“Making possible deeper connection and entertainment in a fun format, TikTok Now invites you and your friends to capture what you’re doing in the moment using your device’s front and back camera. You’ll receive a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo to easily share what you’re up to.” ~ TikTok

3. Twitter releases new strategy guide for businesses and professionals

There is a new guide from Twitter with great tips and statistics on how to improve your strategy on the social network. In the guide you can find insights to prove whether Twitter is the right platform for your business, how-tos on optimizing your presence, creative tweet ideas, tips on ad formats, and handy checklists.

4. Reddit gives tips for the holiday season

Reddit published a new holiday marketing guide with insights and ides on how to maximize your efforts on the platform. You can find the full guide here.

5. Snapchat reveals the power of AR

Snapchat published a new report in partnership with Ipsos, presenting findings from a survey among 25K people across 16 markets on how consumers and brands view AR.

“When it comes to Augmented Reality and its full potential, brands are missing out by only seeing the tip of the iceberg.” ~ Snap

You can download the full Augmentality Shift report here.

Last update: September 7th.

1. Meta shares how their video distribution algorithms work

Meta published an overview explaining how its video ranking algorithms work. The key factors that the social network takes into consideration are:

Originality

This factor is related to Meta’s desire to enable the original creators’ work on social media. Original content is unique content your brand has created and posted directly on your channel instead of re-posting from another source.

Capture and retain attention

Meta values your video's engagement, which requires relevant storytelling that attracts and keeps the audience interested.

“Retention is one of the indicators of how well the content was received by the audience - a slow and gradual decline in the audience retention graph can show that the topic and structure of the video match well with what your audience wants to see, while an early drop off may mean that the content isn’t what the viewer expected.” ~ Meta

Loyalty and intent

“When people regularly come back to view an account’s videos, we take it as a strong, positive signal for distribution. This is especially true when we see that people actively search for your content or seek it out on video-first destinations like Facebook Watch or directly on your account.” ~ Meta

Engagement

“We prioritize content that sparks conversations and meaningful interactions between real people. To do this, we increase distribution for videos that inspire friend-to-friend or person-to-person interactions.” ~ Meta

You can read the full Meta overview here.

2. Twitter reveals the most effective Twitter ad combinations

Twitter shared inspiring material on utilizing best practices for advertising on the platform via successful ad combinations in your campaigns.

The social network analyzed over 350 brands studies containing around 7,000 uniquely promoted Twitter Ads and separated the results into three main goals:

Building brand awareness

Boosting purchase intent

Increasing brand favorability

Find the full Twitter overview here.

3. TikTok guides small businesses on how to start on the platform

TikTok initiated a new video series to help brands have a stellar kickoff on the social network. The video tutorials share tips and tricks on how to create:

• TikTok video in 7 steps 
• TikTok Business Account
• TikTok Ads Manager account

You can see the rest of the TikTok video series here. 

If you want to learn more about how to get to TikTok check out our detailed guide.

4. YouTube releases a guide on YouTube Shorts

The social network published a new 31-page guide on how to utilize YouTube Shorts for your brand. The overview covers topics such as:

• Creating video clips
• Editing content
• Making sense of the analytics
• Trends and tips 
• …and more

You can find the YouTube Shorts guide here.

5. LinkedIn is improving their post search

LinkedIn revealed how they are improving their search and discovery elements and more on creating a broader experience and discovery.

“Post search saw strong organic growth in 2020, with a 35% year-over-year increase in user engagement. As we watched content continue to grow and diversify on the platform, the Flagship Search team saw an opportunity to improve the Post search tech stack’s agility, with a strategic priority to enable members to create, find, share, and have productive conversations around high-quality content on LinkedIn.”~ Amol Chandla, Software Engineer at LinkedIn

You can find more information on this here.

Updated on August 24th, 2022

1.TikTok are introducing new shopping ads

TikTok have launched new Shopping Ads for brands to promote their products on instream. The feature offers three new formats:

• Video Shopping Ads
• Catalog Listing Ads
• LIVE Shopping Ads

“Shopping Ads is a simpler, smarter, and more advanced ad solution that helps brands meet shoppers wherever they are in the purchase journey, sparking demand and boosting sales. It’s a three-in-one solution with new formats to adopt and combine: Video Shopping Ads, Catalog Listing Ads, and LIVE Shopping Ads.” ~ TikTok

2. LinkedIn is testing new features to boost engagement

New updates are coming from LinkedIn aiming to empower the discovery and engagement in the app. 

Here are some of the highlights:

• New ways to discover conversations that matter and engage with those
• Meet the team section on the ‘job details’ page
• New post format to share your knowledge (carrousels might be on the way)
• Easy reminders to celebrate a colleague’s milestone or birthday
• Support for your groups so they feel safe and trusted

3. Instagram is educating us on their shops and product tags

Instagram published a 10-page guide on how to set up your shop and use product tags in the app. 

The guide can help you:

• Set up a product catalog
• Untap the power of Instagram for ecommerce via different features
• Utilize tips on how to use product tagging and other opportunities

4. Meta launches new Reel features

Meta introduced new Reel features to both Instagram and Facebook to enhance the user experience.

Here is what’s new in a nutshell:‘

• Add Yours’ sticker feature
• Creator Studio Insights
• Stars on Reels—a way to monetize as a creator
• Remix in sequence
• Crossposting from Instagram to Facebook
• Auto-created Reels for Facebook

5. Instagram reveals user home feeds’ algorithm

Instagram posted a new overview of the ways they decide whether a piece of content will be qualified for ‘Suggested Posts’ or the ‘Home feed’. The social network is trying to offer similar content that the user has consumed or related to the accounts he engages with.Learn more insights here.

Updated on August 9th, 2022

1.TikTok showcases how to skyrocket their results

Do you speak TikTok? Whether you are getting ready for your holiday campaign or just getting started with the media company — here’s a tutorial for all marketers. 

TikTok aimed to educate its audience by sharing valuable marketing tips and advice in a new video overview. Take your time to enjoy this new inspirational tutorial by train enthusiast and TikTok star Francis Bourgeois.

2. Instagram shares tips on influencer marketing

Wanted: powerful influencers! Isn’t this a common marketing challenge? Instagram tackled this by releasing an instructional guide on how brands can create meaningful partnerships with influencers. You can read the Instagram tips here.

3. LinkedIn launches new B2B community: LinkedIn Collective

Calling all B2B brands - LinkedIn has a great new source of inspiration for you - LinkedIn Collective. This community will be an excellent spot for all B2B marketers to share ideas and knowledge while interacting between themselves and LinkedIn’s editorial team.

“The Collective will offer groundbreaking thought leadership and content resources informed by LinkedIn data and insights, our team of experts, and leaders across the B2B marketing industry. With the Collective, we want to showcase what it looks like to build a content brand on LinkedIn, proper.” ~ LinkedIn

4. Meta opens new Advertise Success Center

Are you ready with your holiday ads? Meta created a special mini-site to help brands best leverage the opportunities their advertising model provides on Facebook and Instagram. The center offers a wide range of tips and resources to help brands up their game.

5. Twitter is testing tweet editing for Twitter Blue

Big awaited news! Twitter is testing tweet editing. This is a dream coming true for all brands, and creators and it seems to be an exclusive feature for Twitter Blue.

1.Facebook with updated Feed format

Meta launched an updated Feed format, enabling users to find content from friends and family easily. The social network will also suggest recommended content focusing mainly on video posts. 

The new format seems to be more in-line with the TikTok feed. It will be split into a Home feed with recommended content and a new Feeds tab, where you can discover the latest posts from categories like Favorites, Friends, Groups, etc.

2. Social networks share tips for World Emoji Day

Emojis are a special language used across social networks. To celebrate World Emoji Day. Instagram and Twitter shared insightful data to enable brands to implement proper emoji usage on social.

Instagram focused on sports and highlighted the most popular ones based on usage in different regions.

Twitter also shared their take on the most used emojis on the platform for the occasion.

3. TikTok reveals new insights on live stream shopping 

TikTok published a new survey in partnership with Ipsos where they explained how live stream commerce could enable brands’ success.

The key findings from the study are:

• TikTok users are engaged in live streams, with a fifth of users regularly watching the action. 
• TikTok LIVE deepens connections between users and brands. According to the survey, 50% of TikTok users are more interested in branded LIVE content than non-TikTok users.
• Live streaming drives sales on TikTok, with 50% of TikTok users having bought something after watching TikTok LIVE.

4. Twitter has new research on how social media engagement affects purchases

Twitter shared with their audience an interesting survey on how brand mentions are related to actual shopping behaviors on the platform. They partnered with Publicis and led the study among more than 9,600 consumers from the US, the UK, India, and Mexico.

“92% of people surveyed actively seek out comments about brands, products, or services on social. More importantly, 68% said their impression of a brand was changed as a result of experiencing brand conversation.”~ Twitter

You can read more insights from the survey here.

5. Reddit released a 2022 Holiday Marketing Guide

With the desire to inspire marketeers and let them plan accordingly this holiday season, Reddit published a 2022 Holiday Marketing Guide.

“90% of users trust Reddit as a place to learn about new products and brands. During the holidays, people come to the platform in droves for recommendations about which gifts to buy, recipes to make, and traditions to start.”~ Reddit

You can find the full Reddit guide here.

Last update: July 12th.

1. Meta inspires marketers with a new video planning guide

Video has been a well-performing social media content format for some time. To honor this, Meta decided to enable marketers to improve their video strategy by introducing a special video planning guide. 

This useful resource aims to help brands outline a productive video marketing process and pinpoints how Meta can help them with available video formats, tools, etc.

You can find more information on the video planning guide here.

