Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, YouTube announced unique @ handles, Twitter launched link cards for businesses, and TikTok introduced a still photo feature. Continue reading for more updates across social media from this week!
Influencer Marketing Insights
Influencer marketing has quickly become one of the most effective ways to reach new audiences and gain brand awareness. Here are some insights from Search Engine Journal:
- 75% of brand marketers plan to develop influencer marketing for their strategies in 2022.
- 86% of B2B brands find influencer marketing a valuable strategy because of its impressive return on investment.
- Influencers have valuable insights they can bring to a marketing campaign and improve reach.
Click here to learn more!
In-Tweet Product Cards
implemented the unreleased Twitter Product card in my Static Tweet Embed 🛍️
I think I’ve implemented all of the Commerce-related cards Twitter is working on ✅ https://t.co/6d1kRHxf7B pic.twitter.com/y2I1j2OT6r
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 8, 2022
Twitter has been attempting to hop onto the e-commerce social media trend with different features — and now Twitter is working on new product cards shown within tweets. This feature will help brands highlight their products by posting on the home feed for followers to see and can direct users to the Twitter shop or product page.
Improved Professional Analytics Dashboard
Twitter released a new analytics display option for Professional Accounts that provides more details on account performance. The new home display shows key performance statistics, tweet impressions, engagement rate, profile visits, and link clicks. These options were available before, but the dashboard has received an improved redesign.
Twitter Wants to Limit Screenshots
Twitter is trying to persuade me to Share Tweet or Copy Link instead of taking a screenshot of the Tweet pic.twitter.com/vwFYNsf003
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 6, 2022
A new prompt on Twitter appears when you take a screenshot of a tweet. The prompt asks you to share the tweet or copy a link instead of taking a screenshot. When a screenshot is taken, Twitter can’t track its reach and this has been damaging to Twitter’s proof of engagement. Encouraging more users to use in-app methods of sharing could improve Twitter’s metrics.
Link Spotlight is Here
Twitter has officially launched the “Link Spotlight” feature for professional accounts to add CTAs to their profiles. Businesses can choose a label for their CTA and attach it to a URL. The Link Spotlight can be found above the tweet timeline. Unfortunately, only select URLs are allowed to be added at this point. See the full list here.
TikTok
New Photo Mode
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TikTok is leaning toward incorporating still images with the new Photo Mode on the app. Users on TikTok can share photos in a carousel and the photos are automatically swiped through while viewing. Users can also add sounds to the carousel. It’s a new direction for TikTok; however, since the photos automatically swipe and have music, it doesn’t feel that much different than video content on the platform.
YouTube
YouTube Unique Handles for Channels
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YouTube is adding @ handles to channels to make it easier for users to find and identify channels. YouTube took a different approach from other platforms by having channel names that can be duplicated. Now with each channel needing to have a unique handle, it will be easier to direct people to the right content. This is an exciting new update – learn more here!
Achievements for Reels
Instagram is working on an “Achievements” element on Reels to display badges based on Reel performance. This includes badges such as “Trendsetter” or “Creative Streak”. This could be a way to incentivize more users to create Reels.
Updated Ads Manager Platform
Reddit has announced updates to its Ads Manager Platform to assist businesses. Some of the new features include a live chat element, Pixel Helper tool, audience manager, post library, and more. Reddit also added over 1,000 new targetable communities to improve the ability to reach specific audiences. Click here to read about the other features!
That wraps up the latest social media updates for this week! Be sure to check us out on LinkedIn for more digital marketing trends and news.
Are you looking to market your company on social media but don’t know where to start? Click the button below to learn more about our social media marketing services. From influencer marketing to strategic ads that put you in front of your audience, our team can help!
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