local presence, tagging, and geographic relevance are working in your favour, tying back into the same local SEO principles that support your Google Business Profile.
- Where your time is best spent – Instagram, Threads, or both, based on your sector and your customers, not on what’s trending.
I’m not interested in businesses running five platforms badly. I’m interested in businesses running one or two platforms with genuine intent – clear message, clear offer, clear location, and content that actually reflects who you are.
Want to work through this for your own business?
We offer one-to-one advice sessions through the New Anglia Growth Hub, covering exactly this kind of platform strategy. You can book time with Nick directly to talk it through by emailing him at nick.pandolfi@newangliagrowthhub.co.uk.
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Lesley van Dijk