Epic fail or hard lesson?

Last week, my co-founder Luca and I started a marketing experiment.

Our goal was 20k views per post, but we barely hit 1k.

After fixing 5 mistakes, we almost 4x’d our results.

Today, I’m going to dissect what went wrong and how we turned it around.

(A 2.31-minute read.)

Hi, it’s Mattia, the co-founder of BlackTwist.

We help content creators easily grow their audiences on Threads.

Last week, we started a series of weekly giveaways in partnership with well-known Threads creators to generate buzz and drive traffic to our products.

The logic is to offer something valuable, set easy entry rules, and let engagement do the rest. It looks solid on paper.

But the first giveaway… flopped.

So, let’s break down what went wrong:

Mistake #1 – Posting from the wrong account

I posted the first giveaway from the @blacktwistapp account, which has less reach and engagement than our personal ones. Even with 40 reposts, it didn’t spread far enough…

More importantly, an account without recent, consistent engagement likely gets less algorithmic favour on platforms like Threads.

For round 2, we switched over to our personal accounts where reach is higher and people are more likely to interact.

We are not there yet, but 800 views turned into 3k with ~ the same number of reposts.

Mistake #2 – “Clever” copy instead of “clear”

I tried to be too creative and smart instead of just saying, “Hey, this is a giveaway.” I wanted to do something different and hook people in, but ended up with a “cryptic” result.

People didn’t realize it was a giveaway, so they scrolled past.

For round 2, we rewrote it with a clear hook and a simple call to action. When it comes to marketing, clarity beats cleverness every day. (If people have to think, they won’t act.)

But it’s not everything…

Mistake #3 – Confusing hook & CTA

By trying a “different hook,” I focused too much on the product’s pain point instead of the giveaway itself and diluted the main message.

The primary action (enter the giveaway via Like + Comment + Repost) got lost.

Too many elements were competing for attention. Too many ideas and unclear action steps. It confused people. And when there are too many things to do, people do nothing.

So, we simplified it to one, instantly clear message. Every post should have one job, after all 😄

Mistake #4 – The image didn’t scream “Giveaway”

The visual focused on the creator’s guide, making it look more like a product ad than a giveaway.

It was easily ignored because it didn’t trigger the “Oh, I can win something!” reaction. Plus, the text within it was too small or hidden for the mobile feed.

The visual is the first attention grabber. The scroll-stopper. So, we redesigned the image to be instantly recognizable as a giveaway ✌

Your graphics should match audience expectations—if it’s a giveaway, it must look like one at first glance.

Mistake #5 – Rushing the execution

I rushed the creation and launch without taking enough time for reflection or getting external feedback.

I already knew the details you’re reading here, but the first giveaway was done too quickly, and we missed obvious issues that could have been fixed with a fresh pair of eyes.

While it’s important not to overthink, doing everything in one go led to overlooking potential blind spots like the ones above.

That’s why, for round 2, we took the time to double-check and refine things before posting.

View on Threads

Conclusions

People scroll fast.

If they don’t immediately grasp “GIVEAWAY” and “VALUE,” they move on.

When things don’t work, especially if you’ve put a lot of effort into it, it’s really easy to freak out and panic.

But as for every marketing experiment, it’s important to plan, execute, and then review.

And as you can see, even if we have not hit our view target yet (the ambitious 20k goal per post), we almost 4x the first giveaway results.

Now, it’s time for 2 more rounds.

So hit the follow button and stick around for more giveaways and marketing experiments 😜