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Monday Morning Learning – 12 July 2021

Instagram Tests New Comment ‘Limits’ To Help Reduce the Impact of Targeted Abuse by Groups

IG is testing out a new comment limitation that would be suggested by their system to individuals as they bump up their battle against cyberbullying. It is a good move on their part, but however, it could also mean it can prevent people from being called out when they post something very negative.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-tests-new-comment-limits-to-help-reduce-the-impact-of-targeted/603061/

How to Succeed with Video on Each Social Network

Youtube

  • Ideal video length: 2 minutes
  • Hottest video trends: YouTube challenges, 360-degree videos, VR videos
  • Invest in Youtube SEO to make your video stand out and attract engagement
  • More in-depth content such as product demos, how-to tutorials, FAQ sessions, vlogs, etc

Facebook

  • Ideal video length: 2-3 minutes
  • Hottest video trends: More silent videos, user-generated content (UGC), personalised videos
  • The Facebook algorithm prioritises native videos
  • Videos on Facebook play without sound on default. Recommended to include appealing visuals that will still make sense regardless of audio

Instagram

  • Ideal video length: 30-60 seconds
  • Hottest video trends: Influencer reviews, time-lapse/back & forth looping videos, shoppable videos
  • Use stunning visuals
  • Use plenty of relevant hashtags to facilitate the easier discovery of your videos

TikTok

  • Ideal video length: 9-15 seconds
  • Hottest video trends: Short & story-driven videos, videos with scrappy production value, videos with colourful captions displayed on the screen
  • Vertical videos work best
  • Take note of songs used on For You page for music that gives you the best chance of being featured

Twitter

  • Ideal video length: 15-30 seconds
  • Hottest video trends: Ultrashort brand videos, event videos, story-driven animated videos
  • Engaging brand voice with personality
  • Spark curiosity

LinkedIn

  • Ideal video length: 30-90 seconds
  • Hottest video trends: Short explainer videos, thought leadership videos, industry insights
  • Include an obvious CTA
  • Position brand & solution consistently to show that you are the foremost authority on a subject

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-succeed-with-video-on-each-social-network-infographic/602911/

Facebook is Testing a New ‘Threads’ Option for Feed Posts

Facebook is working on a new ‘Threads’ option, which would provide a means to add new posts to an original, in order to build a broader contextual story through your updates.

Every new post added to your Facebook post thread would be connected back to the original which creates a longer stream of updates aligned to a source announcement. This is something that was seen earlier on Twitter.

According to TechCrunch (i.e. an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies), this could benefit selected public figures that do some form of real-time commentary on an event. This could mean something along the lines of an award show, or a tech keynote event.

Instead of editing the post, they can add on to the original post with this Threads function which allows users to follow things a lot more easily.

For threads on the profile page, the 2 posts share the same background, making it really subtle that it is a thread. To those who are unaware of this feature, it looks just like 2 separate posts. For those who are interested in looking at a live thread example, you can look at Politician Uran Ismaili’s post on 2nd July.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebooks-testing-a-new-threads-option-for-feed-posts/602831/

Creators Instagram Account

Instagram has been introducing new updates and changes to the app, which can be hard to keep track of or familiarise yourself with. @creators is an account that although it’s directed to helping content creators understand Instagram better and to keep them up to date with the latest trends and updates on the app, can be helpful to all of us since Instagram is one of the social platforms our clients use.

They have been pushing out more posts related to Reels, to push the use among creators with weekly trend reports which come with best practices and even pro tips to help them get started. The account is helpful for anyone who wants to understand the app better, or even to get the most out of the app.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/creators/

How to Make Sense of Clubhouse Marketing: Should You Join the Clubhouse?

Think of Clubhouse as a cross between a Facebook group and a live podcast. It’s just like an online breakout room – but far more casual and more personal. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, this social network does not thrive on visual content; rather, Clubhouse is audio-based, with hardly any text. And unlike a podcast, which is passive by nature, Clubhouse gives people the ability to insert themselves into conversations and provide real value in discussions.

Right after a conversation, you can easily just connect with those you’ve met in the room. As anyone can just pop into the conversation, there’s no telling whom you will be meeting on the app. For marketers, this is a great way to connect with CEOs and business owners – who may turn out to be potential leads for your company, too.

Here’s a caveat, though: Clubhouse may be a great relationship-building medium, but it is not designed to simply operate in a vacuum.

Link: https://www.preciouscomms.com/making-sense-of-clubhouse-marketing/

Creative Guidance Navigator

Facebook this week has launched a mini-site of ad tips, showcasing best practices and case studies to help improve our ad creation approach.

While content is not new, they have taken the initiative to create this site where we can quickly filter out what we need, and gain inspiration.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/business/creative-guidance-navigator

Leveraging a More Human Approach to Community Management

Humanising brands and their brand managers are now on trend following a response from Amazon that went viral on TikTok over the weekend. Several commenters defended the honesty of the social media manager and looked down on the formal response from the MD of the social team. Commenters were also reminiscing about a 2018 incident where a customer pushed back to 7-eleven.

