If you’re like me, you’ve been logging onto X (formerly Twitter) less and less over the last year, whether it’s for personal scrolling or work-related account management.
And if you’re also like me, you’ve been asking whether or not businesses should be on Bluesky, what that audience looks like, and how the platform functions.
Today, we’re answering these questions and more in this guide to Bluesky for marketers.
Contents
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a social media platform that allows users to post short copy posts, images, and videos. While videos and images are prevalent, Bluesky is similar to X in that the platform features more text-based posts. While the character limit is 350 per post, Bluesky allows users to group longer content in threads.
This similarity to X is by design. Bluesky originally launched back in 2019 as a research project at X that was focused on exploring decentralized social media. It became its own independent company in 2021 when Jack Dorsey left then Twitter.
The platform grew by invitation only in 2023 before finally becoming open to all users (over 13 years of age) in early 2024. (It’s worth noting that Jack Dorsey left Bluesky in 2024, too, but this has more to do with the platform’s founding story than its use in your marketing strategy.)
When it comes to your marketing strategy, Bluesky will likely look familiar to other social media platforms. In terms of layout and platform experience, it’s very similar to X. The left-hand menu, the dual-option Discover and Following feeds, and the publish button are a lot like its competitor platform if not exactly the same.
If you’ve been active on X, you’ll be able to navigate the Bluesky platform easily.
Looking nice and familiar, Bluesky.
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How is Bluesky different from other social media platforms?
As an X competitor, Bluesky is similar to Instagram Threads and Mastodon. These platforms use the same approach to short-form posts that enable conversations with other platform users.
Here are a few key ways that Bluesky is different.
Decentralized
Bluesky is decentralized. This means that it runs on an open AT protocol, which isn’t controlled by a single organization.
Because there isn’t centralized control, users have more control over their data and, importantly, their app experience. There is not a single, central instance of the Bluesky platform. Users can customize and build feeds to tailor their experience on the app to their interests.
In fact, there are more than 50,000 algorithmic feeds that users can opt into.
Data control
Even though this is a result of the decentralized platform, data control is worth calling out specifically. Bluesky gives users more control over where their data is stored or not stored, unlike competitors like Threads, which is connected and controlled by Meta.
This control means more user privacy, but it also means less insight into analytics on the platform.
Community
Other platform algorithms prioritized the network effect with an algorithm serving content and profiles. Bluesky allows users more control over the feed and the content they consume on the platform, so the focus is on creating many communities of users tied together by common interests and, in turn, common content.
Instead of serving a single algorithm-driven feed, Bluesky allows users to subscribe to multiple feeds and curate their experience on the platform.
Ads
Here’s where Bluesky really diverges from its closest competitors. For now, the platform is completely ad-free. That’s important to note for your marketing budget and strategy. So, while you won’t put dollars directly into getting leads on Bluesky, you may need to invest more time in doing so since there are no paid ad shortcuts.
How popular is Bluesky?
Bluesky has 30 million users. Now, this might sound dismissable when you consider the fact that X has 360 million users and 320 million people use Instagram Threads. Each of those is dwarfed by LinkedIn—another platform that’s a little more text-focused—and has 1 billion users worldwide.
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But it’s important to call out how quickly Bluesky’s user base is growing. The total audience on the platform more than doubled between October and December last year.
Source
There were two major factors that contributed to growth in the fall of 2024: The continued decline of X and the US presidential election. Both left users looking for alternative social media platforms.
The rapid rise of accessible audiences makes Bluesky worthy of a look for many marketers.
Who uses Bluesky?
Because of Bluesky’s data privacy, the demographic information about accounts isn’t as widely available as it might be on other social media platforms. Still, there’s plenty of information that can tell you who is spending the most time on the website.
Overall, Bluesky users are:
- US-based: In 2024, nearly 48% of traffic to Bluesky originated in the US, followed by 5% from the United Kingdom and 5% from Japan. This is a big gap between the US and the next countries.
- Mostly male-identifying. 61% of app users are men. According to Exploding Topics, this is similar to X (60.9% men and 39.1% women) and not too far off from Facebook (56.8% men and 43.2% women).
