Social Media & Influencer News In October
Happy October everyone! If you’re like me, you’ve been watching every scary movie and TV show available. But you’re here for the latest social media and influencer marketing you can use for your brand or team.
This week, we’ll talk about Instagram’s newest stickers as the platform prepares for the holidays, X explores ditching engagements in-feed, and Adobe reveals more tools for creatives and marketers when it comes to creating content.
Instagram Experiments with New Stickers to Spark Engagement
Instagram is testing new ways to spark engagement and keep users in-app longer. With the latest tactic involving these brand-new stickers!
Check out some of the new stickers below:
"App" sticker: a method for creators to directly promote other apps on Instagram and easily redirect viewers to another app from Stories. This is also an excellent opportunity for Influencers to promote specific apps.
"Music Pick" sticker: a mechanism for artists to allow respondents to share their favorite music songs right now. Curate a playlist for your group, interact with your audience, and develop online communities with audience-first content.
"Secret" sticker: a mechanism for creators to define personalized reactions for users who leave a message in response to the tale. A creator can also control who receives these hidden messages, which could be an excellent approach to increase direct response and interaction.
X Considers Removing All Engagement Counts and Buttons on Posts
X has recently made significant modifications to their platform and user experience. Their most recent thought is removing all interaction count and actions buttons from a post. The only button still visible is the view counter, which was added in December of last year. These metrics would only be visible to users when they clicked on and expanded a particular post.
Social media experts say the change is needless and would likely lower overall engagement as people do feel those dopamine hints when they see like and comments come through.. When Instagram removed the like count from posts in 2019, it observed a similar drop. Whether or not Elon will move forward with implementing user-experience change is still up to date.
Adobe Revealed Some Powerful AI Tools This Week
Since Firefly — Adobe's AI-powered text-to-image model trained on its stock imagery — debuted in March, it's been used to generate 3B+ images, according to Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.
At Adobe MAX, the company revealed Firefly Image 2, plus new and updated tools, including:
Generative Match: Allows users to upload a reference prompt and photo that AI can use to generate content with a consistent look.
Firefly Vector Model: Illustrator users can enter text prompts to get editable vector icons, images, and repeatable patterns.
Retype: Enables Illustrator users to turn static text into editable text by identifying similar fonts.
Adobe frequently stated that their AI tools would save designers, editors, marketers, and content creators time by automating laborious tasks while allowing non-designers to experiment. The question that remains across industries and one that has been brought to the forefront by the recent writers' and actors' guild strikes, is whether firms will embrace the time saved for more creativity and productivity or whether they will strive to cut pay, hours, or even replace their human employees with machines.
Are you looking for more like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. Or keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics.
The Latest Social Media & Influencer Marketing News In October
Let’s dig right into the social media news you can use his week. That includes leveraging carousels in content marketing, how to leverage carousels through both organic and paid social, and Reddit changing how its users can opt-out of personalized ads.
Reels May Be Here To Stay, But Don't Say Goodbye to Carousels Just Yet
Carousels allow you to post multiple photos or videos in a single post, which can be a great way to tell a story, showcase a product or service, or keep an audience engaged on content for longer. Here are some of the benefits our clients can take advantage of using carousels on social media:
Higher engagement rates: Carousels tend to get more likes, comments, and shares/saves than individual photos or videos. This is because carousels are more interactive and require users to swipe to see each component of the carousel.
More reach: Carousels are also more likely to be shown to your followers in their feeds. This is because platforms like Instagram see carousels as more engaging than other types of posts.
More storytelling opportunities: Carousels allow you to tell a story or share multiple perspectives on a specific topic. This can be a great way to keep our audiences engaged and informed, and to hear from multiple POVs in a single post.
More product-focused opportunities: Carousels are also a great way to showcase products or services. You can use carousels to show different angles of a product, feature customer testimonials, or highlight various features and benefits.
You don't have to look far to see how Motion brings carousels to life for our clients. Just check out the Truluck's Instagram feed for some examples like this post.