Link: https://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/people-rally-behind-coffee-loving-lizard-who-is-a-regular-in-a-florida-convenience-shop-36777319.html

Monday Morning Learning – 5 July 2021

Facebook Runs Video Tests to Make Instagram More Like TikTok

Facebook announced last Wednesday that they will be testing changes to Instagram photo-sharing and make it more like TikTok. The app will be changing its hierarchy of priorities as TikTok is a direct competitor to Facebook by being one of the most downloaded apps and not owned by Facebook, that they need to keep up with. They will be focusing on creators, video, e-commerce and messaging.

Instagram is intending to break away from simply being a photo-sharing app, by not prioritising photos in the feed. Similar to TikTok’s interface, Instagram will be focusing more on video formats – full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video. They will be introducing more organic content to make people we don’t follow more discoverable, similar to TikTok For You Page.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-runs-video-tests-to-make-instagram-more-like-tiktok/602771/

Pinterest Bans All Weight Loss Related Ads

National Eating Disorders Association helpline has reported they experienced a 40% increase in call volume in 2020 that were related to mental health and eating disorder struggles compared to the year before.

The new policy clamps down on weight loss related ads and prohibits them. These include:

  • Any weight loss language or imagery;
  • Any testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products;
  • Any language or imagery that idealises or denigrates certain body types
  • Referencing Body Mass Index (BMI) or similar indexes; and
  • Any products that claim weight loss through something worn or applied to the skin

For context, Pinterest also shared a trend in searches, which supports the radical self-acceptance movement of body-neutrality:

  • “Healthy mindset quotes” searches are up to x13 from the previous year
  • “Body neutrality” and “stop body-shaming quotes” are up 5x
  • Body acceptance quotes are up 7x
  • “self-love illustration art” has increased 63x.

Pinterest adds that ads promoting healthy lifestyles and habits, like fitness products and services, will still be allowed as long as they don’t promote weight loss.

This is an important adaptation as many young people were cut off from their normal routines and hobbies during the pandemic that might have been their main opportunity for healthy exercise. Now, those same young people are experiencing the pressure of having to return to their social circles after almost 15 months of being away or distanced, and many experience heightened body image related insecurities.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/pinterest-bans-all-weight-loss-related-ads/602748/

TikTok videos are now up to 3 minutes long

Users expect short-form entertainment. Not sure how 3 minutes will work especially on the For You pages

Link:

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-will-enable-all-users-make-longer-videos/602769/

Instagram Tests Sticker Links in Stories for All Users

Instagram is now running a test to give all users the option to add URL links to Stories through linked stickers. This allows users to directly link their post CTA button on a sticker instead of the current text “link in bio”.

With the “swipe up” replacement it allows users to directly comment on the stories which can pose potential threat to malicious comments or increase rate of misinformation. If they integrate Facebook’s Admin tool function where certain keywords and 3rd party links are disallowed they might be able to mitigate this risk.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-tests-links-in-stories-for-all-users–

25 Ways to Use Social Proof on Your eCommerce Website to Increase Sales [Infographic]

Below are some ways that social proof can help increase sales on your eCommerce website. Here are a few that make the list:

  • Customer Testimonials
  • Celebrity Endorsements
  • Case Studies
  • Media Mentions
  • Trust Seals
  • Certifications & Badges
  • Platform Integrations
  • Ratings and Reviews

Check out the infographic in the article for more detail.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/25-ways-to-use-social-proof-on-your-ecommerce-website-to-increase-sales-in/602104/

Monday Morning Learning – 7 June 2021

Instagram Adds New Elements to Its Branded Content Tools, Including Multi-Brand Listings in Posts

Instagram has announced some new updates to its Branded Content tools to further increase transparency while making it easier for brands and creators to manage Branded Content requests and approvals.

New tools and benefits:

  • Creators can tag up to 2 brands in a single Branded Content (each brand can see the other before approval)
    • expands capacity for tie-in promotions
    • provide cross-promotion potential
  • Creators can post content before brand approval (albeit without a brand name)
    • increased freedom for creators to post without long turnaround times, which is critical for engagement and trends
  • Request for approval available through settings. Brands have more access to Content Insights in Branded Content partnerships (reels & IG live response data set)
    • a more collaborative process with increased transparency

These new tools could possibly increase brand partnerships with creators, influencers, and industry experts across IG.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-adds-new-elements-to-its-branded-content-tools-including-multi-b/601175/

LinkedIn Tests New ‘Dark Mode’ in its Desktop App

LinkedIn is currently testing a new ‘Dark Mode‘ display option for its desktop app, which, as it sounds, would make the app much darker, and predominantly black. 

LinkedIn has confirmed that dark mode will be available ‘in the coming months’ with all members globally able to access dark mode by Fall.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-tests-new-dark-mode-in-its-desktop-app/601198/

Messenger API made available for Instagram

KRDS had released a couple of AI-enabled chariots on Messenger. Last week, during the F8 Developer conference, it was announced that the Messenger API will be available for Instagram.

For me, the difference in Instagram’s use of a Chatbot is more towards shopping, in line with what Instagram is focusing on.

Opportunities like this we need to move fast and propose to brands that we work with.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-opens-up-messenger-api-for-instagram-providing-new-customer-servi/601167/

Facebook Adds New Messaging Element into its Login with Facebook Process, Enhancing Audience Connection

Currently in beta testing, where the users have an option to allow a business to get in touch with them directly via Facebook messenger. This is an add-on the function where previously we were able to log in on 3rd-party websites using our Facebook credentials similar to google login.

