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The Street
The Street
Ian Krietzberg

Kevin O'Leary Says Mark Zuckerberg's Threads is 'Unprecedented'

Meta's latest app, Threads, has already been referred to by some as the "Twitter Killer." The text-based Twitter alternative has certainly got off to a strong start, gaining more than 100 million users organically less than a week after its launch, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

And "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary is paying close attention to the new platform, specifically, its strength when it comes to advertising. 

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"Zuckerberg has never forgotten the prime mandate. And that's storytelling. These platforms are remarkably good at allowing small businesses to tell the story of their product or service," O'Leary told CNBC. "This week, my social media team has never seen anything like this. It's the fastest-growing platform we have. It's not really monetizable yet, but this thing's on fire."

The famed investor, whose companies spend a total of more than $2 million per month in social advertising, is most concerned with two things when it comes to a social platform: return on advertising spend (ROAS) and customer acquisition cost. And he's pulling for Threads to be a powerful solution to both. 

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"This thing looks incredibly promising. If it can help us drive down customer acquisition cost and increase our ROAS, we're all over it," O'Leary said. "We go where the eyeballs go. I'm telling you, I've never, ever seen anything like this. This is unprecedented. I'll say it again: this thing is on fire."

Despite his excitement about the nascent platform, O'Leary is solely interested in value from ad-spend. 

"I love competition. I will go on both platforms. Show me what you got, Twitter, show me what you got, Threads," he said. "I'm not married to anything, I'm married to returns. We spend on social to acquire customers, we have no loyalty."

Still, O'Leary seems to think that with Threads, just like with his other platforms, Zuckerberg is in the pull position to be the most valuable place for advertisers. And it all comes down to storytelling. 

"The guy understands the value of storytelling," he said. "It's how entrepreneurs in America give you their vision. If you make the platform perfect for storytelling, that's how it works."

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