2. Twitter publishes Twitter Connect Playbook

Twitter surprised social media managers with a useful resource on how to boost ad performance on the platform and make the best of the different formats and tools available. In a 45-page guide, Twitter shared key best practices and case studies to empower brands and help them activate their audience on the social network.

“There are so many things to consider when planning and running a successful social campaign – enough to fill an entire playbook, in fact. We’ve compiled our best data, learnings, and tips from our own marketers, customer success specialists, account managers, and creative team to create your one-stop shop for Twitter Ads success.” ~ Twitter

You can find Twitter’s Brand Connect Playbook here.

3. LinkedIn shares marketing insights and tips in a digital magazine

Big Thinking is the digital magazine of LinkedIn, and its second edition was recently released to the online marketing world. It covers interesting insights, tips, interviews, and trends to inspire your marketing strategy.

“Issue 2 of our Big Thinking digital magazine aims to meet the challenge of re-imagining growth and how to deliver it. We’ve brought together pioneering thinkers from within marketing and media – and from outside. Together they explore the new expectations that marketers need to meet, the new barriers they need to overcome – and the new ideas that can help them to do it.” ~ LinkedIn

You can check out LinkedIn’s Big Thinking magazine here.

4. TikTok starts a free marketing education series for small businesses

TikTok initiated a special new educational program for SMBs called Follow me. The goal is to provide free tips and tricks on how small businesses can understand the platform better and create a relevant social media strategy.

The program lasts six weeks and educates marketers over emails on key best practices, features, and inspiration on TikTok.

“The 6-week program will run from July 11th to August 19th, and provide SMBs with resources on how to get started on TikTok and take their small business to the next level. Follow Me will serve as a guide for SMBs looking to share their stories, build their community on TikTok, and achieve their business goals.” ~ TikTok

You can find out more about the Follow me program here.

5. Facebook announces new creator collaboration option

Facebook launched a new feature called Creator Collaboration to enable creators on the platform. It helps creators expand their reach in the app via tagging each other.

“With this tool, a creator can invite a second creator to publish a single piece of video content together. If the second creator accepts, the post will publish on both collaborators' pages. Collaborators will share the same distribution for the content, and be able to view shared insights, such as reach and engagement, within Creator Studio.” ~ Facebook

Last update: June 28th.

1. Instagram gives tips on how to improve Reels’ content

Meta shares that Reels make up more than 20% of users’ time spent on Instagram and encourage brands to rethink and improve their social media strategy about them. The short video format proves to be very engaging, with over 45% people interacting with a Reel in the app at least once a week.

“Since its introduction on Facebook and Instagram, Reels has grown to become a treasure trove of entertaining, imaginative and educational video content from around the world. Reels is the ideal place for brands to get discovered on the global stage, to express themselves with more creativity and fun, and can play a powerful role in crafting compelling narratives that drive excitement, engagement and awareness.” ~ Instagram

Find some tips on how to improve your Reels strategy here. 

2. Twitter advises brands on how to use carousel ads and posts

Have your brand activated the power of carousel ads on Twitter? The social network did some tests and shared interesting insights on how carousel ads and posts perform among users.

“During our Beta testing of the multi-destination functionality, we saw on average:

~20% increase in click-through rate across all objectives, relative to single-asset ads*

~25% lift in click-through rate for campaigns that optimize for site visit conversions, relative to single-asset ads*” ~ Twitter

Find out tips on activating the power of carousel ads and posts on Twitter for your brand step by step here.

3. YouTube shares insights into key video trends among Gen Z

YouTube published a new report on the rise of personally-relevant pop culture, where they look into the Gen Z behavior on the social network. They also define three main trends among the generation, which are:

• Community creativity
• Multi-format creativity
• Responsive creativity

To get the complete overview of the report, read more here.

4. Meta introduces new AR and VR audio tools

To improve the virtual experiences, Meta is developing new spacial audio tools.  

“Whether it’s mingling at a party in the metaverse or watching a home movie in your living room through augmented reality (AR) glasses, acoustics play a role in how these moments will be experienced […] We envision a future where people can put on AR glasses and relive a holographic memory that looks and sounds the exact way they experienced it from their vantage point, or feel immersed by not just the graphics but also the sounds as they play games in a virtual world.” ~ Meta

5. LinkedIn inspires brands in content marketing

LinkedIn releases a new content marketing development course. The training and certification are available to all users for free and consist of three modules focusing on LinkedIn tools that can enable marketers to generate better results.

“This new certification is critical because it comes at a time when we see an industry-wide interest in the topic of content strategy and creative design. In fact, as HubSpot’s State of Marketing 2022 Report found, content is continuing its sharp rise in importance even compared to last year, with 66% of marketers expecting to allocate more of their budgets toward it in 2022 and 47% of B2B buyers viewing three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.” ~ LinkedIn

Learn more about the course here.

Last update: June 15th.

1. Instagram now lets you pin posts on your profile

Your brand can now show off three pinned posts or Reels on Instagram and thus create a masterpiece of your IG profile. 

The social network is letting marketers have more control so they can express their unique brand personality in the best way possible.

2. LinkedIn inspires marketers with LinkedIn Ads checklist infographic

No matter if you are just starting out with LinkedIn Ads or looking for some ideas on how to optimize them. The social network shared a 19 Steps to a Successful Campaign Checklist to help you improve your ad results. It contains tips around your account and campaign setup, audience and budget choice, and many fresh ideas based on data. For example, did you know that having four pieces of content live in each campaign will maximize your reach?

3. TikTok starts a new season of its Made for TikTok marketing series

TikTok wants us to improve our TikTok strategy creatively via the new season of Made for TikTok. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s like a late-night talk show where the TikTok creators share tips and tricks on how to succeed on the social platform.

“For the second installment of Made for TikTok, we built a late-night talk show complete with interviews and comedy sketches, featuring a unique group of creators who all happen to work with brands professionally. Hosted by copywriter and TikTok creator Shannon Fiedler, our goal for this series was to help advertisers create TikTok-first strategies, with guidance from experts who speak the language of the creative ad industry.” ~ TikTok

4. Meta releases report on how the pandemic affected the connections between people

The pandemic changed our lives and the way we communicate. Research from Meta shows how the demand for deeper human connection has sparked a profound change in our relationships. The same applies to the relationship between brands and people.

The survey was conducted among 36,000 adults across 12 markets and showed the rising role of augmented and virtual reality in connecting with friends and colleagues.

You can find more about the survey here.

5. Twitter introduces Product Drops to inform shoppers of new product launches

Twitter launched a new feature to help brands alert users about new product releases. A “Remind Me” button will enable shoppers to subscribe and get notifications whenever a new product is available.

“When you click on the merchant’s Tweet, you’ll open the Product Details Page – a full-screen space where you can see all the information you need to make informed and confident purchase decisions. This includes the price, pictures, a description of the product, and a clickable hashtag that will show you what other shoppers on Twitter are saying about the product.”~ Twitter

Latest update: May 31st, 2022

1.Brands can now post to TikTok through new TikTok partners

Brands can now post to TikTok through new TikTok partnersTikTok introduces the TikTok Marketing Partners program’s inaugural group of badged partners in the Content Marketing specialty. Brandwatch is happy to be part of it and help brands thrive on TikTok.

This will bring new opportunities for social media managers to save time and organize, schedule, and publish their TikTok content. 

“At TikTok, we are always looking for ways to make it easier for brands to develop great content that resonates with their communities. We are excited to welcome our new Content Marketing Partners into the TikTok Marketing Partner Program, and to be collaborating with some of the most trusted partners in the industry. These partners will provide marketers with simple, effective tools to help them to regularly publish content, gain valuable performance insight, and meaningfully engage with their communities.” ~ Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, TikTok

Read more about new capabilities in Brandwatch Social Media Management here.

2.LinkedIn explains how their feed algorithm works

LinkedIn has shared insights on how its feed algorithm works. The social network is seeing record levels of user engagement, and they want to build on the momentum by educating brands on how to tackle the algorithm. Therefore, LinkedIn created a special video series called “Mythbusting the Feed”. 

The first two videos are already available. They focus on the type of content that LinkedIn wants to boost and alignment between professional and personal growth via LinkedIn content.

3.Twitter launches Twitter Create mini-site

Twitter recognizes the importance of creators for its platform and tries to help them maximize their efforts by launching Twitter Create. This is a mini-site that provides tips and best practices on how creators can improve their content and monetize it on the social network. The mini-site helps creators in different ways depending on their vertical and explains the various monetization avenues available on Twitter.

Check out the new Twitter mini-site here.

4.Meta reveals insights on the metaverse shift for brands

Meta and the Analysis Group have shared the opportunities the metaverse offers to marketers in a whitepaper. The analysis explains what metaverse is and how it will change the way people engage with brands, shop, and consume advertising.

“One way to think about the metaverse is as a set of interconnected digital spaces, including immersive XR experiences that combine the digital and physical words, in which individuals can easily move between different spaces and experiences as well as interact and collaborate with other people who are not in the same physical space.” ~ from the whitepaper

5.Reddit shares best practices and posting tips for marketers

With over 52 million daily active users, Reddit is a great social network for brands to connect with their target audience and learn more about their interests and behaviors. 

Recently, Reddit shared an infographic with best practices and posting tips to help businesses make the most out of their marketing efforts.

Latest update: May 9th, 2022

1.Instagram announces new ranking algorithm for original content

Interesting news for all social media creators! Instagram shared that they are updating their algorithm to rank higher original content versus shared one. The social network is also adding product and enhanced tags that can help your brand shine on Instagram.

“If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are resharing something that you found from someone else. [As such] we’re going to do more to try and value original content more, particularly compared to reposted content.”~ Adam Mosseri

2. Twitter has a new leader - Elon Musk

Twitter was recently sold to Elon Musk for $44 Billion. All social media managers have the popcorn out and looking for what is next for the social network.