Advantages

  • Businesses can connect directly with its users
  • Eliminates middleman (email) when reaching out to users
  • Provide ads on messenger based on user interests

Disadvantages

  • Users may view brand messages as spam if brands do not segment the users accordingly
  • Users may not be keen on being fed ads on messenger

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-messaging-element-into-its-login-with-facebook-process-e/601169/

Instagram Reverses Reach Penalty for Feed Posts Re-Shared to Stories Amid Accusations of Censorship

So a few months ago, Instagram had plans to stop the feature for users to add posts to Stories. And they rolled it out to a select few people.

Back then, it was met with a lot of flak – as it was one of the features that had become a staple for many users.

Instagram’s intention has been to improve the Stories experience and stop users from simply seeing a duplication of their main feed within Stories, it’s also, unwittingly, ended up reducing the reach of posts around important events and issues.

So now, Instagram is rolling back that change, which will ensure that re-shared feed posts continue to get the same amount of reach as any other Stories content.

Over the last few weeks, amid escalating tensions in Palestine, various Instagram users have noted that their posts are not being seen in the app. 

Some people like Mia Khalifa and Bella Hadid have called this as a form of censorship, implying that Instagram has been deliberately seeking to limit pro-Palestinian voices in the app.

Good for content creators who would like to update

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-reverses-reach-penalty-for-feed-posts-re-shared-to-stories-amid-a/601031/

Twitter Pauses Public Requests for Profile Verification, Just a Week After Relaunch

This is an update from my sharing 2 weeks ago when Twitter announced they would re-open public requests for profile verification. Due to an influx of requests, Twitter had announced on 28 May that it needs to put this process on hold again to clear the backlog. After opening its public application process for 8 days, Twitter has clearly not found a way to tackle high volumes of profile verification process but, I do think that we should still continue submitting applications when they are able to clear the backlog within the next few months and the hype has died down.

Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitter-pauses-public-requests-for-profile-verification-just-a-week-after/601017/

Facebook F8 Conference Goes Back to Roots With a Focus on Developers

Facebook said it wants to make it easier for developers to build augmented reality effects for group calls via its new Multipeer API. The API lets developers build AR effects that “deliver a coordinated experience across multiple call participants.”

Link:  https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-publishes-new-report-on-the-future-opportunities-of-ar-and-vr/601333/

Monday Morning Learning – 31 May 2021

Instagram Adds New Engagement Insights for Reels and Instagram Live Broadcasts

Instagram has launched insights for Reels and Live; providing new metrics for creators and business accounts when they post any content on these two formats. As these data are already available for feed posts and IGTV, extending these metrics to Reel and Live could help give creators and business accounts a broader overview of their account’s performance over time.

  • For Reels, Instagram will now provide data on Total Plays, Accounts Reached, Likes, Comments, Saves, and Shares.
  • For Instagram Live broadcasts, users will be able to access data on Accounts Reached, Peak Concurrent Viewers, Comments, and Shares.

This can help creators better understand what type of content resonates with their audience, and see areas of improvement with more detailed information in Reach. Reach in Account Insights provides new breakdowns with more transparency into the type of accounts the content reaches to and what formats are the most effective. Plus, you can view insights beyond the 7 days and 30 days limit.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-adds-new-engagement-insights-for-reels-and-instagram-live-broadca/600652/

TikTok’s New Marketing Guide for SMBs

The guide provides information on how SMBs can make the best use of TikTok tools, including a range of explainers, tips, overviews, and case studies to provide perspective and guidance for those looking to map out a more effective TikTok strategy.

  • Outline the benefits of TikTok for small business promotion, and includes a range of engagement stats and pointers aligned with this approach
  • Includes a range of TikTok-specific tips, designed to help brands implement a more effective approach to their TikTok marketing efforts
  • Providing clear, actionable advice on exactly what brands should do to maximize their on-platform performance, and what they’ve found works best in terms of branded content and posts
  • A range of case studies and examples to illustrate the key points

https://adobeindd.com/view/publications/aaf16c5a-81e9-4e41-87f6-ee1e704b7c97/4kn8/publication-web-resources/pdf/UK_desktop_v03.pdf

Instagram Expands its Test of Reels Ads to More Regions

Much like TikTok ads, Reels ads appear between other Reels clips within your feed and include a ‘Sponsored’ tag below the profile icon to denote that they’re part of a paid promotion. 

Instagram first launched Reels ads in India, Brazil, Germany, and Australia late last month, and as reported by AdWeek, it’s now expanding them to brands in Canada, France, the UK, and the US.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-expands-its-test-of-reels-ads-to-more-regions/601021/

LinkedIn Introduces a Boost feature

LinkedIn adds a new Boost feature, similar to what Facebook and Instagram already have.

It works similarly – you post an organic update to your company’s page, you notice it getting some early traction and you may want to seize that opportunity to enhance the reach without having to create a dark ad.

We will be able to pick from 4 different objectives – Brand Awareness, Video Views, Engagement, and Website Visits. And subsequently, we will also be able to select our target audience based on their Profiles (job senioritis, industry), Interests (member groups on LinkedIn), or an Audience Template that has pre-set targeting options.