- Under 35: 33% of users fall between 18 and 22 years of age, and another 27.26% are 25-34. That means 60% of Bluesky users are under 35.
- iPhone users: Throughout 2023 and 2024, more Bluesky app downloads occurred on iOS devices than on Android devices.
This overview is a good way to figure out if your target audience is on Bluesky and whether or not your brand should be, too. There’s one more crucial question.
But are there businesses on Bluesky?
With 30 million users, limited analytics, and no ads, Bluesky isn’t going out of its way to attract businesses to its platform. But that doesn’t mean the platform is devoid of company accounts. Some of the most popular accounts on the platform are corporate news media accounts. The Onion has 1.1 million followers, and so does the New York Times.
However, most brands have far fewer followers. For example, Netflix has 49,000 followers on Bluesky and 22 million on X.
Netflix has 49,000 followers and shares programming updates on Bluesky.
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3 things you can do for your business on Bluesky now
You may not want to devote a big chunk of your marketing calendar or budget to Bluesky just yet. But it’s worthwhile to be on the platform if just to secure your account and watch how the app evolves. Here are a few things you can do on Bluesky now while you wait and see if it’s worth a bigger investment in the future.
1. Claim your profile
At a minimum, you want to ensure you have first dibs on your brand name. Ideally, you’ll also want to make your profile recognizable with brand colors, graphics, copy, and more. This will let you benefit from brand recognition and use the stop at your profile to leave a positive impression, even if you’re not active on the platform.
Compare these examples from two well-known brands.
This is a blank profile for Red Bull. But there’s a brand header image and profile photo. There’s also the slogan in the bio. I know, visiting this profile, that it’s Red Bull, but they don’t really use Bluesky yet.
Now, here’s the best option for Dunkin’ that comes up for a search on the platform.
It’s another blank profile, but there are no images with logos or brand colors and no quippy references in the bio. It doesn’t seem to be owned by the company, but this also isn’t super clear.
If you have people landing on a Bluesky handle with your brand name, you want it to be yours—and you want everyone to know that.
2. Experiment to find your audience and voice
You can use the fact that Bluesky is a newer platform with a smaller audience to your advantage and get creative as you find your footing. American Eagle is a great example of this. The clothing company has about 500,000 on X and 4 million on Instagram. On Bluesky, American Eagle has 92 followers. Yup, you read that right.
But the brand is using this low following to its advantage and testing out some content that’s quick, casual, and, in some cases, reminiscent of the best stream of conscious posting.
American Eagle’s Bluesky feed during the Grammy’s.
As you’re testing out the platform, don’t be afraid to get creative with your brand account, too. You never know what might grow your audience until you start trying.
2. Leverage internal influencers and brand spokespeople
Individual accounts will perform better on Bluesky. If your audience is spending time on the platform, and you have a founder or spokesperson interested in growing their following for the sake of the brand, it’s worth some devoted time and effort.
This strategy isn’t without precedent on other platforms and is not without success on Bluesky already. This is a big example. One of the top accounts on Bluesky is James Gunn, the co-CEO of DC Studios, with nearly a quarter of a million followers. On his account, he shares some personal content, including cat pictures. But most of the posts are about the world of DC, whether it’s confirming news of a second season or sharing a trailer for an upcoming movie.
DC Studios? Not even on Bluesky.
Now, be aware that this isn’t without risk. If this person leaves the company, you’re just out those followers and that distribution channel. As long as you know that going into it, though, building an individual account in service of your brand could be a good strategy for finding your audience on Bluesky.
Set up your Bluesky profile today
This was a crash course in Bluesky for marketing: platform specifics, differentiators, audience demographics, and more. Now that you’re equipped with all this information, you can develop a clear plan to make the most of your brand’s presence on the platform.
It’s still early days for Bluesky. So keep checking on the platform’s updates and its growing user base to see when it should become a bigger part of your social media marketing strategy. But for now, lock down your brand’s account on Bluesky so you don’t lose your headstart.
