In the evolving landscape of social media platforms, BlueSky stands apart with its open-source approach and lack of traditional advertising infrastructure. Unlike platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, there’s no straightforward way to pull out your credit card and purchase impressions or clicks. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t effectively promote your brand or content on BlueSky—it just requires a more creative approach.
Why Bluesky doesn’t allow ads?
In a word they want to avoid the ‘Enshittification’ of the Bluesky platform with ads.
Enshittification (noun): The process by which a digital platform is deliberately made worse for users over time in order to increase profits. This degradation in quality and user experience typically manifests through increased advertisements, higher costs, or unwanted features, following a pattern where platforms first offer value to users, then to businesses, and finally prioritize shareholders after achieving market dominance.
– popularized by the Canadian writer Cory Doctorow starting in 2022
Bluesky intentionally doesn’t offer conventional advertising options as part of its commitment to an open-source ethos. While this may initially seem limiting from a marketing perspective, it actually creates opportunities for more authentic engagement and creative promotional strategies.
Effective Strategies for BlueSky Promotion
1. Influencer Marketing
This tried-and-true approach works particularly well on Bluesky:
- Find niche-relevant influencers: Don’t just seek accounts with large follower counts. Search relevant hashtags or topics to identify users who are influential in your specific area.
- Negotiate partnerships: Arrange for influencers to spread, co-post, or promote your content on the platform.
- Value exchange: Offer compensation or mutual value that makes sense for both parties.
The key is authenticity—partner with influencers whose audience and content style align with your brand values. Or use Chrome tools like Sky Follower Bridge to transfer some of the followers/follows you have on other platforms.
2. Content Cross-Pollination
This strategy leverages your presence on other platforms:
- Content trades: Exchange visibility across different platforms—offer exposure on your blog, podcast, or other social channels in exchange for Bluesky promotion.
- Multi-platform campaigns: Create content that spans multiple platforms but drives users to Bluesky for exclusive elements.
- Interview exchanges: Feature influencers on your podcast or blog, with the agreement they’ll share the content on their Bluesky account.
3. Email Integration Strategy
Leverage your existing email audience to build Bluesky presence:
- Embed Bluesky posts: Include screenshots of your Bluesky posts in newsletters.
- Create curiosity: Design these embeds to entice readers to click through to Bluesky to see the full context or participate in a conversation.
- Exclusive content teasers: Hint at special content available only on your Bluesky account.
4. The Embed and Spread Technique
This creative hack allows for indirect paid promotion:
- Embed Bluesky posts on your website: Similar to embedded tweets, Bluesky posts can be displayed on your own web pages.
- Drive paid traffic to these pages: Use Google Ads, including Google Ad Grants for nonprofits, to send visitors to pages featuring your embedded Bluesky content.
- Create conversion paths: Design the page to encourage visitors to follow you on Bluesky for more similar content.
Just to make this clear, below is a post about this article here, if we spend ad money to promote this webpage more people will see and interact with this post. I know, very meta Bluesky 😉
Clever ways to use Ads to promote your org on #BlueSky while avoiding #enshittification youtu.be/cmDyNXBPuvE
— Whole Whale (@thewholewhale.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 10:15 AM
[image or embed]
This approach effectively allows you to “pay for promotion” indirectly by controlling the traffic to your embedded content.
5. Collaborative Content Creation
Build relationships within the Bluesky community:
- Partner with peer organizations: Create content together with complementary brands or organizations.
- Guest posting arrangements: Exchange content with other Bluesky users to reach each other’s audiences.
- Community projects: Initiate or participate in community-driven content that naturally spreads across the platform.
Making the Most of Bluesky’s Unique Environment
While the lack of direct advertising options might initially seem limiting, it actually encourages more genuine engagement. Bluesky users tend to value authentic interactions over obvious promotional content, making relationship-building and value-driven content particularly effective.
The platform’s structure rewards creativity and community engagement rather than advertising spend—a refreshing approach that can lead to more meaningful connections with your audience.
Conclusion
Advertising on Bluesky requires thinking beyond traditional paid promotion models. By leveraging influencer relationships, cross-platform content strategies, strategic email integration, embedded content promotion, and collaborative creation, you can effectively increase your visibility and engagement on this unique platform.
The absence of direct advertising options doesn’t limit your promotional potential—it simply shifts the focus toward more creative, authentic, and relationship-based marketing approaches that may ultimately build stronger connections with your audience.