Other things you can choose are location, exclusions, and desired budget. As this is a new feature, LinkedIn has also prepared a PDF guide on the best practices to boosting on their platform.

https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/marketing-solutions/resources/pdfs/lms-boosting-best-practices-guide.pdf.

And of course, with the increasing demand for virtual workshops in the thick of the pandemic, the platform has also introduced Event Ads to help marketers boost awareness of their virtual events. Virtual events seem to be a vertical LinkedIn is expanding on because they started out making Events options available for all company pages in Apr 2020. Then they went on to add live-streaming for events.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-adds-new-boost-option-for-organic-posts-new-event-

Foodpanda CS team not updated on local events

Backstory:

An order came in from an outlet in Westgate (shopping mall) that was recently closed due to Covid cases. 

The delivery rider notified the CS team of the closure, however they did not cancel the order as requested by the rider until he posted it on social media. The rider’s post went viral and the public’s confidence in Foodpanda was once again lowered.

Key takeaway:

It is important to inform offshore teams on local events that are ongoing at the moment this way they can be better informed.

  • Covid restrictions
    • Singapore – we can only go out in pairs till 13th June
    • India – certain states continue their curfew lockdown beyond 1 June

https://mothership.sg/2021/05/foodpanda-rider-westgate-closed/

Royalty Free vs Rights Managed with stock images.

Royalty-Free license grants non-exclusive, unlimited and multiple uses of an image, with few restrictions. It’s a one-time fee that allows perpetual use of the image in all the permitted ways. You can then use the licensed material for your own company, website, or for advertisement. These licensed images are usually called royalty-free images and are different from rights-managed images (below you find more info about it). Cheaper to attain.

Rights Managed license provides time and geographically limited, specific, and per-use rights to use an image, and oftentimes also grants exclusive usage during the licensed period. The license only covers the consigned use. So to use the image in any different way, a new license is needed. This license includes digital rights management and basic rights management. This is more expensive.

Monday Morning Learning – 24 May 2021

Facebook introduces Live Shopping Fridays

Facebook is introducing a series of live shopping events weekly this summer till 16th July.

It may not be something new, but it could bump up people’s desire to see more live events from their favorite brands.

Infographics: Simple SEO Checklist for Website Owners

Content Marketing Agency Brafton (based in Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco) have kindly shared a Local SEO Checklist.

Local SEO can be a very important connector for businesses, with people in the area looking for providers. And you want your business to show up to the people who are looking in your niche or vertical.

They have broken it into 7 separate categories: 

  1. Know Your Ranking Factors
  2. Optimise your Domain
  3. Optimise your Google my Business
  4. Get Social and Get Niche
  5. Encourage User Reviews and Ratings
  6. Generate Backlinks and Referral Traffic
  7. Ensure Mobile Usability

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/a-simple-local-seo-checklist-that-all-website-owners-should-follow-infogra/600238/

Pinterest Now Facilitates More Than 5 Billion Searches per Month

“There are now more than 5 billion searches on Pinterest every month. As people prepare for a post-pandemic life, searches for outfits, vacations, and home renovations are at all-time highs, and searches for weddings have presumed pre-pandemic levels.”

For context, Pinterest last officially reported its total search volume in 2016, when it was facilitating 2 billion searches every month. That means Pinterest has increased its search volume by 150% over the last five years – which, given the pandemic, and the subsequent boost for eCommerce and online product discovery, is not overly surprising

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/pinterest-now-facilitates-more-than-5-billion-searches-per-month/600578/

Twitter’s Close to Reopening Public Applications for Profile Verification

Back in Nov 2020, Twitter had announced they would look into reopening applications for verifications and by this week, we should be able to see this go into effect. However, the public applications for verification are only limited to:

  • Activist, Organizer or Influencer
  • Company, Brand or Organization
  • Entertainers or Entertainment Groups
  • Government Official or Affiliate
  • Journalist or News Organization
  • Professional Sports of e-Sports Entity

This would be helpful for companies or institutes that have yet to be verified and would prefer the added credibility to their tweets. Plus, with tweets showing up on Google search results, it would look better to have an official profile and adds significant value to the information shared on the tweets.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitters-close-to-re-opening-public-applications-for-profile-verification/600180/

Twitter Adds Scheduling for Spaces, Reminders to Attendees

The addition of Space scheduling enables broadcasters to plan out, and build hype around their upcoming events.

  • When you go to set up Space, you’ll see a new option to ‘Schedule for later’ beneath ‘Start your Space’. You can then share the details of your upcoming session via Tweet, or via DM, or really, by any other means, as you’ll be given a unique URL for your scheduled Space.
  • Users will also be able to sign up for reminders of upcoming scheduled Spaces by tapping on the ‘Set Reminder’ prompt on the Space holding card.

Together with the new addition of purple rings around user profile bubbles in-feed, signifying when that person is in a Space, these tools help to boost the discoverability of Spaces, which is a huge issue for both Spaces and Clubhouse. Facebook’s approach of adding audio rooms within groups, and recommending them to members, could be a more effective, and engaging, way to go for audio rooms/Spaces in the long run.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitter-adds-scheduling-for-spaces-reminders-to-att[…]tter%20%5Bissue:34405%5D&utm_term=Social%20Media%20Today

Monday Morning Learning – 26 April 2021

Facebook Flags Changes to News Feed Ranking, With New Tests to Determine What Users Want to See

Facebook exploring news feed changes with new surveys rolled out, trying to understand what’s relevant and what’s inspiring.

