Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, TikTok launched new initiatives to promote in-stream shopping, Instagram offers more consistent audio levels, and the new verification feature can help users boost their LinkedIn profile. Continue reading for more updates across social media from this week!
Digital Marketing Insights
Direct messaging is increasingly becoming an effective and engaging way to reach audiences as a brand. Marketers should be looking for ways to get ahead of this trend by developing a strategy. Here are some key tips from Instagram to optimize your brand DMs for marketing:
- Add a Send Message button on your profile to encourage conversations.
- Build meaningful relationships and offer support for customer questions.
- Integrate messaging across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to optimize the feature.
Check out Instagram’s DM guide to learn more!
More Consistent Audio Levels on Reels and Stories
Have you ever watched Instagram Reels or Stories and had to constantly adjust your volume because the audios were inconsistent? One clip is too quiet and the next one is blasting a pop song. Well, Meta is fixing that with a new type of audio encoding that ensures consistent audio levels that will also improve playback stability. So, get ready for smoother, more reliable audio in your Reels and Stories!
Expanded API Access for Creator Marketplace
Next, Instagram is expanding API access for its creator marketplace to help connect its top influencers to new branded content opportunities. Third-party platforms are gaining access to DM functions so talent agencies can contact influencers from their management platform. Instagram is also testing new access to Creator Marketplace for brand agencies so they can manage creator discovery and collaborations on behalf of their clients. Check out Instagram’s article for more info!
No More Code Generator for Two-Factor Authentication
Facebook’s Code Generator feature is being retired as Meta says it’s vulnerable to attack. Facebook is now alerting users who still use Code Generator that it will soon be going away and that they should switch to another form of two-factor authentication instead. Users who still use Code Generator should update their settings to ensure their accounts remain secure.
Add Videos to Your Marketplace Listings
Facebook’s Marketplace now allows sellers to include videos in their listings and allows buyers to request videos to aid in their purchase decision-making. This feature aims to provide users with greater proof of the items listed and evidence that the seller has the item in their possession — all of this is to make the buying process safer.
Twitter Blue Subscribers will See Fewer Ads
A new week, a new update on Twitter Blue features. This time, subscribers receive a reduction in the number of ads shown in users’ timelines. Blue subscribers will reportedly see approximately twice as many organic or non-promoted Tweets in between promoted Tweets or ads. This feature aligns with Twitter’s goals to increase the number of users paying for Twitter Blue, with the incentive of reducing the frequency of sponsored content in users’ feeds.
TikTok
TikTok Working to Promote In-Stream Shopping
TikTok is trying to encourage its audiences to shop while scrolling through videos with new initiatives. They’re inviting retailers to create shops in the app and giving them free shipping and sales subsidies to make it worth their while. TikTok is also incentivizing influencers to promote items by offering them sales commissions. It’s all part of a new push to make in-stream shopping a thing on TikTok. So, get ready to shop till you drop! At least, that’s TikTok’s plan. In-app shopping on other social media platforms was slow to take off. Stay tuned for more updates!
Boost Your LinkedIn Profile Credibility with Identity Verification
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Moving on, LinkedIn is introducing new identity features to combat rising concerns around identity theft and AI bots. The platform is partnering with identity platform CLEAR to allow users to confirm their identity by sharing their government-assigned ID. LinkedIn is also enabling employees of certain companies to verify their employment using their company-issued email addresses. These features will hopefully provide more assurance to profile visitors, especially as a job recruiting platform!
Updates for LinkedIn Audience Network
LinkedIn has made some updates to its Audience Network ads. Audience Network allows advertisers to expand their campaigns, displaying ads on third-party websites that have partnered with LinkedIn. LinkedIn will now automatically optimize the campaigns for each website and provide more control over where the ads appear via its Brand Safety Hub. Advertisers can also now run Video and Carousel Ads, in addition to Single Image promotions. Click here to learn more!
LinkedIn’s New Suggested Posts
Lastly, LinkedIn has finally joined the trend of showing recommended posts based on an algorithm, called Suggested Posts. The platform wants to highlight posts or topics that may be relevant to each user. The feature will appear in the feed with a “Suggested” label, and LinkedIn’s algorithm will seek to highlight content based on users’ engagement activity. LinkedIn is testing this in hopes of receiving helpful feedback about the feature.
YouTube
New Reminder Option for Live Streams
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Great news for YouTube creators! The new Notify Me button will give live reminders to users about an upcoming broadcast so they don’t miss out. This will help creators reach a wider audience and get more people viewing a stream. This simple yet effective feature could have a big impact!
YouTube Premium Subscribers Get an Upgrade
YouTube is offering five new features for Premium subscribers to improve their experience! Here is a quick rundown of the top additions:
- Content queuing – Premium users can now create a queue of videos to watch next on the mobile app.
- Watch Together – Subscribers can create watch parties via Google Meet. This is currently only available for Android devices, but it’s coming to iOS in the coming weeks.
- Cross-Device Transition – Premium users can continue watching clips where they left off when they switch between devices.
Click here to read about the other two features!
That wraps up the latest social media updates for this week! Be sure to check us out on Twitter for more digital marketing trends and news.
Interested in learning more about how social media marketing can grow your brand? Click the button below to connect with our team. Let’s discuss how we can help you reach your business objectives!
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