3. Facebook removes Podcasts

Facebook will stop podcasts’s support and display options 10 months after they launched the feature. The social network is shifting their focus from audio options according to Bloomberg.

“Facebook is pulling out of podcasts and plans to remove them altogether from the social-media service starting June 3. Facebook will stop letting people add podcasts to the service starting this week, according to a note sent to partners. It will discontinue both its short-form audio product Soundbites and remove its central audio hub.” ~ Bloomberg

4. TikTok launches new opportunities for advertisers and creators

TikTok announced new ads for brands to showcase their content next to the top 4% most popular videos on the social network via TikTok Pulse. This is also the first ad product to include revenue share with creators with at least 100 000 followers with 50/50 split of the ad revenue.

“Marketers today are looking for the opportunities to be on the pulse of relevant cultural moments. Our goal is to build creative tools for brands to be discovered and connect with the broader communities around them. TikTok Pulse places brands at the heart of TikTok communities and alongside the trending content that is driving conversation and action.” ~ TikTok

5. Meta opens the first retail store for its products

When virtual reality meets the brick and mortar one, this is definitely news. Meta launched their first retail store for VR headsets in California, USA. 

“Once people experience the technology, they can gain a better appreciation for it. If we did our job right, people should leave and tell their friends, ‘You’ve got to go check out the Meta Store.’” ~ Martin Gilliard, Head of Meta Store

Updated on April 5th, 2022

1. Instagram lets all users tag products in Feed posts

Instagram will enable everyone to tag products in Feed posts. Starting with their US audience, the social network will continue its eCommerce focus by giving users the chance to provide a direct link to products and brands in their uploads.

Businesses will receive a notification when their products are tagged and view all tagged content on their profile.

2. LinkedIn announces Newsletters for Company Pages and an updated Campaign Manager Navigation

Company Pages can now create their newsletters in the LinkedIn app. The latter will be accompanied by notifications to Page followers whenever there is a new newsletter update.

LinkedIn also presented an updated Campaign Page Navigation, which offers better UI and saves time for marketers.

“Enabling you to spend less time managing and more time executing successful campaigns, the simplified, left-oriented Campaign Manager navigation offers easy access to your account settings and asset management in addition to the ability to quickly toggle between multiple accounts.”  ~ LinkedIn

3. Meta consolidates its automated ad products

Meta announced a new ad portfolio called Meta Advantage that encompasses all its automated ad tools in one place. 

They also renamed the tools to help marketers navigate through them and achieve better results. The portfolio is called Meta Advantage and it is split into two parts, as explained by Meta:

“First, there are features marked “Advantage” that allow you to enhance a specific aspect of your manual campaign setup, such as the selected Detailed Targeting options within your target audience. Second, there are products marked “Advantage+” that allow you to automate an entire campaign flow from end-to-end or an entire core step of your manual campaign setup, such as placements or creative.”

4. Elon Musk became the largest Twitter shareholder

Tesla owner Elon Musk purchased 73.5 million shares in the company, worth close to 3 billion dollars. This means that Musk now owns 9.2% of Twitter, making him the largest stakeholder. His stake is passive which indicates that he does not gain a board seat or voting rights.

Twitter’s share price has increased by more than 28% ever since the announcement of Musk’s stake. What’s next for Twitter and the social media scene?

5. Instagram gives users control over the Feed

Instagram launched a new feature that enables users to shape the experience they have with their Feed. Everyone can now select what content they want to see and the options are:

• Favorites

Favorites displays the latest posts from accounts that the user has added to their Favorites list. There can be up to 50 in this list.

• Following

This option shows posts from all accounts that the user follows.

The posts for both options will be displayed in a chronological order, not following an algorithm.

Updated on March 21st, 2022

1. Instagram inspires and educates with a new Creator Lab

Do you want to get ideas on creating great content for Instagram for your brand? Or maybe you want to figure out how to find the right creator to partner with?

Instagram has initiated a Creator Lab, where you can better understand what works on Instagram and valuable tips and insights on how to upgrade your social media strategy.

2. TikTok shares how to maximize branded content

TikTok recently revealed how brands could boost their great stories on the platform. The guide features everything from how many characters you should use in your clips to custom songs and more valuable data to create the perfect TikTok for your brand.

3. LinkedIn helps tech marketers with a special guide

LinkedIn has published a new guide to teach tech brands to boost their campaign performance. It contains a lot of data-driven insights that can inspire any brand, no matter if it is related to the tech industry. 

If you want to know more, look at the ‘How Technology Marketers Drive Leads on LinkedIn’ guide.

4. YouTube reveals interesting facts about their algorithm

YouTube answered some important questions on how their algorithms help to improve your channel’s performance. Watch the video below and find out how to use those tips to improve your social media strategy.

5. Meta gives tips on Live Videos on Facebook and Instagram

Last week, Meta shared some great insights into how to create live videos. You can see below some of their tips as well as great inspiration from influencers.

Updated on March 1st, 2022

1. Facebook Reels are now available globally

Meta is making Facebook Reels available in 150 more regions. The social network will display these at the top of user feeds and videos will be up to 60 seconds in length. The engagement will likely be boosted further by giving users the option to share a Reel to a Story.

2. TikTok shares rising trends report for marketers

TikTok has come out with insights on key user trends and shifts that can enable marketers to engage better on the platform. It’s a second edition of their “What’s Next” culture drivers report and presents the big picture on users’ behaviors and interests as well as some case studies. 

If you are looking for some inspiration on TikTok for your brand check out the report here.

3. LinkedIn launches new post analytics tools

LinkedIn is giving marketers a better overview on content performance with new post analytics tools. These will show the members that are reading their LinkedIn updates and how many reactions were generated.

“We know it’s important to understand what content is resonating with your audience and our team has been hard at work building new analytics for our creators. Soon, creators will be able to get analytics on their individual posts and overall performance, across content & audience.” ~ Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer at LinkedIn

4. Facebook’s new educational video series

It’s time to go back to school! Facebook has relaunched their Social Skills series, which bring inspiration and knowledge to social media marketers. The first two episodes are available now so don’t hesitate to check them out here. 

5. Instagram reveals the ranking factors in its algorithms

Instagram has shared valuable insights into how they rank feed posts, Stories, and Reels. The main factors influencing your Instagram content performance are:

• The popularity of the post
• The interests of the reader
• How much interaction you’ve had with the reader

Updated on February 15th, 2022

1. Check out the Super Bowl LVI in Numbers

Social media plays a big role during the Super Bowl and if you are interested in the numbers behind the 2022 events check out this analysis from Brandwatch.

According to the research, Coinbase is the ad that drove most of the attention on social this year with more than 79,000 mentions during the game.

2. Instagram tests converting Stories to Reels

Instagram is experimenting with taking your Stories to the next level. It seems that they are looking into giving brands a chance to convert their Stories highlights into Reels.

What a great way to recycle your content!

3. TikTok reveals insights for the retail business

TikTok shared a new report on how retail brands can convert their efforts on the social platform.

“By listening to the TikTok community, we meet users where they want to be met, and it’s not in the funnel. Rather, it is an infinite loop with no start or end point, and it empowers brands to establish more meaningful relationships with consumers that result in communities of brand loyalists, repeat purchases, and greater spending.” ~ TikTok

You can find out more insights from the TikTok survey here.

4. Meta launches new metaverse for its Quest 2 VR Headsets

Welcome to the new world created by Meta! They shared what the next stage of the metaverse journey will be and insights on how we will be interacting in the digital future in an ad.

Game on!

5. Twitter gives tips to brands on what to share in their tweets

Twitter came out with a #RealTalk about how brands can optimize their presence on the social network. They conducted a research among 2000 brands to find out what works for them on Twitter.

“Now more than ever, it’s important for brands to understand how and when people want them to show up in the public conversation. That’s why the brand strategy experts at Twitter Next conducted first-of-its-kind research about people’s attitudes on Twitter – analyzing thousands of Tweets from the world’s most iconic brands and conducting tests and surveys in eight countries – and what that means for the evolution of brand behavior.” ~ Twitter

You can read Twitter’s full report here.

Updated on February 1st, 2022

1. TikTok creates an online course to enable marketers

TikTok launched a free online course on how to utilize the platform in the best way for your brand. 

You can learn a lot of tips and tricks on how to use TikTok for your business in terms of targeting, inspirational ideas, and many more. You can try it here. 

2. YouTube sets the scene for the 2022 Super Bowl Ads

It’s that time of the year when all marketers are preparing some popcorn and sitting in front of the TV/laptop to get some inspiration. 

The Super Bowl has been the right place to see ad masterpieces for many years and YouTube is setting the stage for the 2022 edition. 

Check out YouTube’s AdBlitz for more inspiration.

3. Instagram finds new ways to monetize the platform for creators

Good news for all Instagram creators! The platform is testing new ways for you to get subscriptions and monetize your business model. 

“With Instagram Subscriptions, creators can develop deeper connections with their most engaged followers and grow their recurring monthly income by giving subscribers access to exclusive content and benefits, all within the same platform where they interact with them already.” ~ Instagram

4. Meta launches NFT marketplace beyond profile pictures

Meta is making a move into the NFT scene and is already thinking beyond NFT profile pictures.

“Teams at Facebook and Instagram are readying a feature that will allow users to display their NFTs on their social media profiles, as well as working on a prototype to help users create – or mint – the collectible tokens, according to several people familiar with the matter. Two of the people said that Meta has also discussed launching a marketplace for users to buy and sell NFTs.” ~ Financial Times

If you want to know more about how brands can use NFTs read this.

5. Meta comes up with 3D avatars to be part of Instagram

Welcome to Meta’s new ideas! It seems you can get a new avatar for yourself for the Super Bowl LVI. Looking forward to seeing what is going to come up next for brands!