Political content will also be reduced over time as the political alliances and ideals have seen posts with angry reactions by both friends and non-friends on pages and groups.

Facebook is also bringing the hide option of a post as a simple X button.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-flags-changes-to-news-feed-ranking-with-new-tests-to-determine-wh/598916/

Facebook Tests New Video Ad Options, Including Updated Targeting Categories

Facebook has announced their new video ad targeting segmentation based on topics users are interested in, this works as a double-edged sword for advertisers. On one hand, we are able to specify the type of audience who are interested in the video ad, but we might also miss out on exposure to new audiences as they might not have any interest in the topics the video ad is categorized under.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-tests-new-video-ad-options-including-updat[…]2J7wIxBVWvqnjun2gxozNATr_qifyrkXzEp2HU0NDeB8LQcq0YJZ80Nw

Facebook Flags Changes to News Feed Ranking, With New Tests to Determine What Users Want to See

Facebook has long been using surveys to improve user experience in providing what they want to see on their Newsfeed. With the new survey questions, it seems like they will be focusing more on content that is valuable and inspirational, instead of simply being interesting and engaging.

Here are the new outlines on what Facebook plans to roll out in their surveys: https://about.fb.com/news/2021/04/incorporating-more-feedback-into-news-feed-ranking/

  • Whether people find a post inspirational
  • Gauging interest in certain topics
  • Better understanding content people want to see less of (looking at angry reactions, etc)
  • Making it easier to give feedback directly on a post (tapping X at the corner of posts to hide from News Feed)

Marketers should consider this potentially new algorithm and include inspirational/valuable content in their Facebook marketing mix instead of producing content simply for higher engagement.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-flags-changes-to-news-feed-ranking-with-new-tests-to-determine-wh/598916/

Instagram is testing a new feature that will allow link posting on Stories

This new feature will enable the users to open the links as currently, the links being posted on Instagram stories are not accessible and are sometimes referred to as dead. But now it seems like Instagram has finally decided to load this platform with this new feature as well.

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2021/04/instagram-is-testing-new-feature-which.html

TikTok Outlines Ad Campaign Changes and Impacts Due to Apple’s IDFA Update

  • For Tiktok campaigns with app installs as the primary objective, the way only to target iOS 14.5 users would be through the TikTok iOS 14 Dedicated Campaigns.
  • The feature is available for all advertisers
  • Create the campaign by choosing the app install objective or catalog sales objective with app prospecting. You then select the iOS app and set the toggle to ‘Deliver to iOS14+ conversion events’ to ON at the ad group level.
  • Tiktok is becoming a more popular social media platform among advertisers for its ease to attain organic reach.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-outlines-ad-campaign-changes-and-impacts-due-to-apples-idfa-update/598924/

TikTok adds a “just watched” thumbnail to make finding videos easier

When users view a video on the FYP they sometimes need to scroll intensely to find part 2. Now, TikTok has added a “just watched” thumbnail which can be used in many creative ways.

TikTok Adds A “Topic” Option for Live Stream Videos

The Live option on the platform is doing very well and TikTok like other applications brings about changes in its already existing features on the application and this time a change was brought about in the Live video option. TikTok is introducing a new option in the already existing Live called “Topic.”

The topic option will give users the ability to insert a title about what the Live they are doing is related to and there are several built in options to select the topic from which range from none, music, dance, beauty and fashion, fitness, and sports, pop culture, outdoors and a few others. Among this one topic can be selected to let the followers know what the creator has set the live stream about and this will help them to decide whether the live is of their interest or not and if they do want to join what questions and queries would be answered in live.

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2021/04/tiktok-adds-topic-option-for-live.html

The Rise of Social Commerce [Infographic]

In 2020, social media commerce saw a steady increase of people opting for online shopping, and that’s primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some social platforms such as Facebook and TikTok have stepped up their eCommerce integration efforts, to make online shopping much convenient. As if it’s not convenient enough already. This infographic provides insights into this growing trend and reasons for brands to get on board with in-stream shopping on social.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/the-rise-of-social-commerce-infographic/598525/

Monday Morning Learning – 19 April 2021

Facebook to test new business discovery features in US News Feed

Users tap on topics they’re interested in underneath posts and ads in their News Feed in order to explore related content from businesses 

  • Helps small businesses become more discoverable
  • Helps users discover new businesses that they might not have found on their own
  • Can potentially become an ad unit as Facebook can create a new set of data (which users click to see more, what sort of businesses they engage with, etc)
  • In future, businesses could potentially pay for higher placement

Facebook Adds Scheduling for Stories, New Ad and Business Discovery Options

Sharing scheduling for stories. It has finally arrived on the official channels!

