Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, Instagram is rebranding its visual elements, TikTok integrates with social media management tools such as Hootsuite, and YouTube brings ads to Shorts. Continue reading for more updates across social media from this week!
Digital Marketing Insights
The digital customer experience (CX) is essential to building your brand and maximizing profit. Digital CX is the way that your brand is perceived by customers through online interactions. Forbes Insights partnered with Glassbox on a report that finds that companies are not making digital CX a top priority. Here are some key takeaways from the report:
- 84% of executives believe that digital CX is critical to their brand’s success.
- Only 38% claim that they have strategies in place to maximize their digital CX.
- Companies have found a positive correlation between digital CX and profitability.
- Digital CX is going to become a key digital marketing strategy in the near future.
Is your brand looking to build the trust of your customers online? Read the full report from Forbes and Glassbox here.
TikTok
TikTok Launches Integration with Social Media Management Sites
TikTok is partnering with social management sites such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Sprinklr, Emplifi, Dash Hudson, Khoros, Brandwatch, and Later. Marketers who manage their social media on these platforms will now also be able to integrate TikTok. TikTok videos can now be scheduled, increased analytics will be available, and comment conversations will be able to be tracked.
Live Subscriptions on TikTok
@tiktoklive_creator Welcome to LIVE subscription – connect with your community on a whole new level! #LIVESubs #TikTokLIVE
TikTok is launching LIVE subscriptions for creators to offer subscriber-only streams and chats on the app. The program is being tested this week with a small number of creators before the company rolls out the option to all creators. The feature will include exclusive badges, extra content from creators, and the ability to personalize live rooms for viewers. With this update, creators can make more revenue from their TikTok accounts and grow their platforms. This feature also competes with Twitch and YouTube which offer the same options.
TikTok Partners with WooCommerce for a New Ad Product
Sellers on WooCommerce will be able to sync their store catalog onto TikTok due to this new partnership. Users will be able to publish TikTok ads from the WooCommerce dashboard and activate TikTok pixel tracking. This update promises to help marketers create ads in just minutes. Read more about the update above!
Instagram Rebrands its Visual Identity
[Source]
Instagram completed a brand refresh that included some changes to its visual elements. The Instagram gradient has adjusted colors to be more vibrant and added a 3D modeling process to make the gradient look animated. A new font called Instagram Sans was integrated into certain features such as mention, hashtag, and location buttons on Stories and the tag symbol. A new design system includes a full-screen effect on Reels and Stories. Some users have seen this full-screen effect on the home feed, but the feature has not been officially rolled out yet.
Instagram Testing Ability to Archive Reels
Spotted by researcher Salman Memon on Twitter, Instagram is testing the ability to archive Reels. Currently, users can archive posts and videos, but a similar option for Reels has not become available yet. As Instagram wants Reels to be one of the core focuses of the app, it is surprising that the company has not made this widely available yet as users have been asking for this update for some time.
Reaction Videos for Reels
As Instagram continues to push the popularization of Reels to compete with TikTok, Instagram is now testing a feature that allows users to make reaction videos to a Reel. This feature on TikTok, called Duet, is very popular and increases engagement for creators. Adding this to Instagram can help as it tries to make Reels more user-friendly and optimize the creative capabilities of the platform.
Twitter Media Rebrands to Twitter Create
https://twitter.com/TwitterCreate/status/1529136395482107904
Twitter Media has undergone a rebrand and is now called, Twitter Create. With this rebrand, creators will be able to use the website for resources, information, and tips to get the most out of the social platform. The website will include informative guides to help creators reach their goals on the app and explore products that can benefit them.
Meta
Recurring Notifications of Messenger
Does your business use Messenger to talk with your customers? Meta has announced recurring notifications on Messenger that can allow your business to send automated messages to customers. Users can opt into receiving messages such as updates, deals, or any information that a brand wants customers to receive. This update creates new opportunities for digital advertisers to engage with customers via social platforms rather than using email.
Snapchat
Snapchat Developing a “Family Center”
[Source]
Are you nervous about your kids being on Snapchat? The company is developing a “Family Center” to increase parental controls on the app. Parents will be able to see who their child is following, who they’re friends with, and who they’re talking to on Snapchat. This addition will be helpful for parents and children as parents can safely monitor their children’s interactions without invading their privacy.
Share eBay Listings on Snapchat
You can now share eBay listings directly to Snapchat with its new update. This feature allows eBay sellers to tape the “Share” icon to easily share their products to Snapchat and create more attention for their business. Snapchat has added many new features in the past months to increase shopping ability on the app.
YouTube
Shoppable Ads on YouTube Shorts
YouTube is rolling out shoppable video ads on YouTube Shorts. The company announced that this week’s ad campaigns will be automatically integrated into YouTube Shorts as well as regular videos. YouTube also announced that this year it is planning to make ads more shoppable, similar to the capabilities of TikTok ads.
YouTube Moved the Desktop Comment Section
Next, the company has announced that the comment section on the desktop version of its platform will be moved. Comments will now appear to the right of the video playback window. Instead of having to scroll down the page, users can now read comments while still watching the video.
New Reddit Program for Audio Talent
Reddit Talk is a live audio conversation feature on the Reddit site. With the new Reddit Talk Host Program, hosts can be promoted by Reddit, receive swag, and get exclusive access to Reddit Talks community. To qualify, users must run at least four Talks every 30 days until September 2022.
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.
Do you want to implement these social media updates into your digital marketing strategy? Set up a conversation with one of our social media experts today! From influencer marketing to strategic ads that put you in front of your audience, our team can help!
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