“From now until February 28th, you’ll be able to outfit your Avatar to support either of the two Super Bowl LVI contenders – or if you can’t bring yourself to cheer for either team, there’s also a neutral Super Bowl LVI shirt you can choose instead.” ~ Meta

Updated on January 4th, 2022

1. Instagram shares their 2022 priorities

Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri revealed the social network’s plans for this year. Among those are an increased focus on:

• Video, especially Reels

“We’re going to double-down on our focus on video and consolidate all of our video formats around Reels” ~ Adam Mosseri, Instagram

• Messaging
• Transparency
• Creators

2. Meta optimizes the advertising process

Meta announced that they are making changes in Ads Manager to streamline the ad campaign process. They’ve now reduced the number of ad objectives you can choose from 11 to 6.

“In order to effectively guide advertisers to optimal campaign setups, we’re redesigning the objective selection experience when creating new campaigns in Ads Manager. We’re moving to an outcome-driven ad experiences model (ODAX), where advertisers can select their designed business outcomes (e.g. Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion, Sales) and the interface will guide advertisers to the most optimal campaign setup/creation paths to achieve that outcome.” ~ Meta 

Learn more about this change here.

3. TikTok tests a repost video feature

TikTok is looking into a repost option where creators and brands can re-share clips with their followers. The Reposted clip will then be displayed in their connections’ feeds together with your comments.

4. LinkedIn starts a campaign for the importance of representation in the workplace

The social network promoted a video that celebrates and embraces diversity in the workplace. LinkedIn had also enabled a feature a few months ago where users can add pronouns to their personal profiles and ever since, they’ve seen more than 6 million people taking advantage of that.

“Almost 50% of job seekers in the U.S. say they’re more likely to be their authentic self in how they show up in the workplace compared to a year ago. And we’ve seen these conversations happen around the world in our LinkedIn community, as our members reconsider their priorities and relationships with work and life, and reclaim that being professional really means creating inclusive spaces and culture to honor each other as who we are, so that we can bring our unique experiences and perspectives to the table.” ~ LinkedIn

5. Meta grows its Bulletin newsletter platform

Meta reported that its Bulletin newsletter platform has grown since April 2021 when it was launched. More than half of the creators on there now have around 1000 free email subscribers, with many having more than 5000.

“When we launched Bulletin, we began with a small group of voices to learn how to best support their work. Six months later, we have more than 115 publications on Bulletin, and we’re energized by all the ways this first group has made meaningful connections with their audiences. This is the start of our overall effort to connect people in a more significant way to content from a broader set of sources and experts.” ~ Meta

Updated on December 20th, 2021

1. Instagram publishes 2022 Trend Report

Instagram released an insightful 2022 Trend Report to help brands and marketers understand emerging shifts and rising movements across various areas like food, wellness, memes, fashion, and beauty.

“In order to create this report*, we tapped into the minds of Gen-Z to learn more about the rising Instagram trends across categories including music, fashion, creators and celebs, beauty, social justice, and so much more. From redefining how they approach education and the idea of a “career,” to maximalist fashion statements, these future-focused audiences are consistently creating the reality they want to live in.” ~ Instagram

Instagram also created a series of video interviews with influencers to provide further insights into the 2022 trends.

You can find the 2022 Instagram Trend Report here. 

If you’re looking for more inspiration on what to expect and what to incorporate into your digital marketing strategy next year, check out our 2022 Digital Trends eBook.

2. TikTok plans to open ‘TikTok Kitchen’ chain of delivery-only restaurants

TikTok is opening a new chain of delivery-only restaurants in the US. The social network will convert the app’s recipe videos into themed menus in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts and Grubhub.

“The menu at the restaurants will draw upon the most popular viral food posts on TikTok, which people can then have delivered to their door via Grubhub. TikTok plans to launch around 300 locations that will start delivering dishes in March, with plans to open more than 1,000 restaurants by the end of next year.” ~ TechCrunch

3. Twitter shares 2022 planning guide

Twitter has published a 2022 planning guide to help brands streamline their social media strategies. The 69-page guide includes useful templates and tips and tricks on how to boost your presence on Twitter next year.

“We’ve compiled some of our best Twitter tips and tools into our 2022 Twitter Planner to help you brainstorm and plan your marketing campaigns for 2022. Learn our best practices, how to align your campaigns with your business objectives, and tips for setting campaign targets.” ~ Twitter

You can find the Twitter planning guide here.

If you’re looking to improve your 2022 social media strategy, check out our handy social media holiday calendar and template.

Twitter has also highlighted inspiring examples of top agency ad campaigns and top tweets and trends from 2021.

4. Meta expands Horizon Worlds

Meta’s Horizon Worlds VR creation and interaction platform is available now to everyone over 18 in the US and Canada. This is an exciting introduction to virtual reality for new Meta VR users – it’s a platform where you can build whatever you like and invite others to join the experience.

“Horizon Worlds is a social VR experience where you can create and explore together. Since launching as an invite-only beta last year, we’ve been amazed by the community that’s begun to form and inspired by the unique experiences they’ve built.” ~ Meta

5. Pinterest publishes 2022 trend predictions

Pinterest surprised marketers by releasing a 2022 trends prediction report. It contains 35 trends expected in the near future, and it highlights industries like make-up, fashion, home decor, and many more.

The report has a summary overview of each trend, along with related search trends and creators. 

“The trends we’ve predicted for 2022 are meant to feel surprising—Altbashes, anyone?—but what’s even more unexpected are the people behind them.” ~ Pinterest

You can find Pinterest’s 2022 trend predictions here or check out their Pinterest Predicts mini-site.

Updated on December 6th, 2021

1. TikTok reveals the most popular promoted products in a 2021 guide

TikTok now makes available a list of 23 products that were most popular on the social network in 2021. They wrapped up the top promoted performers in a 2021 #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt Holiday Gift Guide.

“It’s a whole new kind of commerce that’s emerging on TikTok, with our users at the helm—and it’s transforming the way consumers and brands interact. In fact, 83% of TikTokers said they come here for product reviews, and it’s why 67% said they were inspired by the community to shop, even when they weren’t looking to do so." ~TikTok

2. Facebook explains how to create and promote podcasts on the social network

Has your brand started with social audio? Recently, Facebook published a new guide on how to link and promote podcasts on the platform with Facebook’s features. The podcasts are available to selected creators at the moment and help brands create new opportunities and increase reach and engagement on the social network.

3. YouTube announces the 2021 top-performing videos and creators

YouTube gave a big shout-out to the top videos and creators in 2021 in a special overview. Their listings are segmented by 17 regions across the world and give your brand insights on what was trending across the social network this year.

YouTube also shared the key trends they’ve observed on the platform in order to help brands shape up their strategy for 2022. Shorts clips were one of the successful new features in 2021 and generated more than 15 billion cumulative views per day.

If you want to learn more about what kind of digital trends to expect in 2022, you can read our eBook.

4. Livestream shopping is being tested on Twitter

Twitter continues investing in eCommerce features by testing a livestream shopping one following the steps of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. They even conducted their first live event on November 28th in collaboration with Walmart.

5. LinkedIn conducts a survey on Gen Z

LinkedIn pulled the curtains to show brands how Gen Z consumes and engages with content on the platform as well as purchases products. LinkedIn conducted research among 78 million Gen Z members and you can find their findings here.

“Gen Z is the fastest-growing global audience demographic on LinkedIn. At present, there are 78 million global Gen Zers on LinkedIn, representing roughly 10% of LinkedIn’s global member base. Soon, Gen Z will become the largest generation of consumers, currently accounting for $143 billion in direct spending.” ~ LinkedIn

Updated on November 22, 2021

1. The 10 key 2022 digital marketing trends revealed

2022 is almost here — are you ready to face the new opportunities and challenges it will bring?

We’ve joined forces with Buzzsumo and monitored over 100 million online sources, 100,000 brands, and 8 billion pieces of content published online to compile 10 trends vital to help your business create a winning 2022 digital marketing strategy.

Get some inspiration for 2022 right here.

2. Instagram announces some much-desired features

Instagram surprised marketeers with two great features:

• Deletion of individual posts from carousels.

This long-awaited option to remove only some of the photos you have in your published carousels is finally here.

• Rage Shake.

Users can now report an issue in their Instagram app by just shaking their phones. Then, a pop-up will come up and prompt them to explain and report the issue. In this way the users’ feedback will reach the Instagram team to fix and report about it.

3. TikTok enables brands to connect with top creators via a new Creative Exchange platform

TikTok continues to bring new opportunities to match brands and creators on the social network. They’ve just introduced the new Creative Exchange platform, where businesses can pitch a campaign brief and then creators can respond to it and arrange content deals.

“TikTok Creative Exchange platform gives marketers instant access to a selection of the best TikTok creative partners in the industry, and enables efficient collaboration at scale. Our network of creative experts will help tailor and personalize content to improve ad performance on TikTok and drive business results.” ~ TikTok

4. YouTube has started a livestream shopping series

eCommerce has been big in 2021 and looks like it’s going to be even bigger in 2022. Youtube also joined the trend and started a series of livestream shopping events around the holidays. This will enable influencers and celebrities to engage with their community in real time.

5. Facebook shares Most Viewed Content Report for Q3

The social network revealed what type of content was mostly viewed in the past quarter. Get some insights from the report for your brand.

“87.1% of views came from posts shared by people’s friends, from Groups people had joined, or Pages they had followed. Of the remaining 12.9% of News Feed content views in the US during Q3 2021, 11.7% came from in feed recommendations which show people content from sources they are not connected to but we think they might be interested in; we refer to this content as ‘unconnected posts’. The last 1.2% came from less common products, such as Events, and logging discrepancies.” ~ Facebook

Updated on November 2nd, 2021

1. Welcome to the new era of Facebook — Meta

Facebook’s AR/VR-focused Connect event was full of surprises. Mark Zuckerberg announced that the new corporate name of the parent company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus is Meta. The rebranding also comes with the promise of the company to build the metaverse.