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-scheduling-for-stories-new-ad-and-business-discovery-options/598508/

Facebook May Soon Offer Campaign Budget Optimization Across Platforms, Not Just Ad Sets

With the digital ad landscape becoming increasingly more crowded, Facebook is looking into offering advertisers Campaign Budget Optimization that can help optimise ad budget across different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. The idea is this process will help to automatically allocate your assigned ad budget across chosen Facebook ad sets, to ensure the best performers see the most spend. Thus, getting more bang for your ad buck, while decreasing workload from the advertisers’ end.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-may-soon-offer-campaign-budget-optimization-across-platforms-not/598524/

YouTube Tests A New Dubbing Feature by Introducing Multiple Audio Tracks in One Video

Does it ever happen to you that are want to watch a video on YouTube because you like its content but you do not understand it as it is not in the language that you speak or understand?

Solely because of this reason many content creators who make videos in different languages are deprived of a handful of more views and subscribers they can have from people who like their content but do not understand it. YouTube realized this issue and is testing a few options which will help overcome this problem.

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2021/04/youtube-tests-new-dubbing-feature-by.html

Google Updates Search Ranking for Product Reviews to Better Highlight More In-Depth Information

According to Google – “We know that people appreciate product reviews that share in-depth research, rather than thin content that simply summarizes a bunch of products. That’s why we’re sharing an improvement to our ranking systems, which we call the product reviews update, that’s designed to better reward such content.”

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/google-updates-search-ranking-for-product-reviews-to-better-highlight-more/598097/

WANTED: FB & IG Like Counts

  • Last year, Instagram announced that they were removing like counts on posts
  • It was rolled out and selected users received the update
  • Based on sentiments in the past year, some felt that it took the pressure off when posting to IG
  • Cut to this year, they are testing out a feature in which users would be given the choice to show or hide post likes. These are the options:
  • Hiding Like counts on other people’s posts
  • Switching off Like counts on your own posts
  • Keeping full Like counts in the app
  • This has also been tested on Facebook as well, as some users have seen their like count gone

What does this mean?

  • The expansion of choice may keep users on the app and increase screen time, as they are not pressured to post in the interest of garnering Likes
  • This means ads may see greater results from the top to bottom of the funnel
  • The challenge, however, is still with brands, influencers to keep their content interesting and compelling enough as the visibility of their content is still at the mercy of the IG Algorithm

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-will-enable-users-to-choose-whether-they-want-to-hide-post-like-c/598420/

Employee-Driven Content Will Increase

An influencer marketing trend for 2021 that stems from the demand for more authentic content is that the desire to see employee-driven or employee-based content will increase. We’ve already seen how user-generated content can have a huge impact on sales and how brands are perceived; it only makes sense for brands to begin treating their own employees as influencers through employee advocacy programs.

We’ve already seen how this works for brands like Macy’s. With its Style Crew, Macy’s offers incentives and financial rewards to employees who use Macy’s products in their everyday lives if sharing that content leads to sales. This works for Macy’s employees and the company itself because consumers are fascinated by seeing “how the sausage gets made.” There’s a reason why the video of a Wendy’s employee making a Baconator got more than 3 million views after Wendy’s reposted it. People want to know what goes on behind the scenes at a company. Giving employees the go-ahead to share that content just makes sense.

https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-trends/

Monday Morning Learning – 5 April 2021

TikTok Launches New ‘Playlists’ Feature to Group Clips into Themed Collections

TikTok has begun rolling out a new feature on its platform, “Playlists” around the last week of March. This feature enables users to group these TikTok clips into themed collections. The new option enables you to create dedicated collections of video clips, which you can name as you wish (up to 15 characters), that are then displayed on your profile.

The option could be a great way to create longer, thematic TikTok content, and boost engagement with your clips. For brands, that could give you the opportunity to post product tutorials or explainers, for example, which run in sequence based on how people generally need them, while for regular creators, it could encourage them to create episodic content, with each clip carrying over to the next, ideally keeping people around for longer and building stronger audience connection.

TikTok is currently testing out this new feature on Creator and Business accounts.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-launches-new-playlists-feature-to-group-clips-into-themed-collecti/597460/

Instagram officially launches Remix on Reels, a TikTok Duets-like feature

Instagram today is officially launching a new feature called Remix, which offers a way to record your Reels video alongside a video from another user. The option is similar to Tik Tok’s existing Duets feature, which also lets users react to or interact with another person’s video content while creating their own. Instagram’s new feature has been in public testing before today, so some Instagram users may have already gained access.

We recently reported on Instagram’s plans with Remix, when noting that Snapchat was developing a Remix feature of its own. In fact, Snapchat is also using the name “Remix” for its TikTok Duets rival that’s currently in development.

YouTube could hide Dislike numbers from videos to help content creators

YouTube is planning to bring a major overhaul to its video platform that will benefit creators. The video-sharing platform announced that it will begin a test that will hide the dislike count on videos from public view.

YouTube says that it will run a small experiment wherein it will try several new interface designs that won’t publicly display the number of dislikes a video ‘has earned.’

While the move comes in response to creator feedback, YouTube says that it won’t remove the dislike button entirely. The announcement about the new plans comes via YouTube’s official community forum.

Twitter looks to release its own take on Social Commerce features.

