The Social Media News You Need In November
As my Dad likes to point out around this time of year, the year truly has flown by. Hopefully you are able to look back on the year with a positive outlook and if you’re like me, excited for the year ahead. And if you’re looking for more of my writing, like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai, check my blog here.
Let’s dig into the social media news you can use his week. That includes a drastic change to the content available on LinkedIn, Instagram introducing new ways to bring replies to Stories, and X is looking for extra cash by selling inactive usernames.
LinkedIn Decides To Remove Carousels Entirely
In a surprising turn of events, LinkedIn announced yesterday that it's removing all carousel posts, profile videos, and in-image linking from its platform before the end of the year. This change will take effect on December 14th.
LinkedIn says it's making this change to simplify its platform and make it easier for users to find the content they seek. The company also wants to focus on more engaging and interactive content formats like videos and live streams. Why not stop future carousels from being created like the platform did earlier this year and keep the existing content? No one knows.
Given monthly reports are usually the standard for the Motion Agency’s clients, we’ve advised our clients to pull any necessary creative and metrics related to carousels posted to LinkedIn. Be sure you do the same before December 14th.
Instagram Now Lets Users Highlight Post Replies in Stories
Looking for new ways to engage with your audience and show appreciation for your community? Well, you're in luck because a new feature from Instagram allows creators to spotlight specific comments and share them directly to their stories. This is a great way to highlight positive feedback from your followers and start conversations around your content. Here's how it works:
Select a comment from a piece of content.
Swipe left on the comment.
Tap the plus icon.
The comment and content will be drafted as a story.
By swiping to the left and selecting the plus icon, the comment and content are then drafted as a story.
This is a great tactic to explore to drive more engagement because it shows your followers that you appreciate their feedback. And it can end up starting conversations around your brand or business. At the end of the day, you want any opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your audience.
If you don't believe me, listen to Instagram, "Sometimes, all it takes is a single comment to spark an idea, or start meaningful conversations with your fans. You can now easily share your favorite comments to Stories, highlighting your most important interactions with your audience."
X Begins Selling Off Old Twitter Handles
Emails obtained by Forbes reveal that X has already begun reaching out to potential buyers of dormant usernames. Allegedly, X has requested a flat fee of $50,000 to initiate a purchase.
This move is no surprise, as X CEO Elon Musk has previously expressed interest in monetizing dormant usernames. In December 2022, Musk noted that X would be looking to make these usernames available for new use.
In true Elon fashion, X's current username registration policy still states that the company cannot release inactive usernames. Additionally, its inactive account policy warns users to log in every 30 days to avoid being considered inactive. How X will reconcile its current user policies with its plans to sell dormant usernames is still being determined. The company may need to update its policies or create a new policy specifically for dormant usernames.
Be sure to check out the latest podcasts I’ve been on sharing my learnings and insights. If you’ve only got time for an article, then uncover the keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and other deep dives on other social media topics.
Social Media News You Can Use In November
Let’s dig into the social media news you can use this week. We’ll cover a new collaboration feature on Instagram, the most effective types of social media content, and TikTok’s plan for long-form video content.
And if you’re looking for more of my writing, check out this blog covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai.
Instagram Tests Collaborative Carousel Posts
Instagram recently added a new way to spark more engagements. The update enables others to add content to existing carousel posts. Users can submit photographs and videos for the creator's approval, which will be shown in the original carousel post. Submissions can be rejected, and the post will only appear on the creators' timeline.
This might be a fun approach, highlighting user-generated content (UGC), working with influencers and content creators, and driving more engagement with carousel content.
The Four Most Effective Content Types for Social Media
You've heard the content team talk about creating engaging and impactful content. But what is the most engaging content out there? Check out the four most effective content types below:
Educational content: Aim to teach your audience something new. It can span from how-to guides to case studies to tips and tricks. Educational content provides value by sharing your knowledge and expertise with your audience.
Visual content: Appeals to the eye and is highly shareable. This can include infographics, videos, and images, which are all great for visually conveying information and capturing your audience's attention.
Interactive content: Engages your audience and encourages them to participate. Polls, surveys, contests, and giveaways are all examples of how to make your content more participatory. Encourage your audience to get involved and interact with your brand.
Storytelling content: Connecting people with stories. Sharing customer success stories, employee spotlights, behind-the-scenes pieces, and user-generated content are all great ways to tell a story. Personalizing your brand through storytelling builds a deeper connection with your audience.
The effectiveness of each type of content may vary based on your target audience, industry, and the platform you're on, so it's essential to ensure you're taking those into account when determining which type of content to create.
TikTok Testing 15-Minute Video Uploads
TikTok is testing a new feature that would allow users to upload videos up to 15 minutes long, up from the current limit of 10 minutes. This change would give creators more time to share long-form video content, such as cooking recipes, beauty tutorials, and educational videos.
TikTok is also testing a horizontal (full-screen) mode, which would put it in more direct competition with YouTube, known for its long-form content. The move comes as TikTok faces increasing competition from other platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, with their Reels and Shorts content, respectively.
It's unclear when TikTok will roll out the new 15-minute video upload feature to all users. However, the test suggests that the company is serious about expanding its long-form content offerings.