“To reflect who we are and what we hope to build, I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta. Our mission remains the same — it’s still about bringing people together. Our apps and our brands — they’re not changing either. From now on, we’re going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.” ~ Mark Zuckerberg

During the Connect event, the company also shared some new features like AR tools, advanced VR options, and other hardware projects. Read more about it here.

2. LinkedIn announces new Company Pages tools to enhance brands’ employee advocacy and branding

LinkedIn announced new features for Company Pages. Now, brands can:

• List whether their employees’ place of work is ‘remote’, ‘hybrid’ or ‘on-site’.
• Use new customizable analytics to benchmark LinkedIn pages against competitors.
• Utilize an updated My Company feature to help communicate with their employees.

“With these [new] updates, you can easily curate content from your Page feed to the My Company Tab with the simple click of a button. We’ll notify employees as soon as new content is curated and drop them right into the re-sharing experience, so they know exactly how they can help amplify your messages. We’ll also show employees how their re-share matters, with a dynamic visualization of the content that others at the organization are sharing.” ~ LinkedIn

3. TikTok tells the world why people enjoy the app

Do you want to learn why people use TikTok? The social network released a study in partnership with Nielsen to bring some light on why users appreciate TikTok in comparison to the competition.

“Nielsen’s study shows users around the globe find TikTok content to be authentic, genuine, unfiltered and trendsetting. At the same time, when looking specifically at advertising content, users still associated terms such as authentic and genuine, while adding honest, real, unique and fun.” ~ TikTok

4. Pinterest launches new features at its Creators’ Festival

Pinterest announced new features during its Creators’ Festival. They will introduce a ‘Watch’ feed for Pin content, which resembles TikTok’s feature quite a lot, as well as ‘Takes’ — a response option for Idea Pins.

“These new experiences empower creators to publish and drive meaningful engagement while getting paid for inspiring content, and provides Pinners with more ways to watch, make and shop creator ideas.” ~ Pinterest

5. Twitter reached 211 million active users and announced Twitter for Professionals

The Twitter days are looking good! According to their Q3 2021 performance report, the social network has a steady growth in users and revenue. Twitter users rose up to 211 million and there is a 13% year-over-year increase.

Find out more findings from the Twitter report here.

Twitter also announced that starting this week, they offer a new platform for brand identity called Twitter for Professionals.

“In the last year, we have introduced a handful of new ways for professionals to enrich their experiences on Twitter. Whether you’re a creator looking to make money or someone who wants access to exclusive features and perks, we want to give everyone on Twitter – creators, marketers, businesses, and everyday people – reasons to come and stay.” ~ Twitter

Updated on October 18th, 2022

1. Halloween is knocking on our social media doors

Trick or treat! Well, the social networks this year only want to treat you — with some great tips on how your brand can celebrate Halloween with your community on social media. Here are some ideas from:

• Facebook.
• TikTok.

2. Facebook launches new AI that can predict and guide future process steps

If you’ve thought you’ve seen it all – just wait! Facebook is working on a new machine learning process called Anticipate Video Transformer. It will forecast future actions based on visual interpretation and it’s related to their ongoing development of AR wearables.

“AVT could be especially useful for applications such as an AR “action coach” or an AI assistant, by prompting someone that they may be about to make a mistake in completing a task or by reacting ahead of time with a helpful prompt for the next step in a task. For example, AVT could warn someone that the pan they’re about to pick up is hot, based on the person’s previous interactions with the pan.” ~ Facebook

Read this if you want to learn more on the topic.

3. Twitter launches ‘Spark’ program for audio creators on Twitter Spaces

Twitter is trying to activate new star creators on its Spaces live audio product. They expanded the Spaces tab, took their broadcast discovery to a new level, and have now initiated a support initiative for audio talents.

“The Twitter Spaces Spark Program is a three-month accelerator initiative that’s designed to discover and reward great Spaces on Twitter with financial, technical, and marketing support. We’re looking for emerging Creators who are passionate about the live social audio format and interested in creating recurring programming on Spaces.” ~Twitter

4. Facebook explains improved privacy regulations in a video series

In their attempt to explain how privacy works on the social network, Facebook launched ads which call for more Government regulation of the tech sector as well as show the people behind their products.

“We make a lot of difficult decisions. We work in the spectrum of freedom of expression versus content moderation and constantly trying to figure out where on that spectrum we should land. I don’t know if that is right to have a private corporation like Facebook, dictating what those boundaries are.”~ Jack, Facebook

5. YouTube reveals the vision for Shorts

TikTok definitely influenced YouTube’s plan and prompted them into the creation of the short-form video feed ‘Shorts’ last September. One year later, the social network reveals the key area of focus of that feature.

Updated on October 5th, 2022

1. Facebook launches Reels in the USA 

Reels on Facebook are now available to all US users. The social network has been testing it since March 2021 and now it is bringing it to its 250 million+ US audience. 

“Reels on Facebook can consist of music, audio, effects and more. You can find them in News Feed or in Groups, and when viewing a reel on Facebook, you can easily follow the creator directly from the video, like and comment on it, or share it with friends.” ~ Facebook  

2. Twitter starts their 2021 ‘Best of Tweets’ campaign

Is your brand ready to become part of Twitter’s Hall of fame this year? Now, you’ve got this chance by applying for the ‘Twitter’s Best Of Tweets’ campaign.  

There are a couple of categories your brand can choose from and among last year’s winners are Gatorade, Uber, Ben & Jerry’s, and more. 

“Twitter’s Best Of Tweets is our hall of fame, our GOAT, our crowning achievement for the brands that creatively leveraged Twitter this year to launch something new, or to connect to what’s happening like no one else could. And we want to hear from you, does your brand deserve to be crowned a winner?” ~ Twitter 

3. TikTok shares big announcements at TikTok World

On September 28, TikTok organized its first TikTok World business event, where they announced a lot of new tools for brands to become successful on the social network. They also explained their plans on how to monetize their constantly growing audience and enable creators to earn money from their presence on the platform. 

Among the announcements were: 

Updated version of Tik-Tok’s Creator Marketplace to better connect brands with influencers. 

“TikTok Creator Marketplace provides discovery tools to match businesses with a diverse range of creators for every campaign, brand voice and budget. You can filter based on the type of content they post, where they’re located, their average views, and more.” ~ TikTok 

Learn more about the new features that will connect brands and influencers on TikTok here. 

New self-serve portal called the TikTok Creative Exchange. 

This portal will help match brands with creative service providers thus enabling businesses to create more successful ads. 

“Through this portal, you can manage projects, feedback, approvals, and insights – all in a streamlined process designed to help you create impactful ads.” ~ TikTok 

New Creative Center to enable advertisers to understand what performs best in real time. 

Brands will be able to explore top-performing ads, latest trends and search through TikTok’s audio library. 

New eCommerce tools. 

TikTok clearly states that eCommerce will be their main focus and shared a lot of new tools and solutions for brands among which are: 

• New product links in video clips. 
• New Collection Ads to include product cards. 
• Dynamic Showcase Ads. 
• Customized Instant Pages. 
• New stickers to illustrate products in clips. 
• Gesture ads to reward users who engage. 
• ‘Story Selection’ ads to prompt more interaction in clips. 

You can read more on the TikTok announcement here. 

4. Facebook launches features for Messenger, Instagram Direct, and new chat tools

Facebook introduced new features for Messeger and Instagram Direct, among which is the option for cross-app group chats in order to enable users to create group chats between the two apps. This feature will eventually include also Whatsapp.  

“Last year, we announced cross-app messaging between Messenger and Instagram. With this update, you’ll be able to start group chats between your Instagram and Messenger contacts.” ~ Facebook 

You can read more about all the new chat tools here. 

5. Facebook is back after a six-hour global outage

On October 4th Facebook was facing an outage which took down the social network for six hours as well as Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger, and Oculus VR around the world. The networks started recovering their activities, which are said to be caused by DNS routing problems. 

Updated on September 20th, 2021

1. Facebook announces new business products for personalized messaging

Facebook has launched new business tools to help brands connect directly with their leads and customers. This will help brands to focus on personalized messaging and business discovery, which are part of Facebook’s updates around Facebook Shops.

With the new tools, once your brand creates a message ad, Facebook will identify the messaging platform the users use most often and suggest they message you on that service.

“Businesses can already buy ads that encourage people to message them, whether in Messenger, Instagram Direct or WhatsApp. Now, businesses can choose all the messaging platforms where they’re available to chat, and we’ll default the chat app in your ad based on where a conversation is most likely to happen.” ~ Facebook

2. LinkedIn introduces new business tools to increase brands’ engagement

Here are some of the new features LinkedIn announced for this quarter:

Articles for Pages 

LinkedIn introduced Articles for Pages, which is a long-form blogging feature that has been available for personal profiles so far.

“While members on LinkedIn have long had the ability to draft and publish long-form articles on the platform, organizations have been limited to character counts for organic posts in the feed. That’s no longer the case with Articles for Pages.” ~ LinkedIn

Live Events 

LinkedIn put together the reach and engagement of their live-streaming tool with LinkedIn Events’ planning and targeting options.

“You asked, and we heard you. One of your top-requested updates was for our “Scheduled LinkedIn Live” and “LinkedIn Events” products to work better together for maximum reach and engagement. We’re excited to deliver on this with LinkedIn Live Events.” ~ LinkedIn 

Measure and Optimize Brand Awareness 

LinkedIn is offering new ways for your brand to measure your impact on the social network. The three new enhancements are towards:

• Brand Lift Testing.
• Reach Optimization.
• Reach/Frequency Forecasting and Reporting.

