Welcome back to another Spark Social Report by Spark Growth! This week, let’s look at some of the latest social media trends and news, including Facebook’s new expansion tools to support business connections. Scroll down to learn more!
Social Media eCommerce Trends
Let’s explore 11 e-commerce trends that all online business owners should know for the upcoming year. Some trends include customized packaging, multichannel personalization, and social media online shopping—being personable and authentic on social media seems to be what customers are looking for!
Businesses should be aiming to be as genuine as possible since consumers want to engage with brands that care about their needs. With so many different platforms available, now is an opportune time for small businesses to thrive online and attract customers!
Social Media Updates
TikTok
It’s never too early to think about the holidays! TikTok is sharing a Holiday Marketing Guide to assist businesses with their strategic planning. The platform has released the first part of its marketing guide outlining platform usage statistics, important shopping dates, and even a calendar to help users save the date. It’s a great opportunity for business owners to plan ahead on their ad campaigns because consumers will soon be using TikTok to look for something special for their loved ones.
Businesses using TikTok should also keep an eye on its upcoming “TikTok World” showcase event. TikTok World is a digital conference for users to tap into and learn new creative, branding, and commerce solutions. The conference will take place on September 28th and will be a great opportunity for businesses—both big and small—to learn more about how they can navigate their digital marketing strategy on TikTok.
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In other TikTok news, the company is testing a new feature called “Pinned” that allows users to pin selected video clips to the top of their profile. The feature was tweeted by social media expert Matt Navarra, where coincidentally, the pinned feature is most reminiscent of “pinned Tweets” on Twitter. If successfully implemented, users will be able to showcase their most successful content or call attention to specific clips for new users on their profiles.
TikTok is testing ‘Pinned’ videos on profiles
h/t @Sam_Schmir pic.twitter.com/FaH6XQwzYP
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) September 19, 2021
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Moving on to Facebook news, the company is expanding on its business communication features to better serve entrepreneurs and business owners using its platform. This expansion is part of their strategy to support small businesses. With a simple tap, consumers will now be able to start conversations with businesses through Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram ads, allowing for easy and accessible communication. Another new feature promotes cross-platform communication, such as starting a WhatsApp chat from Instagram.
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In an effort to help users drive business growth on Facebook, the company has integrated Vimeo Create into its Business Suite. This integration means that business owners will be able to create professional content using customizable templates built and optimized for Facebook. Vimeo’s Senior Vice President of Partnerships Rich Bloom also provides pointers on how to get the most leverage from Vimeo Create within Facebook Business Suite, including capturing attention within the first few seconds of the video, repurposing creative assets, and how to test and optimize videos ads.
Next, Facebook also announced new initiatives to raise awareness about climate change and new measures to tackle misinformation. The platform expands on its “Climate Science Center” by adding new features, increasing accessibility to reliable information, and elevating the voices of young climate advocates on the platform. New additions include modules—such as quizzes—to engage and better inform users about climate change.
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Lastly, the app is also testing new “Community Awards” to help facilitate group engagement. Group admins will have the ability to present awards to outstanding group comments. This feature being tested aims to encourage more positive and engaging online interactions.
YouTube
One of Youtube’s latest additions is its “Analytics” on mobile: an expansion for their Revenue tab that highlights monthly and transactional revenue. As part of the expansion, the platform is also launching the Traffic Sources Performance Report to track traffic sources and indicate how sources are performing based on past videos. Traffic Sources Performance Report and Analytics was available exclusively on desktop up until now. This is yet another example of how YouTube is making the platform more accessible to users on mobile.
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The platform also launched its first-ever podcast, “The Upload: The Rise of the Creator Economy.” New episodes will be released every Wednesday and can be accessed across platforms such as Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, and more. The podcasts introduce listeners to creators who are building or have built dynamic and thriving businesses. Users will be able to get insight from online creators on how they can build their business over time and how to overcome challenges they may face on the way.
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Finally, YouTube is testing a feature that will let desktop users download videos from the platform. The feature is currently available to premium users until October 19th. For users who don’t always have access to an internet connection, being able to download YouTube videos can be very convenient. The company has yet to announce whether this feature will be available to all users so stay tuned!
Twitter’s experimentation with a new visual editor is currently in the works as shared by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. Using content from the now-retired Fleets feature, this new visual editor includes stickers, text, cropping, and other tools that can be used to edit photos and videos. The editor will let users showcase their creativity and promote their social media presence. It will also provoke more engagement on the platform via interesting visuals that compete with platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. There’s no official word yet on a release date, so check back later!
The company is also expanding its “Official Partners Program” with seven new partners! Some of these include Bloomberg, Hootsuite, and Black Swan Data. Partners in this program help users find business solutions, innovate, and scale their companies. Official partners are selected based on their quality, scale, relationship with Twitter, business health, and compliance, so users can be assured that they are in good hands when it comes to driving their business growth.
Snapchat
Snapchat has launched new Lenses in support of its inclusivity efforts. To celebrate International Week of the Deaf, users are encouraged to fingerspell and use creative tools including stickers and augmented reality lenses. The app uses SignAII’s AI and computer vision technology that recognizes and translates American Sign Language. It’s an initiative that can help Snapchatters spread awareness while giving them valuable learning experiences with friends on the platform.
In conjunction with Edelman, LinkedIn published its 2021 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study, highlighting key challenges and issues faced in the modern social media environment. It also gathers insights from nearly 3,600 management-level professionals to help marketers and business owners better understand thought leadership strategies and what audiences want to see from companies.
Some key learnings from the study include low-quality content created during the pandemic diluted thought leadership content and that high-performing thought leadership requires a balance between being provocative and being fun. Now is the time to reevaluate strategies to better fit consumer needs. The study encourages business owners to rethink their digital marketing strategy and how they navigate their business for the future.
That wraps up this week’s social media updates! Stay tuned next week for more social media news. Be sure to check us out on Twitter for more social media and digital marketing news.
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