Tips To Maximize The Effectiveness of Carousels (Organic & Paid)
We’ve talked about why carousels can be used by brands for their social media needs. So let me give you more tips for how to better utilize carousels on Facebook and Instagram (Meta) effectively. Because brands have an opportunity to showcase more of their content in multiple images. Encourage users to swipe, engage, click, and learn more about your organization or product by utilizing a variety of creative assets and hyperlinks to specific products or services.
Meta also has a function that allows you to adjust your carousel advertising so that the best-performing image displays first. Meta made this super handy infographic to assist in improving carousel performance.
Reddit Removes the Option To Opt Out of Ad Personalization
Reddit is constantly evolving its platform to compete and increase ad dollars. Reddit just revealed the option to opt out of personalized ads in the app.
"Reddit requires very little personal information, and we like it that way," says Reddit in a statement. Instead, our marketers rely on on-platform activity - which communities you join and quit, as well as upvotes, downvotes, and other indications - to determine what you might be interested in."
Most users' ads on the site will not change, and users who previously opted out of sharing on-platform behavior will not see more adverts. So, what effect will this modification have? It will enable Reddit to enable more tailored ad targeting, allowing users to view adverts that are more relevant to them based on their activity.
Reddit is also introducing a feature that allows users to opt out of specific ad categories such as alcohol, dating, pregnancy, weight loss, and gambling. Due to this, users will be able to restrict undesired ad exposure relating to specific themes.
Uncover the keys to gaining success with influencer marketing, and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics. And if you’re looking for more of my writing, like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai, check my blog here.
The Latest Social Media & Influencer News in September
Welcome back to another installment of the social media and influencer marketing news that you need to know in September.
This week, we’ll be covering the rise of influencer marketing over traditional ads, Instagram updating its feed for Reels, and the launch of TikTok’s shopping functionality.
Influencer Marketing Is Rising Faster Than Traditional Ads
A new report from Insider Intelligence highlights the key trends driving influencer marketing investments. According to the research, "Influencer marketing spending will rise roughly 3.5 times faster in 2023 than social ad spending will." More brands are beginning to rely on Influencers and Creators to amplify their messaging, changing how their consumers receive and respond to content.
Our clients at the Motion Agency, from Gladiator to Truluck's to myQ Connected Garage, are reaping the various benefits of an influencer connection, such as increased impressions, engagements, net-followers, and UGC. Check out the content below to see some of our current Influencer collaborations.
Here are some recent influencer activations we’ve launched on behalf of our clients:
Truluck's: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvcjXPNALsZ/
Gladiator: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv77gYtLSod/
Instagram Adds “Following” Filter for Reels
Instagram is taking another page out of TikTok's book, and you can filter your Reels feed only to see videos from people you follow. Until recently, Instagram only provided a single Reels feed that presented a mix of posts from accounts you follow and recommended Reels that the app felt you would be interested in.
To take inspiration from a popular TikTok feature, users will soon be able to filter their feed to show only Reels from accounts they're following. However, analysts believe that because of the variety of profiles people follow on Instagram, this feature may not be as popular as on TikTok. We will monitor how effective some of Instagram's modifications are and how they compare to TikTok.
TikTok Shop Has Officially Launched
TikTok Shop, the social media platform's e-commerce initiative, went live in the US on Tuesday. The move allows many of TikTok's 150 million US-based users to find and shop for products within the app. TikTok Shop brings shoppable videos and live streams directly to users' feeds, and users can purchase products without leaving the app.
The launch of TikTok Shop is a significant step for the platform, which has been steadily growing its e-commerce capabilities in recent months. The platform's young, engaged audience makes it a valuable target for merchants, and it is shoppable videos and live streams offer a unique way to reach consumers.
The launch of TikTok Shop is likely to shake up the e-commerce landscape. The platform's young, engaged audience makes it a valuable target for merchants, and its shoppable videos and live streams offer a unique way to reach consumers. It will be interesting to see how TikTok Shop performs in the US and if it impacts the competition between social media platforms and traditional e-commerce players.