Read more about the new features here.

3. Twitter tests topic-based ‘Communities’

Twitter is testing a new feature called ‘Communities’, which enables the audience to share tweets with selected and topic-based groups of users.

“Some conversations aren’t for everyone, just the people who want to talk about the thing you want to talk about. When you join a Community, you can Tweet directly to that group instead of to all your followers. Only members in the same Community are able to reply and join the conversation so it stays intimate and relevant.” ~Twitter

4. Instagram is developing a new feature to convert Stories to Reels

In their desire to grow Reels, Instagram is testing the ‘Montage’ feature, which helps users convert their Instagram Stories into Reels video clips. You can choose the stories you want to feature, put them together and add relevant audio.

5. TikTok partners with MTV for New ‘Trending: VMA’ Awards

TikTok teams up with MTV for an exciting partnership around the VMA Awards. There will be a set of awards voted exclusively by TikTok users, which is an interesting move from the social network. The TikTok ‘Trending: VMA’ awards will “celebrate the creators and artists driving music trends and culture”.

“Beginning today, fans can vote for their favorites in categories like Best Breakthrough Song, Best Audio Mashup, and Best Artist x Creator Collab exclusively on TikTok.” ~ TikTok

Updated on September 7th, 2021

1. Instagram reveals how its search algorithms work

It’s time to open the curtains and look at how the search algorithms work on Instagram. The social network published a new edition of their How Instagram Works series, where they explain the formula behind the search function and how you can use it to improve your brand’s presence on Instagram. 

The most important signals they consider are: 

• The text you enter in the search bar. 
• Your previous activity with accounts and posts. 
• The popularity of the search results — the more engaging the item, the higher it will appear in the search results.  

For more insights, read the full article here.  

2. LinkedIn is shutting down LinkedIn Stories

LinkedIn announced that they are going to remove LinkedIn Stories by the end of September.  

“We introduced Stories last year as a fun and casual way to share quick video updates. We’ve learned a ton. Now, we’re taking those learnings to evolve the Stories format into a reimagined video experience across LinkedIn that’s even richer and more conversational. We want to embrace mixed media and creative tools of Stories in a consistent way across our platform while working to integrate it more tightly with your professional identity.” ~ Liz Li, Senior Director of Product at LinkedIn 

LinkedIn followed their users’ feedback when making this decision. Here are some of their audience’s insights: 

• People wish to create lasting videos rather than ones that disappear from their profiles after 24 hours. 
• Creative tools are needed that would help people tell their professional stories. 

Therefore, LinkedIn will take this feedback and incorporate it in their next video project. We are looking forward to seeing it!

3. TikTok opens a quick ‘Promote’ ad option to all business users

TikTok has been testing a boost-like ‘Promote’ option with selected profiles for a couple of months and now it is available for all users. The ad feature is similar to Facebook’s Boost button, and it allows brands to quickly and easily put amplify their posts with ads. 

 “Starting this month, Promote is available to help businesses reach more people and grow their community with their TikTok videos. With Promote, you can turn any organic TikTok video into an ad, directly within the app. You can start reaching new audiences, build a following, and drive traffic to your business website.” ~ TikTok 

4. Twitter commerce is on its way

Twitter is testing various shopping tools that can develop the app in the direction of e-commerce. They will eventually allow users to save product listings and make actual purchases directly from the social network.  

The latest experiment spotted a new ‘Purchase’ tab in users’ profiles, which displays subscriptions or digital tickets bought via Twitter.  

Stay tuned to learn more on how this rolls out! 

5. Goodbye, Stories’ Swipe-Up Links on Instagram

Starting August 30th, Instagram started deprecating the Stories Swipe-Up links. Instead, they are introducing a ‘Link’ sticker, which will be available to all users already having access to swipe-ups.  

“At the time of the test, Vishal Shah, Instagram’s former head of product, told The Verge the stickers fit more with the way people currently use the platform. He also said the goal was to more widely roll out the stickers. The key difference between the two features, apart from the obvious gesture difference, is viewers can respond to stories that have a link sticker, but cannot respond to swipe up stories.” ~ The Verge 

Updated on August 23rd, 2021

1. Facebook Launches Horizon Workrooms, a VR Collaboration and Meeting Platform

Facebook is bringing virtual meetings to a whole new level with the new Horizon Workrooms VR collaboration space. Their goal is to provide a new VR opportunity for teams to meet and collaborate virtually, thus improving their productivity.

“Workrooms is a virtual meeting space where you and your colleagues can work better together from anywhere. You can join a meeting in VR as an avatar or dial into the virtual room from your computer by video call. You can use a huge virtual whiteboard to sketch out ideas together, bring your computer and keyboard into VR to work together with others, or just have expressive conversations that feel more like you’re together in person.” ~ Facebook

2. TikTok publishes Creative Solutions Guide and partners with Vimeo and Canva

TikTok launched a special guide to inspire and educate creators on how to build compelling campaigns. It covers the key aspects of successful TikTok videos, gives an overview of utilizing TikTok’s features and optimization solutions, and tools to improve brands’ video productions.

“Creative content on TikTok doesn’t require a big production budget. Our built-in offerings and effects, paired with authentic, sound-on, and immersive full-screen creative is more than enough to wow audiences and win their hearts. 

TikTok’s video creation and optimization solutions help reinvent the flow of video productions, allowing for content to be built for TikTok from the ground up. According to our analysis in Q1 of 2021, retail companies that utilized TikTok’s creative tools delivered creative 14x more efficiently.” ~ TikTok 

TikTok also announced new partnerships with Vimeo and Canva, which will enable marketers to create effective campaigns in each of the applications.

3. Facebook Reels are tested in the US

Facebook Reels are coming to the US in the attempt of the social network to provide a short-form video option to the audience. Creators will also be able to share their Instagram Reels to the Facebook app, displayed under their Instagram profile name.

“Facebook Reels will give Facebook users the ability to create and share short-form video content directly within the News Feed or within Facebook Groups. Initially, you’ll be able to tap a “Create” button from the Reels section that appears as you scroll the News Feed, while you’re watching Reels or by tapping on “Reels” at the top of your News Feed. From here, users will gain access to a standard set of creation tools, including those for video capture, music selection, camera roll import, timed text and more.” ~ Techcrunch

4. LinkedIn Presents a Guide to Effective Brand Building

LinkedIn published a 33-page guide on how to build your brand on the social network effectively. It helps businesses understand how to activate their brand on LinkedIn, measure their share of voice and the value of emotional messaging.

“With more than 774M+ active LinkedIn members, and 58M registered companies, your brand campaigns have a sizable reach. This unique environment, coupled with our reach optimization product, makes LinkedIn a great place to efficiently reach everyone in a B2B category.” ~ LinkedIn

5. Facebook Publishes the Widely Viewed Content Report

Facebook introduced the Widely Viewed Content Report to provide transparency and explain what content users consume in News Feed. The report reveals what kind of posts and pages are mostly viewed and the fact that 57% of posts that people see are from their family and friends.

“Fewer than 13% of content views were on posts with links, and the top-viewed news domains account for only 0.31% of all content views in News Feed. Of those outlets, mainstream media dominate by views.” ~ Facebook 

Facebook also stressed that content that most people see isn’t necessarily the most engaging one on News Feed. Check out the report for more details.

Updated on August 9th, 2021

1. TikTok is testing TikTok Stories

It looks like TikTok is going to add a Stories-like feature for creators to express themselves. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Snapchat have such features already, even though Twitter just got rid of their version of it.

The TikTok stories will be available for 24 hours and displayed in a collapsible left-hand side panel in the app’s main feed. There will be a dedicated camera and creation flow to make it for users to either find or create.

2. Instagram reveals how the Reels algorithm works

Instagram Reels are so much fun, but do you know how to make them efficient for your social ROI? Instagram just pulled back the curtains to show us how a brand can enable Instagram Reels for their business.

These are the main signals Instagram is looking for:

• Reels followers are likely to be interested in, depending on how they have engaged with previous content.
• Their history with the brand.
• The quality of the content when it comes to audio and video.
• Information about your brand and how others interacted with it.

Also, recently Instagram Reels expanded to 60 seconds, which gives your brand great opportunities.

3. Twitter is growing into eCommerce by testing a Shop Module

Twitter is testing a new feature in the eCommerce area, which allows shoppers to go all the way from discovering new products to purchasing them.

“The Shop Module is a dedicated space at the top of a profile where businesses can showcase their products. When people visit a profile with the Shop Module enabled, they can scroll through the carousel of products and tap through on a single product to learn more and purchase – seamlessly in an in-app browser, without having to leave Twitter.” ~ Twitter

4. LinkedIn Acquires Tutorial Video App Jumprope

Jumprope is a platform to share skills and ideas by creating step-by-step video tutorials and then export those videos to every social platform. You can use video, still images, preset formats and overlays.

LinkedIn is expanding in the area of video by acquiring the how-to video app Jumprope. The social network will now provide more on-platform tools for creators and grow LinkedIn Learning for professional skills development.

“We started Jumprope to empower anyone to share their knowledge and passion in an engaging video-based format. But, while 2 million people per month watch Jumpropes on our platform, we realized we could build something so much bigger if we joined LinkedIn. This truly is an opportunity to fulfill the Jumprope vision of reaching a global community.” ~ Jake Poses, Jumprope CEO

5. Facebook Launches Campaign Ideas Generator

Facebook is trying to inspire small businesses by providing them with a campaign ideas tool. The new Campaign Ideas Generator helps brands to develop content for new campaigns by providing them with inspiration, pre-made assets, and other resources.