Social Media & Influencer News You Need Before Halloween
It’s almost Halloween! But before we step away from our work and enjoy some tasty candy, let’s discuss the social media and influencer news you can use.
This week, Instagram announces a new feature to spark engagement, the effect YouTube has had on Alphabet’s business, and TikTok steps out from behind the screen and into the real world with a music festival.
Instagram Adds Polls in Comment Streams on Feed Posts and Reels
What's a great way to engage with your Instagram community in Stories, but will soon be coming to the comments soon? Polls! According to SocialMediaToday, Instagram polls are now being tested in the comment sections of in-feed posts and Reels, in addition to Stories and DMs.
The new feature will allow users to ask their followers questions and get their feedback in real-time. This can be used for a variety of purposes, such as getting feedback on new products or services, conducting market research, or simply getting to know your followers better. This is an excellent way for users to engage with their community and share feedback quickly and easily.
YouTube Is Having a Strong Quarter For Alphabet
Alphabet's Q3 2023 earnings were released on October 24th and while most of the news was around the company's cloud business, there were some unique social media insights. The earnings call showed YouTube advertising revenue beat analyst expectations, reaching $7.9 billion. This is up 4% from the same period last year.
YouTube's TikTok rival Shorts is now averaging ~70B daily views, up from 50B+ to start the year, and ad revenue beat expectations at nearly $8B last quarter. Overall, Alphabet's Q3 2023 earnings were mixed. The company's revenue growth returned to double digits, but its cloud revenue came in below estimates.
It's clear that Shorts are here to stay for YouTube, so now Alphabet needs to identify ways to drive more users to create and watch vertical, short-form video content.
TikTok Announces Live Concert Event to Showcase Music Trends
Following the success of TikTok influencers live-streaming popular music festivals like Coachella, TikTok is hosting its first-ever live music event, "In the Mix" on December 10. Guests can attend in person or watch via TikTok Live.
The event will feature four of the biggest genre-defining artists on TikTok and in the music world today: Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta, and Charlie Puth. Fans will enjoy a truly unique "up close and personal" experience, as the artists will be performing in the round.
"In the Mix" will take place at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona, and will be streamed globally via TikTok LIVE. Tickets will be required, and pre-sale tickets will be available exclusively on TikTok.
If you are looking for more like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. Or keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics.
Social Media & Influencer News In October
Happy October everyone! If you’re like me, you’ve been watching every scary movie and TV show available. But you’re here for the latest social media and influencer marketing you can use for your brand or team.
This week, we’ll talk about Instagram’s newest stickers as the platform prepares for the holidays, X explores ditching engagements in-feed, and Adobe reveals more tools for creatives and marketers when it comes to creating content.
Instagram Experiments with New Stickers to Spark Engagement
Instagram is testing new ways to spark engagement and keep users in-app longer. With the latest tactic involving these brand-new stickers!
Check out some of the new stickers below:
"App" sticker: a method for creators to directly promote other apps on Instagram and easily redirect viewers to another app from Stories. This is also an excellent opportunity for Influencers to promote specific apps.
"Music Pick" sticker: a mechanism for artists to allow respondents to share their favorite music songs right now. Curate a playlist for your group, interact with your audience, and develop online communities with audience-first content.
"Secret" sticker: a mechanism for creators to define personalized reactions for users who leave a message in response to the tale. A creator can also control who receives these hidden messages, which could be an excellent approach to increase direct response and interaction.
X Considers Removing All Engagement Counts and Buttons on Posts
X has recently made significant modifications to their platform and user experience. Their most recent thought is removing all interaction count and actions buttons from a post. The only button still visible is the view counter, which was added in December of last year. These metrics would only be visible to users when they clicked on and expanded a particular post.
Social media experts say the change is needless and would likely lower overall engagement as people do feel those dopamine hints when they see like and comments come through.. When Instagram removed the like count from posts in 2019, it observed a similar drop. Whether or not Elon will move forward with implementing user-experience change is still up to date.
Adobe Revealed Some Powerful AI Tools This Week
Since Firefly — Adobe's AI-powered text-to-image model trained on its stock imagery — debuted in March, it's been used to generate 3B+ images, according to Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.
At Adobe MAX, the company revealed Firefly Image 2, plus new and updated tools, including:
Generative Match: Allows users to upload a reference prompt and photo that AI can use to generate content with a consistent look.
Firefly Vector Model: Illustrator users can enter text prompts to get editable vector icons, images, and repeatable patterns.
Retype: Enables Illustrator users to turn static text into editable text by identifying similar fonts.
Adobe frequently stated that their AI tools would save designers, editors, marketers, and content creators time by automating laborious tasks while allowing non-designers to experiment. The question that remains across industries and one that has been brought to the forefront by the recent writers' and actors' guild strikes, is whether firms will embrace the time saved for more creativity and productivity or whether they will strive to cut pay, hours, or even replace their human employees with machines.
Are you looking for more like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. Or keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics.
The Latest Social Media & Influencer Marketing News In October
Let’s dig right into the social media news you can use his week. That includes leveraging carousels in content marketing, how to leverage carousels through both organic and paid social, and Reddit changing how its users can opt-out of personalized ads.