The Social Media News You Can Use in September
After spending Labor Day at the Arc Music Festival, followed up by a client presentation, the start of September has flown by for me. Just because it's a short week doesn't mean nothing is going on in the social media and influencer marketing world.
This week, we’ll talk about a new feature Instagram is testing, the business impact of TikTok, and Instagram rolling out a “Close-Friends-only” option. Let’s dig in.
Instagram Testing Location Tags In Notes
Instagram added music to their Notes inbox prompts in June, and now Meta has stated that Instagram is also testing the option to add a location tag. Notes allow users to start private discussions quickly by sharing up to 60-character messages that will appear at the top of their inbox and be visible to all their followers. Sharing Notes is especially popular among younger users, and Meta is looking into further Notes functions to keep the growth in DM conversations going.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, "...people are using notes to share thoughts, moods, and even locations." We want to make it easy to connect over where you're hanging out and obtain fresh ideas for places to explore."
Does It Always Make Sense To Follow TikTok?
TikTok has been an enormous success, and other platforms like Amazon, Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube have all tried to copy its short-form video format. But is this a good strategy for YouTube? According to 9to5 Google, some senior staffers at YouTube are reportedly concerned that the company's focus on short-form content is coming at the expense of its long-form content. Long-form videos are more lucrative for YouTube because they can accommodate more ads and have higher click-through rates. However, creators may not care because short-form videos are quicker and easier to make, and brands are willing to pay for them.
If YouTube wants to keep up with consumer tastes, especially those of Gen Z and millennials, it must offer short-form video content. But that doesn't mean YouTube has to abandon long-form content altogether.
Want to see a Shorts featuring one of our clients at the Motion Agency? Click here to see some of our work at the Motion Agency, with YouTube influencer Ben Sullins discussing the Tesla integration with myQ.
Instagram Rolls Out Option to Share Feed Posts With 'Close Friends' Only
Instagram is introducing a new feature that allows you to in-feed posts with close friends only, giving you another choice to pick who you want to share material with and creating a more personalized experience. Some users now see a new 'Audience' option within the flow to produce posts, allowing them to share their feed post with 'Close Friends' alone, rather than all your followers as you would typically.
In 2018, Instagram introduced the ability to share Story posts with Close Friends. IG has since added the ability to Notes and Reels, but you still can't create in-feed posts for Close Friends only.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, "Instagram users now share way more content via DMs than they do in feed posts or Stories." As a result, developing the option to share in-feed posts with a select audience was a natural next step. This new feature isn't a tremendous shift for Instagram to implement, but it would help Instagram tap into recent user patterns.
Once you’re caught up on the latest social media news in September, be sure to check out more of my writing, like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. and more deep dives on specific topics on my blog.
Tactics to Help Build a Social Media Presence
Get the best tips and tricks to grow and engage your audience on social media, and start building your online presence today!
Are you looking to build a robust social media presence? Whether you're a small business or just trying to grow your personal brand, having a strong online presence is essential. Building a successful social media presence can be challenging, but it can be done using the right strategies.
In this blog post, we will discuss some of the best strategies for growing and engaging your audience through social media.
Unlock The Power Of Social Media
Building a social media presence can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. By creating content that leverages trending post ideas and engaging with your audience, you can focus on what matters: delivering value to your followers. Below, we'll look at some of the strategies I've found to be most effective when building a social media presence.
Discover new post ideas and formats: One of the best ways to build an engaged audience is by continuing to come up with new and exciting content for them to enjoy. By exploring different topics and post formats like Stories, I can keep my followers engaged and coming back for more. I’ve been grateful to be on multiple podcasts recently, and I’ve been posting clips from these interviews in various creative formats.
Engage with other people in your niche and their followers: One great way to reach more people is by engaging with others in your niche and their followers. By doing this, you can lean into the type of content the algorithm is prioritizing and learn from their strategies to improve your content. One constant that has always led my brand and my clients’ brands to success is to show up where your target audience is most active, and that’s often in the comments of accounts that are in your niche.