All you need to do is select your business type and the tool will suggest you campaign ideas and insights customized for your business needs. You can also look into content ideas related to your vertical or a specific upcoming holiday.

Updated on July 23rd, 2021

1. Clubhouse is now open to all users

Good news — Clubhouse is out of closed beta and open to everyone to tune in to audio chats. The exclusive app created a lot of buzz around marketeers during the past year, and now it’s available for all users.

“Twelve never-boring months later, we’re thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin its next chapter. This means we have removed our waitlist system so that anyone can join. If you have a club, you can post your link far and wide. If you are a creator with an audience, you can bring them all on. If you’re hosting a public event, anyone can attend. You can bring close friends, classmates, family members, coworkers, and anyone else you like — on iOS or Android.” ~ Paul, Rohan and the Clubhouse team

Clubhouse also got a brand-new logo and website. Check them out!

2. Instagram Insights is now available for up to 60 Days

Instagram Insights has extended the tracking period from 30 to 60 days! This will come in handy for all marketeers to track their results better and make the most out of them.

There is also a new calendar tool that lets you tap into the specific dates you are interested in. The existing date range preset is still available if you’d prefer to stick to it.

3. The new TikTok ‘Spark’ ads enable brands to boost relevant trending content

Here’s a new type of ad coming from TikTok. It’s called Spark, and it enables brands to sponsor trending organic content related to their product or services.

Spark helps you identify existing organic TikTok videos that relate to or showcase your brand and then you can reach out to the creator and repurpose their content for an ad campaign.

4. Facebook Launches ‘Soundmojis’ to Messenger

Facebook had a surprise for World Emoji Day! They launched ‘Soundmojis’, which are emojis that play a short audio clip. They can be a great interactive and engaging element to your chat threads.

“[Soundmojis are] a next-level emoji that lets you send short sound clips in a Messenger chat, ranging from clapping, crickets, drumroll, and evil laughter, to audio clips from your favorite artists like Rebecca Black and your favorite TV shows and movies like Universal Pictures’ F9, NBC and Universal Television’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Netflix and Shondaland’s Bridgerton. “Ah, the drama of it all.” ~ Facebook

5. LinkedIn adds new free courses for digital marketing skills

Do you want to build or upgrade your digital marketing skills? LinkedIn has two new certification courses that help you learn more about LinkedIn’s ad tools and features. You will also be a proud owner of an official certification that can be attached to your LinkedIn profile.

There are two courses to choose from: Fundamentals Certification (Basic) and Marketing Strategy Certification (Intermediate).

It’s time to up your game!

Updated on July 12th, 2021

1. Facebook announced the next era of personalized experiences

Facebook’s Business and Ad Chief Dan Levy revealed the next steps in the social network evolution and how it will affect brands and users. Facebook will be focusing on creating personalized experiences by product innovations in four areas:

• Privacy-enhancing technologies
• Product and business discovery
• Commerce
• Business tools beyond marketing

“Businesses are confronting a permanent shift in people’s behavior: a migration to ecommerce that might have taken a decade exploded within a year. This, combined with growing technologies to meet people’s privacy expectations, is a generational opportunity for our industry to innovate once again. We must develop new ways for businesses to reach customers and to give people more control over how their personal information is used in advertising.” ~ Dan Levy, Vice President, Ads & Business Products at Facebook 

Learn more about how these innovations on Facebook will help your business here.

2. Instagram will focus mainly on video instead of photos

Exciting news about the future of Instagram! Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, shared that the social network won’t just be a photo-sharing app anymore and that it will focus more on videos to create better entertainment experience.

“We’re also going to be experimenting with how do we embrace video more broadly — full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video. You’ll see us do a number of things, or experiment with a number of things in this space over the coming months.” ~ Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram

So don’t be surprised if you see a lot more videos on Instagram in the following months! The four main key areas Instagram will be working in the near future are: Creators, Video, Shopping, and Messaging.

3. TikTok announces Resumes to connect job candidates with recruiters

TikTok shared their ambition to become the new channel for recruitment and job discovery with TikTok Resumes. You can also find it in the app through #TikTokResumes and create job-related content or submit videos for posted jobs.

“TikTok Resumes is officially open and accepting TikTok video resumes. We’re humbled to be able to partner with some of the world’s most admired and emerging brands as we pilot a new way for job seekers to showcase their experiences and skillsets in creative and authentic ways. #CareerTok is already a thriving subculture on the platform and we can’t wait to see how the community embraces TikTok Resumes and helps to reimagine recruiting and job discovery.” ~ Nick Tran, Global Head of Marketing at TikTok

4. Facebook launches Bulletin, a newsletter platform

Great news for creators! Facebook has launched a new platform to share long-form articles and audio content, all from one place. Bulletin is a set of publishing and subscription tools to support content creation, monetization, and audience growth for writers.

Bulletin is hosted on a separate site, but its content will appear in the Facebook News Feed and Facebook News sections. Creators will have their brand website in Bulletin, can customize their publication’s name, logo, and color palette, and use multi-media embeds and other styling options.

5. Instagram tests sticker links in Stories for all users

Has your brand been using the swipe-up links in Stories? They are one of the best ways to drive traffic from Instagram to your website or other preferable assets. So far, this privilege was only granted to verified users or ones with at least 10,000 followers.

The social network is now testing a similar feature in a sticker format which you can tap and visit a dedicated link. Instagram is considering opening it to all users, where everyone can add such stickers or reply to a Story with stickers.

Instagram will use this test to monitor what types of links people mostly post and keep an eye on avoiding any misinformation and spam.

Updated June 28th, 2021

1. Social audio comes to Facebook with Live Audio Rooms and podcast playback in-stream

Social audio is officially launching on Facebook with Live Audio Rooms and podcasts. The social network started releasing these new features for public figures and select Facebook Groups in the US.

Live Audio Rooms will enable you to discover and connect during live conversations with public figures, experts, and other like-minded fellows on topics you’re interested in. Public figures can invite up to 50 people to be speakers in the events, and unlimited listeners can join.

In Groups, admins will manage who can create a Live Audio Room. In public Groups, everyone would be able to listen in, while in private ones, only members will be able to join the conversations.

2. Instagram launches Reels Ads

Reel Ads are here! Instagram Reels have become very popular for many brands, and now Instagram is creating the opportunity to boost your Reel reach and engagement even further with ads. This enhanced format will loop and be up to 30 seconds, and the audience can comment, like, view, save and share Reels ads.

“After testing in select countries, today we’re launching Reels ads to the world. Reels is the best place on Instagram to reach people who don’t follow you and a growing global stage where brands and creators can be discovered by anyone. These ads will help businesses reach greater audiences, allowing people to discover inspiring new content from brands and creators.” ~ Instagram

3. Facebook takes social eCommerce to the next level

Facebook just took eCommerce on social media to the next stage by announcing that Shops are expanding to WhatsApp and Marketplace
. They are also working on adding ratings and reviews to products in Shops on Instagram.

“One in three shoppers globally say they plan to spend less time in-store even after the pandemic is over, and almost three-quarters say they get shopping ideas from Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp.” ~ Facebook 

Your brand can now also personalize the users’ shopping experience with ads based on their shopping preferences. Facebook is also shaping the future of shopping by investing in new visual AR tools on Instagram, which helps users find new products and experience them virtually before purchasing.

Dive in deeper with the new Facebook report on the evolution of eCommerce.

“This desire to have control in all aspects of their shopping journey is shifting the consumer–brand relationship. The future of customer experience will be driven not by the brand, but by empowered consumers. This is challenging businesses to adapt and innovate faster than ever.” ~ Facebook

4. Twitter shares key live events this summer

With summer taking over in the northern hemisphere and vaccination taking place, live events are similarly starting back up. And Twitter is reminding us to tap into the conversations around those. They’ve shared a list of cultural, sports, and entertaining events that brands should consider engaging with.

5. Instagram tests new content recommendations in the main feed

Instagram had very positive feedback on their ‘suggested posts’ feature, so they decided to launch a new test related to those. This time suggested posts will be mixed with the user’s primary feed and will sometimes come ahead of the content of brands and people you follow.

Instagram is also considering giving users the control to add specific topics of interest for their suggested posts and letting them snooze recommendations for 30 days.

Updated on June 14th, 2021

1. Instagram shares insights on how their algorithms work

Instagram is determined to do a better job explaining how their app actually works and clear up possible misconceptions. 

“Instagram doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app. We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose. We want to make the most of your time, and we believe that using technology to personalize your experience is the best way to do that.” ~ Instagram 

Instagram is using a number of parameters to form their algorithms. Here are the main ones across the Feed and Stories: 

• The post’s popularity and information 

Instagram is looking into the post engagement, the time it was posted, its format, and location. 

• The profile’s activity and relevance 

This helps identify how interesting this profile is for the audience. It includes signals like how many times people have interacted with that profile in the past few weeks. 

• The user’s behavior 

Instagram is trying to understand what the user’s interests are and match those with the relevant content. 

• The history of interacting with other users

The social network wants to determine how much the user cares in general in seeing posts from a particular person/brand. One of the main signals is how often you comment on each other’s posts. 

“In Feed, the five interactions we look at most closely are how likely you are to spend a few seconds on a post, comment on it, like it, save it, and tap on the profile photo. The more likely you are to take an action, and the more heavily we weigh that action, the higher up you’ll see the post.” ~ Instagram 

2. New report for AR and VR on Facebook

Facebook published a report on their vision to integrate AR and VR on the social network. According to the publication, 75% of all businesses are expected to utilize those technologies in the next two years, while global spending is set to rise 6x. 

User adoption is also on the rise since people turn more to eCommerce and online shopping. AR and VR technology can enable immersive user experiences and close the online and in-store shopping gap. 