Well, well, well. Looks like another social media network succumbed to making things shoppable on their feed! News around the block is that Twitter is experimenting with social commerce features to allow users to shop in-app without leaving the platform. While Twitter might be late to the party of bringing shoppable features to their platform, it still presents great opportunities for brands looking to boost their sales on Twitter. Watch out for a ‘Shop Now’ CTA on Twitter real soon, people!

Twitter to host a ‘Best of Tweets’ brand battle.

Over the past few months, Twitter has identified the best brands for their scroll-stopping tweets, and now they will all go head-to-head in Twitter’s ‘Brand Bracket’ aka, the epic battle to crown the best brand on Twitter. As explained by Twitter: “We know the conversational nature of Twitter makes it a place where brands can be their most human-sounding selves. Brands can have two-way conversations with their audience that are real and unfiltered and can’t be replicated anywhere else. With this bracket, we aim to celebrate those that do this the best – as selected by the people of Twitter.” Let the games begin!

https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/industry-updates/social-media-updates/5-social-m[…]=IwAR2SyFm6jMdSv7jQ5v_nMwitvIMvcWKkcVy0LNLiGjN24O2xmSZvO6JQSLg

LinkedIn Adds New Profile Features, Including Video Cover Stories and ‘Creator Mode’

The update is part of LinkedIn’s increasing focus on content creators on the platform.

  • Profile picture will auto-play a preview of your video
  • “Creator Mode” enables creators to add a selection of hashtags indicating the topics they will post about most, helping LinkedIn showcase them to interested audiences
  • “Featured” and “Activity” sections will be at the top of the profile to more prominently display content creators post
  • “Connect” button will be changed to “Follow” to help LinkedIn creators build an audience
  • LinkedIn Live Broadcasters will have their videos played as the cover photo whenever they start streaming

This could be a big addition. If you’ve been looking for ways to build a stronger presence on LinkedIn, this will be a major update and could end up providing a significant benefit in your personal branding, and industry profile-building efforts.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-adds-new-profile-features-including-video-[…]2004-03-2021&utm_term=Social%20Media%20Today%20Weekender

LinkedIn confirms it’s working on a Clubhouse rival, too

LinkedIn has now confirmed it’s also testing a social audio experience in its app which would allow creators on its network to connect with their community.

Online networking, remote work and virtual events will only continue to grow, even post-pandemic, and this audio networking addition makes for a natural extension of other areas on LinkedIn, like Groups and Events – which have grown particularly during the pandemic

How LinkedIn’s version will be differentiated?

  • More connected with users’ professional identity, not just social profiles
  • LinkedIn already built a platform that better serves the creator community with tools like Stories, LinkedIn Live video broadcasting, newsletters, etc
  • LinkedIn just formalized some of its efforts in this area with the launch of a new “Creator” mode that lets anyone set their profile as one that can be followed for updates, like Stories and LinkedIn Live videos
  • Their focus on creators puts LinkedIn on a competitive footing in terms of expanding its own Clubhouse rival (for eg, for Twitter Spaces, the full set of creator tools have yet to arrive, and although Facebook has creator-focused features, they only recently invested in newsletters)

https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/30/linkedin-confirms-its-working-on-a-clubhouse-rival[…]oday%2004-03-2021&utm_term=Social%20Media%20Today%20Weekender

Facebook Adds ‘Feed Filter Bar’ News Feed Control Tool, New Options to Restrict Post Comments 

After testing the option out for more than a year, Facebook has today officially launched its new News Feed Filter Bar option, which makes it easier for users to switch between the regular News Feed, ranked by Facebook’s notorious algorithm, and either a ‘Favorites’ or ‘Recent’ listing of posts, the latter being kind of like a reverse-chronological feed.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-feed-filter-bar-news-feed-control-tool-new-options-to-rest/597664

Facebook adds a new visual prompt in a bid to encourage take-up of the vaccines

  • They launched a profile frame on 1st April to go along with your current profile photo
  • They say “Let’s get vaccinated”
  • Same sticker on Instagram available through IG Stories that say “Let’s get vaccinated”
  • A visual cue that may encourage people to do the same: “Research shows that social norms can have a major impact on people’s attitudes and behaviors when it comes to their health. We know people are more likely to get a vaccine when they see many people they trust are doing it.”
  • Uses the concept of social proofing

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-visual-prompts-to-encourage-covid-19-vaccine-take-up/597760/

Monday Morning Learning – 29 March 2021

STB takes Americans on a virtual taxi tour via Twitch to showcase the country’s hidden gems

With borders still largely closed across the globe and gaming usage up 75% amid COVID, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered with creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day NY to virtually open its doors for Americans to explore the country via livestream taxi tours on Twitch: Singapore by Stream.

https://www.marketing-interactive.com/stb-takes-americans-on-virtual-taxi-tour-via-twitch-to-showcase-countrys-hidden-gems

TikTok is Reportedly Looking to Add a Group Chat Feature Later This Year

TikTok may be looking at launching a group chat feature later this year to build on its engagement rate and to develop the platform into a social interactions app. This has been done by Douyin back in 2019 and TikTok is looking at possibly replicating the feature to challenge Facebook’s dominance over social media. By offering an extra channel to socialize, Douyin’s new functionality may keep its users in the app for longer periods and may even serve as a tool for current users to invite more of their friends to join Douyin.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-is-reportedly-looking-to-add-a-group-chat-feature-later-this-year/596923/

Twitter’s Developing New ‘Community’ Tools to Share Tweets with Selected Audiences

Twitter previewed a new, groups-like option called ‘Communities’, which would enable Twitter users to share their tweets within selected sub-groups of users, as opposed to sharing with everybody.