Give Instagram more than 5 minutes a day: Like any skill, you won’t see success if you aren’t allocating more than a few minutes a day to social media. That doesn’t mean you have to post every day and be on for hours. But sticking to 10-15 minutes daily on social media, specifically working to grow your presence, is usually enough time. This allows me enough time to engage with those with similar interests without feeling attached to my phone.
Strategies For Lasting Social Media Success
In this section, we will outline some of the best ways to reach and engage your audience, while staying consistent and providing value to your target audience. One such way is to network and build bonds with those in your online community.
When it comes to growing your social media presence, collaboration is vital. By working together with others in your industry or community, you can reach a broader audience that you wouldn't be able to get on your own. This can start by just liking and engaging with their content when you see it in-feed, to partnering with other bloggers and content creators. By working together, you can share resources and build relationships that will last long.
Another key strategy is providing value to your followers. No one likes feeling like they're being preached to or talked down to – especially regarding social media. Make sure that what you're putting out there is worth someone's time and attention. At the Motion Agency, we believe content must educate, entertain, or inform your audience. If you can provide helpful tips or advice, do so! However, don't overdo it – people may tune out if they feel like they're being inundated with information daily.
Speaking of not overdoing things, consistency is one of the most important tactics you need to grow your social media presence. If you set out to create quality content consistently, followers will eventually find your content! However, don't forget about analytics – knowing how well each of your posts is performing can help guide future decisions about content creation (or even engagement!). When something works well (e.g., generating lots of engagement), figure out why and use those insights to create better future content!
Finally, never stop learning. Constant evolution leads to lasting success on social media, which is one reason I started this blog.
Final Thoughts
Now, it's time for you to put these strategies and tips into action! With consistency, dedication to creating quality content, and a bit of creativity, you can build a successful presence across the most popular social media platforms.
Are you looking for more social media and influencer marketing news worth using? If you're new to my website, you can read more of my latest social media updates and more deep dives on specific topics.
Social Media News You Can Use In August
Welcome back to another installment of the social media and influencer marketing news that you need to know in August. This week, we cover the latest news around Instagram’s push for long-form video, how Threads is faring after two months, and how Meta adds a new way to see branded content featuring influencers. Let’s dig in:
Instagram's Testing 10-minute Reels Uploads
Instagram is now internally testing 10-minute Reels uploads to accommodate long-form content such as cooking demos, beauty lessons, educational sessions, and more. This modification would remove the requirement for creators to break a single video into many parts, making it difficult for visitors to discover the next corresponding video when visiting a creator's profile. Instagram is marketing its short-form videos like TikTok by expanding the time limit on Reels, as TikTok expanded video length to 10-minutes in February 2022.
Can Threads Still Capitalize on The Early Excitement?
We talked a little more about Threads improvements last week, and now folks wonder if Threads is still growing. The new Meta app had 100 million members in its first week, which has since dropped significantly. After eight weeks of use, the app had approximately 128 million users. It has climbed by an average of 4 million users every week, a significant decrease from the first boom.
Not all of the 128 million members have active profiles. This figure covers everyone who has created a profile, even if they aren't actively opening and using the app. In comparison, X presently has roughly 250 million daily active users (DAU), with a 25-minute average session length.
The debut of the Thread website, which we discussed last week, has increased activity, but analysts wonder if it's enough to keep the app actively rising. The social team will continue to evaluate Threads' performance and its potential influence on our clients.
Meta Adds Branded Content Campaign to Ads Library
Meta has added a new tool to its Ads Library that allows users to track branded content by influencers. The tool can be used to search for campaigns by influencer or brand, and it shows the date range, platform, and creatives used in each campaign. This information can be helpful for brands and marketers who want to see how their competitors are partnering with influencers, and it can also be used to identify potential new partners.
The new tool is currently limited to the past seven days, but Meta says it plans to expand the coverage in the future. The tool is available in the Ads Library on both Facebook and Instagram.
If you’re looking for more social media related news, be sure to check out some favorite blogs on my site. Like the one covering my favorite social media tools, like GoCharlie.ai. Or keys to gaining success with influencer marketing and more deep dives on other social media or influencer marketing topics.