Reels May Be Here To Stay, But Don't Say Goodbye to Carousels Just Yet
Carousels allow you to post multiple photos or videos in a single post, which can be a great way to tell a story, showcase a product or service, or keep an audience engaged on content for longer. Here are some of the benefits our clients can take advantage of using carousels on social media:
Higher engagement rates: Carousels tend to get more likes, comments, and shares/saves than individual photos or videos. This is because carousels are more interactive and require users to swipe to see each component of the carousel.
More reach: Carousels are also more likely to be shown to your followers in their feeds. This is because platforms like Instagram see carousels as more engaging than other types of posts.
More storytelling opportunities: Carousels allow you to tell a story or share multiple perspectives on a specific topic. This can be a great way to keep our audiences engaged and informed, and to hear from multiple POVs in a single post.
More product-focused opportunities: Carousels are also a great way to showcase products or services. You can use carousels to show different angles of a product, feature customer testimonials, or highlight various features and benefits.
You don't have to look far to see how Motion brings carousels to life for our clients. Just check out the Truluck's Instagram feed for some examples like this post.
Tips To Maximize The Effectiveness of Carousels (Organic & Paid)
We’ve talked about why carousels can be used by brands for their social media needs. So let me give you more tips for how to better utilize carousels on Facebook and Instagram (Meta) effectively. Because brands have an opportunity to showcase more of their content in multiple images. Encourage users to swipe, engage, click, and learn more about your organization or product by utilizing a variety of creative assets and hyperlinks to specific products or services.
Meta also has a function that allows you to adjust your carousel advertising so that the best-performing image displays first. Meta made this super handy infographic to assist in improving carousel performance.
Reddit Removes the Option To Opt Out of Ad Personalization
Reddit is constantly evolving its platform to compete and increase ad dollars. Reddit just revealed the option to opt out of personalized ads in the app.
"Reddit requires very little personal information, and we like it that way," says Reddit in a statement. Instead, our marketers rely on on-platform activity - which communities you join and quit, as well as upvotes, downvotes, and other indications - to determine what you might be interested in."
Most users' ads on the site will not change, and users who previously opted out of sharing on-platform behavior will not see more adverts. So, what effect will this modification have? It will enable Reddit to enable more tailored ad targeting, allowing users to view adverts that are more relevant to them based on their activity.
Reddit is also introducing a feature that allows users to opt out of specific ad categories such as alcohol, dating, pregnancy, weight loss, and gambling. Due to this, users will be able to restrict undesired ad exposure relating to specific themes.
Uncover the keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics. And if you’re looking for more of my writing, like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai, check my blog here.
The Latest Social Media & Influencer News in September
Welcome back to another installment of the social media and influencer marketing news that you need to know in September.
This week, we’ll be covering the rise of influencer marketing over traditional ads, Instagram updating its feed for Reels, and the launch of TikTok’s shopping functionality.
Influencer Marketing Is Rising Faster Than Traditional Ads
A new report from Insider Intelligence highlights the key trends driving influencer marketing investments. According to the research, "Influencer marketing spending will rise roughly 3.5 times faster in 2023 than social ad spending will." More brands are beginning to rely on Influencers and Creators to amplify their messaging, changing how their consumers receive and respond to content.
Our clients at the Motion Agency, from Gladiator to Truluck's to myQ Connected Garage, are reaping the various benefits of an influencer connection, such as increased impressions, engagements, net-followers, and UGC. Check out the content below to see some of our current Influencer collaborations.
Here are some recent influencer activations we’ve launched on behalf of our clients:
Truluck's: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvcjXPNALsZ/
Gladiator: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv77gYtLSod/
Instagram Adds “Following” Filter for Reels
Instagram is taking another page out of TikTok's book, and you can filter your Reels feed only to see videos from people you follow. Until recently, Instagram only provided a single Reels feed that presented a mix of posts from accounts you follow and recommended Reels that the app felt you would be interested in.
To take inspiration from a popular TikTok feature, users will soon be able to filter their feed to show only Reels from accounts they're following. However, analysts believe that because of the variety of profiles people follow on Instagram, this feature may not be as popular as on TikTok. We will monitor how effective some of Instagram's modifications are and how they compare to TikTok.
TikTok Shop Has Officially Launched
TikTok Shop, the social media platform's e-commerce initiative, went live in the US on Tuesday. The move allows many of TikTok's 150 million US-based users to find and shop for products within the app. TikTok Shop brings shoppable videos and live streams directly to users' feeds, and users can purchase products without leaving the app.
The launch of TikTok Shop is a significant step for the platform, which has been steadily growing its e-commerce capabilities in recent months. The platform's young, engaged audience makes it a valuable target for merchants, and it is shoppable videos and live streams offer a unique way to reach consumers.
The launch of TikTok Shop is likely to shake up the e-commerce landscape. The platform's young, engaged audience makes it a valuable target for merchants, and its shoppable videos and live streams offer a unique way to reach consumers. It will be interesting to see how TikTok Shop performs in the US and if it impacts the competition between social media platforms and traditional e-commerce players.