Communities would enable you to select a specific audience for each tweet. That could enable Twitter users to engage with a wider breadth of topics and interests, without being concerned about boring all of their followers with irrelevant updates, or more extreme, having to create separate Twitter profiles for different purposes.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitters-developing-new-community-tools-to-share-tweets-with-selected-au/597443/

Instagram Announces That Stories Drafts are Coming Soon

1. Instagram will soon introduce Stories Drafts

2. Helps brands, content creators schedule their posts to the most relevant, optimal timings

3. While we do have a subscription to OnlyPult, the limitation is that we are not allowed to add interactive stickers to the Stories while scheduling from the app

4. If we can schedule it natively from IG, there is the possibility of adding elements that would add life to the stories like GIFs, Question & Quiz stickers, poll stickers, etc. — all of which would be really helpful to us as social media practitioners

5. To be able to create more engaging content and being able to post it at optimal timings — it combines content and strategy, which is aligned to our approach

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-announces-that-stories-drafts-are-coming-soon/597230/

Monday Morning Learning – 22 March 2021

LinkedIn Provides New Worksheets to Help Map Out Your On-Platform Ad Campaigns

It’s a handy overview to have – and as noted, with more people turning to LinkedIn than ever, it may well be worth considering the potential of the platform for your marketing efforts, and checking out these notes and guides to see how they might fit into your approach.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-provides-new-worksheets-to-help-map-out-your-on-platform-ad-campai/596750/

Telegram launched Voice Chat 2.0 to compete with Clubhouse

The team of the popular Telegram messenger has presented a big update. The main innovation is Voice chats 2.0 or, as the developers called them, “on steroids” voice chats. Voice chats appeared in Telegram groups in December 2020. With today’s update, they can also be created in channels, and the number of listeners is now unlimited.

https://www.gizchina.com/2021/03/20/telegram-launched-voice-chat-2-0-to-compete-with-clubhouse/

Instagram really doesn’t want you to reshare posts to Stories

Instagram is adding labels to feed posts that are reshared to Stories. Instagram is experimenting a new feature that might discourage people from sharing posts to Stories. It recently started testing this new feature that disables sharing posts to Stories, it is now adding labels to posts that have been reshared from the feed. According to screenshots shared by TestingCatalog, Instagram is adding labels that say “Reshared Post” for those posts that are shared from the feed. This applies to photos, videos, and even Reels.

https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/instagram-really-doesn-t-want-you-to-reshare-posts-to-stories-71616227187795.html

Facebook is Reportedly Working on a Kids Version of Instagram

According to internal company communication, Instagram is now working on “a version of Instagram that allows people under the age of 13 to safely use Instagram for the first time. This might impact the way we create and deliver content for family or kids-oriented content.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-is-reportedly-working-on-a-kids-version-of-instagram/597014/

Facebook’s Looking to Launch Audio-Only Rooms to Hook Into the Social Audio Trend

Facebook was seen apparently exploring an audio-only option within Rooms. With its already existing DAU and MAU, they have the numbers to challenge both Telegram and Clubhouse, which is invite-only. Adding on to that, with so many audio-only apps taking over the social media space, there’s a need for us to be mindful that the audio-only experience will see a rise in use cases on campaigns, or in our daily lives. Integration of voice is something that we may need to explore and be familiar with across the experience we are building for clients, as users grow more comfortable with it.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebooks-looking-to-launch-audio-only-rooms-to-hook-into-the-social-audio/597083/

Facebook Shared Details of Coming Newsletter Platform to Attract Top Creators

How will it work?

  • integrate with Facebook Pages
  • ability to create Facebook Groups
  • features to easily discover new content
  • insights on content performance
  • monetization tools for individual website & subscriptions for individual businesses
  • accelerator services for creators to come together & share best practices

How can creators use this to their advantage?

  • build a community
  • opportunities for collaboration
  • get more insights on how to improve their content on Facebook

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-shares-details-of-coming-newsletter-platform-to-attract-top-creato/596815/

TikTok Changes Engagement Metrics

TikTok was previously focused on likes, comments, and shares, but now the metrics are slowly evolving to focus on video completion and video saves to the phone. To game the system several creators look for ways to improve video completion rate and increase video saves.

TikTok Launches New Ads Library, Enabling You to Find the Best Performing Ads in a Range of Categories

TikTok has launched a new Ad Library tool, currently called ‘Top Ads’ for those who are planning to run TikTok ads. This tool enables users to search for the best performing TikTok ad campaigns, with a range of search filters to navigate through the ad listings. Currently, the tool is still a work in progress and the ads displayed are limited to those who have been authorised by advertisers and may not reflect all the actual top-performing ads. However, it is a good place for existing and new advertisers to look into the different type of ads TikTok offers and serves as a good resource for marketers who needs ideas on how each sector is utilising different ad types for promotions.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-launches-new-ads-library-enabling-you-to-find-the-best-performing-a/596927/