The Latest Social Media and Influencer Marketing News You Need in July
Let’s dive into this week’s news you can use, where we’ll cover the latest social media and influencer marketing news that you need to be aware of as we start the month of July. This week, we’ll discuss the latest from Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, how marketing professionals can use social media data as part of their storytelling efforts, and recent data showing how many Americans actually use the most popular social media platforms to get their news.
Instagram Chief Reiterates That Sends Are Now a Key Focus
In his most recent video, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri reiterated that creators should focus on making their content more shareable. This shift in focus, with more people now engaging within DMs in the app than with feed posts, presents a promising opportunity. Instagram is actively seeking to amplify content that encourages more sharing behavior, i.e. posts that inspire more users to tap the "Send" icon and forward it to their friends.
"Don't force it as a creator, but if you can, when you're making content, think about making content that people would want to send to a friend, to someone that they care about, and it will help your reach over time."
Instagram's new sends display counts in the app, which have recently been rolled out to more users, are also intended to highlight this user trend. Instagram has been testing this with a select group of users for nearly a year, but it has been expanded recently, with more users reporting share counts on app posts.
So, if you want to win on Instagram in 2024, here's how. Creative concepts are always challenging, but if you want to follow the advice of Instagram's founder, this is the way to go.
Storytelling with Social Media Data
As advertising professionals, we know the power of a captivating story. But as a data-driven agency, that story often hinges on numbers and insights. Our partners at Sprout Social recently put a blog together showing how to weave social media data into a narrative that resonates with clients and our colleagues:
Uncover the Nuggets: Put on your 'strategist' hat and identify the core message you want to convey through this data. For instance, if you're presenting data on customer engagement, the 'nugget' could be a surprising trend or a significant change in behavior. Identify the data points that best support this narrative, especially those that challenge our client's assumptions about their target audience or industry.
Start with a Hook: Grab our client's attention (or their manager's) from the get-go. Instead of burying the lede, Sprout suggests opening with the 2nd most compelling insight. For example, "While we've seen a healthy lift in engagements in Q2, what's really intriguing is the parallel surge in link clicks stemming from our content. "The goal is to spark curiosity and hopefully set the stage for a deeper conversation.
Visuals are Our Friends: We don't just talk about data; we can visualize it. We often use Sprout Social's reporting features, which include graphs, charts, and other visual aids, to help reinforce our takeaways. For some of our clients who are not traditional marketers, visuals make data more digestible and add an element of storytelling that keeps our audience engaged when reviewing our reports.
The "So What?": Similar to a critical reflection model, I'm a big fan of asking "What? So what? Now what?" and we want our clients to walk away with more than just a PDF with some numbers. Because data without context is meaningless. Whatever narrative we're looking to tell, we need to be able to communicate why this story matters to our clients and their leadership team. Ending the report with actionable next steps demonstrates how data can inform decision-making.
Do Americans Get Their News on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram?
Breaking news: Contrary to popular belief, consumers must use their favorite social media platforms to get breaking news.
In a new report by Pew Research, data reveals that less than half of social media users on the most popular platforms regularly seek out news content. This highlights a critical insight: while social media is a powerful tool for brand awareness and engagement, there may be better channels for getting information-heavy content across.
Some of the key takeaways for advertisers and brands:
Prioritize personal connection and foster authentic engagement on social media by encouraging user-generated content and sparking conversations from that content.
Optimize our client's messaging for entertainment and engagement while still educating our target audience rather than solely focusing on sharing product-heavy information. Meta says it best that content must "educate, entertain, and/or inform your audience."
Leverage influencers and partner with influential voices on social media to help amplify our client's messages.
As always, thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this week’s “news can use,” you won’t want to miss the latest on TikTok in my blog update surrounding the latest legislation that is forcing TikTok to be sold or be banned in the United States.