“AR and VR could revolutionize how people engage with brands- and how brands engage with people. Imagine being able to meet one-on-one with famous clothing designers, seeing how lipstick bonds to lips by becoming part of the chemical makeup of the product or having a home reimagined by a brilliant creative director.” ~ Facebook 

3. Twitter launches new tools on a paid subscription model

Do you want to upgrade your Twitter game? Twitter introduces Twitter Blue – a paid subscription to offer you a range of additional tweet features and tools.   

Here’s a sneak peek on the new opportunities your brand would have: 

• Undo tweets within the first 30 seconds of posting. 
• Categorize saved tweets and bookmark them in folders. 
• Reader Mode to help you view a content thread in a single stream. 
• Color themes to brighten your UX display. 
• Custom app icon on your device.  
• Dedicated customer support.  

Are you ready to try the new Twitter Blue? 

4. TikTok keeps the top position on the monthly app download chart

Despite all the safety challenges and the rise of alternative tools, TikTok remains the most downloaded app with more than 80 million installs by May 2021.  

“TikTok was the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for May 2021 with more than 80 million installs. The countries with the largest number of TikTok installs were from Brazil at 16%, followed by Douyin in China at 12%.” ~ Sensor Tower 

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are the next ones in the list of most downloadable non-gaming apps. 

5. Let’s prepare for the holiday shopping with Snapchat’s new resource hub

Snapchat wants to inspire you to start preparing for the holiday shopping rush already now. They’ve created a great holiday resource hub to boost your brand campaigns and help you prepare.  

Grab a coffee and start your holiday planning now! 

Are you looking for more social media updates? Scroll on to read the latest industry updates!

1. Instagram Adds New Engagement Insights for Reels and Instagram Live Broadcasts

We’ve been waiting for this one, right? Finally, we can see our business insights from Instagram Reels and Live Broadcasts. Thank you, Instagram! 

Total Plays, Accounts Reached, Likes, Comments, Saves, and Shares will be available to monitor on Reels. And for Live Broadcasts, users will have access to data on Accounts Reached, Peak Concurrent Viewers, Comments, and Shares. There are also some upgrades when it comes to Reach in Account Insights.

Game on for your social media strategy!

2. LinkedIn enables businesses with new ads and event tools

It’s time to boost your LinkedIn presence! The social network makes it easy to advertise your day-to-day posts and reach a wider audience with just one click. This new feature is quite similar to the Facebook one, which helps you boost top-performing posts. On top of this, now you can promote your events better with Event Ads and Analytics.

3. Instagram Introduces ‘Drops’ Product To Help Boost eCommerce

Shop ‘till you drop, they say! Well, Instagram will start teasing us all with great eCommerce opportunities with their new product showcase option called ‘Drops’.

It will be on the top of the Shop tab and help brands create a buzz about their upcoming products. It promises exclusivity and increased demand since most items will be in limited supplies for a short period of time.

It’s time to discover, browse and shop. Will your brand try this new feature?

4. Pinterest shows new ways to match people’s interests with brands’ offerings

It’s time to surprise your community with creative ideas matching their interests. And Pinterest will inspire you to do this!

“We all know time is our most precious resource and yet we give it up so freely to things that give us nothing in return. Pinterest is the invitation to reclaim some of that time. To explore with it, experiment with it and put purpose to how we spend it. As we think about how the next generation is manifesting every facet of their lives, this campaign emboldens them to do things that actually bring them joy.” ~ Pinterest CMO Andrea Mallard

5. Live shopping is the next eCommerce surprise from Facebook

It’s time for shopping again! Now, live on Facebook with the launch of live-stream shopping events. They will showcase the latest trends and items in real-time and let users ask how they fit, select their size and buy.

Every Friday until July 16, we can enjoy Live Shopping Fridays, where beauty and fashion brands will showcase products, tips, demos and more.

Users will be able to tune in to Facebook’s Live Shopping streams on each brand’s Facebook Page or by visiting the Shop tab.

So grab the popcorn and your credit card out and let’s tune in!

Are you looking for more social media updates? Scroll on to read the latest industry updates!

1. New caption opportunities for your Instagram stories

Welcome the new caption stickers on Instagram stories! After months of testing, Instagram now provides auto-captions for videos on stories. Social media friends, stay alert as auto-captions won’t be 100% accurate, so you need to check those.

The good news is that you can edit the text, color, position, and font to suit your brand. Instagram has released this new feature in many countries, but if yours is not among those yet – keep calm; it’s coming soon. Oh, and did we mention that the sound-off feature will also be available in Reels soon!  

2. TikTok advances with eCommerce testing

TikTok is preparing some surprises for you! They’ve been testing eCommerce features that will create a win-win experience to monetize your business. Among the in-stream shopping tools are: 

• Combining product catalog listings and branded videos in ‘Collection Ads’. 
• Retargeting users with relevant products via ‘Dynamic Product Ads’. 
• Customizing sales and promo alerts in the feed ads via “Promo Tiles’. 
• Enabling creators to promote products in their videos thanks to ‘Showcase Tiles’, etc. 

Would you try those cool features? Stay tuned… 

3. LinkedIn inspires brands on Effective Ad Targeting

Whether you are a B2B or B2C brand, you need to check out these stats from LinkedIn. They’ve created an infographic to guide you through the targeting opportunities on the social platform. You can choose criteria like Company and Industry, Job Function and Seniority, Work Experience and Interests, etc. LinkedIn also shares that the ideal audience size for your ad campaigns is between 60,000 and 400,000. Let’s try it out! 

4. Clubhouse Finally Launches Android Version

It’s finally here! Clubhouse has launched an Android version. Be patient, it’s still in beta, but it’s knocking on your door.

“We will begin gradually, with the U.S. today, followed by other English-speaking countries and then the rest of the world. Our plan over the next few weeks is to collect feedback from the community, fix any issues we see, and work to add a few final features like payments and club creation before rolling it out more broadly.” ~ Clubhouse

There will be some limitations during the launch, such as the lack of options to follow topics, inability to create or manage clubs, or updating username in-app.  

Grab the popcorn! It’s an exciting time to watch what is coming up next with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all adding Clubhouse-like audio social options. 

5. Facebook Adds New Messaging Features

It’s time for new Messenger candies! Now, you can add a special theme and background to your Facebook chats and freshen up your experience. 

On Instagram Direct, you have read receipts that show you whether the person has seen the message. You can also reply to DMs with photos or videos. How cool is that? 

To keep your chats organized, Messenger is now giving you the option to swipe to archive.  

Finally, there is a new tap-to-record audio feature to give you a hands-free experience. It is also coming up soon in Instagram DMs. 

Hungry for more social media updates? Scroll on to read the latest industry updates!

1. Twitters tests new ‘Super Follow’ and tipping options in the app

Some of us might be familiar with Super Like (from Tinder, lol, but what does this new ‘Super follow’ button on Twitter mean? Well, my young padawan, Super Follow is how creators on the platform will monetize their presence by providing exclusive content to users who Super follow their profile. The ‘Super Followers’ will then receive a list of perks like supporter badge, access to exclusive content, deals and discounts, among other things, after signing up to tip their creators at $4.99/ month.

Why is Twitter introducing these features, you ask? Well, to me, it sounds like an innovative way for Twitter to get their top creators to tweet more often and build reliance on the app by providing these monitory toolkits and incentives.

Genius move, Twitter!

2. Twitter tests ‘Professional Profiles’ for brands and creators

Yes, more Twitter news! It looks like brand and creator profiles on the bird app are about to get a makeover with new business features and tools.

“Professional Profiles are a new tool that will allow businesses, non-profits, publishers, and creators – anyone who uses Twitter for work – to display specific information about their business directly on their profile. We’re starting with a small pool of businesses in the U.S. and will give more accounts access to Professional Profiles in the coming months.” ~ Twitter

The new profile display will include the business category, an about section, and a new business badge type, among other things. Can’t wait to try the new look on our own Twitter handle!

3. LinkedIn adds new tools to help users create inclusive and expressive profiles

LinkedIn just dropped a whole lot of features that every professional should love experimenting with. First on the list is a ‘Cover Story’ feature that enables users to record a short introductory video of themselves. Or, in the case of businesses, an introductory video about their product or service. Profiles with these Cover Stories will now be highlighted in an orange ring that people can click to watch the video.

LinkedIn also released a ‘Creator Mode’ feature “to help creators give their take on what’s happening in the news or share insights into a specific industry.”

“With creator mode, you can add hashtags to indicate what topics you post about the most — for example, #design or #mentorship. It will move your Featured and Activity sections to the top of your Profile to more prominently display your content, and change the “Connect” button to “Follow,” to help you engage your community and build a following.” ~ LinkedIn

We can’t wait to try these out!

4. New insights from TikTok on how users are engaging around Mother’s Day conversations

Guess what? According to TikTok, one in four TikTok users is a mother! Now, that’s not what I expected the TikTok demographic to look like these days. Then again, in the earlier news segment, we talked about how more and more older users are engaging on TikTok. Plus, there are more female users than male ones who use the app, so it all kind of makes sense?

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, marketers could make use of these TikTok insights. According to those, most moms want a vacation as a gift for Mother’s Day. We hear you, moms!

Marketers should also take note that TikTok moms are “more likely to see your content through a phone screen, and they often discover brands through social media.” For more insights, click here to read the report.

5. Instagram announces news tools to protect users from abusive DMs

Instagram once again takes extra measures to provide a safe and positive environment to their users. This week, they announced new features to protect users from abusive DMs and hate speech.

“We’ve worked with leading anti-discrimination and anti-bullying organizations to develop a predefined list of offensive terms that will be filtered from DM requests when the feature is turned on. All DM requests that contain these offensive words, phrases, or emojis will be automatically filtered into a separate hidden requests folder.” ~ Instagram

We’re so looking forward to this one!