Using Bluesky for marketing: is it worth it?
Bluesky is big news – but is this fresh-faced social media platform worth your marketing efforts? Let's find out.
If you've got a nervous system and an email address, you've probably heard of Bluesky by now.
If not, hi! How are things back in 2023?
We jest. However, you can't deny that Bluesky's rise to fame has been difficult to miss. It's the hippest platform since Ziggy Stardust's left shoe – and it's gained users so rapidly you'd swear it was handing out dreams and Mars Bars.
You know what this means. Where users flock, digital marketers like us follow. But is this bright new audience ready to get on board with your product? Or is the platform too new to bear fruit?
Let's investigate.
What is Bluesky and why should I care?
Bluesky is not new. The social media platform has existed – at least as an idea – since 2019.
But it may as well be new, as far as most of us are concerned. For various reasons, Bluesky has seen its user base surge in recent weeks.
Between September 2024 and January 2025, the platform grew from six million users to more than 27.5 million.
Many of these new adopters are so-called "Twitter quitters" – frustrated ex-users of Elon Musk's X app. The good news for them is that Bluesky feels very much like X (formerly Twitter). Long-time tweeters can hit the ground running on Bluesky.
But as we'll see, it's not without its differences. Chief among them is that Bluesky is decentralised. In other words, no one person or company controls Bluesky. Users are free to host their own servers and have more control over the content they see and interact with. They can also create their own apps that interact with Bluesky.
The ramifications for you are twofold. Bluesky represents a fresh and growing user base to which you can direct your marketing efforts. However, its decentralised and (for the time being) ad-free nature means new approaches are needed.
Are there opportunities for marketing on Bluesky?
Currently, Bluesky doesn't have a paid advertising function. There are rumours that the platform will open up to advertisers sometime in 2025, but right now they're just that – rumours.
Our advice? Don't wait around to find out.
Sure, paid advertising may have overtaken organic posts as the predominant marketing method on most social media platforms. But Bluesky isn't most social media platforms.
A big part of Bluesky's appeal is its decentralised, user-first approach. For adopters, the platform offers a chance to curate their own communities and enjoy more control over the content they see. And– let's face it – it offers an escape from the barrage of advertising they face on X, Facebook and Instagram.
This means forgetting your usual box of tricks. On Bluesky, you can't just whip up a snappy ad, throw some dollars at it and wait for the clicks to tumble in. You have to take a quieter, more considered and more user-centric approach.
It's not easy. Heck, Bluesky is a bit of a Wild West right now. But if you bide your time waiting for Bluesky to become X – ads and all – then you're likely to be disappointed. At best, you'll be waiting for a very long time. At worst, your competitors will have run six laps while you're still tying your shoelaces.
The good news is that your competitors don't know what they're doing right now. Nobody does. Brands are writing the rulebook for Bluesky digital marketing as they go along. That's what's so fun about it.
Building a Bluesky marketing strategy
OK. So, there are no rules for marketing on Bluesky. To build an effective marketing strategy, you'll need to test, measure results and spend some time figuring out what works for your brand.
We can't tell you exactly what to do. However, we've got a good idea of what not to do.
Keep these three big DON'TS in mind and you'll get off to a flying start.
1. DON'T think like an advertiser
This might seem counterintuitive. You set up that Bluesky account because you want to advertise your services, right?
Sure. But this isn't your typical social media platform. The users are in charge here – and they can smell marketing lingo from a mile off.
You need to offer value to an ad-savvy user base. If you post something like, "Check out our new product. It's great!", you'll be thrown to the wolves before you hit the enter key.
This means authentic content is the order of the day. Blatantly self-promotional posts will get you nowhere. Instead, focus on asking questions, engaging with other users' posts and fostering a unique, entertaining brand identity.
Marketers of a certain vintage may have the upper hand here. If you're thinking, "This sounds like the early days of Twitter", you're not wrong.
2. DON'T assume it's X mark 2
Bluesky has many similarities with X – but it's not a carbon copy. Decentralisation aside, it lacks certain features that X users have enjoyed for years.
For instance, you can't post image carousels. You can add up to four images with each post, but users can't swipe between these images like they can on X or Instagram.
Bluesky also lacks polls and stories. So, if you rely on these types of posts to power your social media marketing efforts, you'll need to take a different tack with Bluesky.
Content moderation works differently on Bluesky, too. As a decentralised platform, it relies heavily on community moderation rather than paid moderators and robots. While this means your reach won't suffer at the hands of an algorithm, it does mean that a more nuanced approach to brand safety is required.
3. DON'T sleep on new features
Bluesky is already distinguishing itself from X by launching several unique features.
One such feature is custom domains. This is Bluesky's version of Twitter's blue ticks (before they became available to all as a paid feature). They exist to establish legitimacy and protect your brand name – and are arguably more robust than the blue ticks of old.
To create a custom domain, you must link your Bluesky account to your website's domain name. It involves a few extra steps but is well worth doing – and doing early.
Another Bluesky-only feature is the custom feed. You can think of this as a build-your-own algorithm generator.
See, Bluesky is different from X and other platforms in that it doesn't rely on an algorithm. There's no mysterious supercomputer deciding what you see and when. Instead, users see posts from people they follow in their timeline – and these posts appear in chronological order.
But with custom feeds, users (and brands) can craft curated algorithmic timelines. And, even better, other users can follow these feeds.
This is a great way to establish your brand as a trusted curator and expert voice. You could, for instance, create a custom feed that's tailored to local customers. Or a feed that brings together the smartest minds in a niche industry sector.
So, is marketing on Bluesky worth it?
Yes, absolutely.
Marketing on Bluesky means forgetting old habits and forging new ones. But on the upside, this is a fresh user base with a glass-half-full philosophy. They're sick of constant ads, sure – but they're ready and willing to engage with brands that speak to them on their own terms.
And we can help you do the talking. As a small but plucky social media management firm, we can provide the attentive and inventive approach you need to thrive on a new platform like Bluesky.
Ready to break new ground? Get in touch with My Digital Hero today for a free consultation.
