Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, Twitter is working on long-form Tweets, Reddit is upgrading its algorithm, and Meta shares how creators can make money on Facebook and Instagram. Continue reading for more updates across social media!
Digital Marketing Insights
LinkedIn conducted a study with new tech companies to find which business goals they’re focusing their digital marketing budgets on. The top goals are:
- Product launches at 86%
- Growth at 84%
- Building company profile at 76%
It’s not a surprise to us that digital marketing budgets are increasingly focused on building company profiles. It’s more important than ever to have an authentic brand identity that’s built through an online presence. Read the full report here.
Meta’s New Avatar Fashion Store
[Source]
Are you ready to dress up your Meta Avatars to show off your personal style? Mark Zuckerberg has announced a new avatar fashion store for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Those with avatars will be able to purchase clothes to express their personality and creativity. There are also opportunities to design and sell products through the store.
Meta Introduced More Ways for Creators to Make Money
Next up, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta is testing new ways for creators to make money on Facebook and Instagram. The executive shared several updates as comments in his original post, so be sure to check it out! What were some of the Facebook highlights? First, Zuckerberg announced “Interoperable Subscriptions,” a way for creators to give paying subscribers outside of Facebook access to their exclusive Facebook Groups content. Next, eligible creators will be able to earn money from Facebook Stars through Reels, live, and VOD. There were also some updates for Instagram as well!
In the same post, Zuckerberg also details a new “Creator Marketplace” on Instagram that helps creators get discovered by brands and get paid for their content. He also shares how the company will be monetizing Reels. Soon, users will be able to cross-post their Instagram Reels to Facebook. Lastly, for those of you who want to show off your NFTs, Zuckerberg also mentioned that the company is testing ways to display them on Instagram, such as through Stories. Read about all the updates in Meta’s latest article here.
Are Tweets Getting Longer?
Up next, Twitter is working on bringing long-form writing content to the platform. “Notes” is a blog-style feature that is published in a Tweet. Users can click on the Note within a Tweet, which will expand to display the longer content. With this feature, users can work around the 280-character count and write up to 2500 words! While no official release date has been mentioned yet, the company states that it’s currently testing Notes with a small group of users. Readers can click the link above to see examples of published Notes.
Integrate Your Shopify Products on Twitter
Twitter is partnering with Shopify to launch a sales channel app. Shopify users can install a Twitter add-on to start building a store through the social media’s shopping feature. Merchants’ products will be automatically loaded onto Twitter when the add-on is installed. Products will now be featured at the top of a user’s Twitter profile for increased visibility.
Instantly Repost on LinkedIn
New! ↗️ A new way to repost on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is making it easier for your followers to broadcast your content to their network.
Now, if someone decides to repost one of your posts without commentary, it will get shared to their network. pic.twitter.com/fmAzbF0gzz
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) June 17, 2022
Next, LinkedIn added a repost option that will allow users to share content more easily. Check out more in the Tweet above. This feature will make it easier to spread awareness on posts such as job listings or general updates.
New Commenting Features for LinkedIn Events
To help promote user engagement, LinkedIn has improved its comment ability for Events. Users can now comment on an event post before, during, or after the event has ended. Additionally, users can reply directly to individual comments and share their reactions. This encourages discussion about the event and invites more people to attend.
Reddit is Upgrading its Algorithm
Reddit has acquired Spell, a machine learning platform. Spell is a SaaS (software-as-a-service) based AI (artificial intelligence) platform that integrates machine learning on Reddit. The company aims to provide its platform with a more relevant algorithm and help improve engagement as it looks to capture a larger portion of the online audience.
Reddit Partners with DoubleVerify
Next, Reddit announced its partnership with the digital media data and analytics platform, DoubleVerify. This partnership will assist advertisers in protecting brand equity, fighting potential fraud, ensuring ad visibility, and delivering ads to the right audience. Reddit ads are a growing strategy for advertisers and these new tools could increase its effectiveness.
Snapchat
Snapchat Subscription Plan in Testing
#Snapchat is working on a subscription plan called Snapchat+ 👀
ℹ️ Snapchat+ gives you access to exclusive, experimental and pre-release features such as the ability to pin 📌 the conversation with your Best Friend, the access to custom Snapchat icons, a special badge, etc… pic.twitter.com/VrMbyFlFvI
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) June 16, 2022
Moving on, Snapchat is the latest social media app to create its own subscription, which the company calls Snapchat+. The service will give users access to features that haven’t been released to the public yet, custom icons, special badges, and other exclusive incentives. Snapchat+ is in the early testing phase and no release date has been announced yet. Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi shared a screenshot of the different tiers, showing options for one, six, or twelve-month subscriptions.
Spotlight Replies
Spotlight, Snapchat’s TikTok-like feature, has one shortcoming — you can’t add a comment. Users have been asking for a commenting feature for Spotlight and, finally, the company is testing the feature in the form of Spotlight Replies. There are some caveats. Users will be able to reply to a Spotlight video, but the replies won’t be public as only the creator can respond, not other users.
New Privacy Control Settings
Last but not least, WhatsApp announced a new option in its privacy control settings. Users can select exactly who in their contact list can see their profile photo, “about” section, and “last seen” status. Previously, users could only choose between everyone, contacts, or no one seeing their personal content. Selecting “my contacts except…” allows an individual to choose the contacts they want to exclude, giving them more control over their online privacy.
That wraps up the latest social media updates for this week! Be sure to check us out on Instagram for more digital marketing trends and news.
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