Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, Instagram tested pinned posts and experiments with new ways to monetize Reels, Twitter bans climate change denial ads, and more! Continue reading for more updates across social media from this week!
Digital Marketing Insights
A new report by the Microsoft Advertising Blog has identified a new marketing persona for your consideration — the “Workday Consumer.”
[Source]
Who is the Workday Consumer? After the pandemic made many of our homes a workplace, the line between “work-life” activities and “personal life” activities has now blurred. The Workday Consumer switches between employee, personal, and consumer modes throughout the day, creating a whole new way of spending time online.
By considering this persona, advertisers can gain a greater understanding of their target audience’s buyer journey in order to effectively reach them.
Here are some key insights into the Workday Consumer from a global survey of over 5000 employees:
- 60% of respondents typically mix work and person tasks in their work time to-do lists
- 51% said the number of purchases they make during work time has increased
- 56% admitted to using work tools (e.g. laptops) for personal purposes
- 40% of respondents spend an hour or more on personal tasks during work time
Want to learn more about the Workday Consumer? Read the full article here.
Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion
Twitter has entered an agreement to be acquired by Elon Musk. Twitter will become a privately held company following the finalization of the transaction.
In a statement announcing the deal, Musk detailed his plans for the platform moving forward, emphasizing his interest in making the platform’s algorithm open-source, removing spam bot accounts, and authenticating all human users on the platform.
While there are no definite plans at the moment for how these goals will be achieved, future updates to the platform may follow these initiatives.
Twitter Tests Closed Caption Button on Videos
Twitter is testing a new button to toggle its closed captioning features for videos.
Soon, Twitter users will see a new “CC” option on the top right of the video player interface for videos that have subtitles, allowing users to switch captions on and off. Not only does this feature provide additional functionality for closed captions, but it also provides a visual indicator of which videos have captions available.
Video captions or no captions, it’s now easier to choose for some of you on iOS, and soon on Android.
On videos that have captions available, we’re testing the option to turn captions off/on with a new “CC” button. pic.twitter.com/Q2Q2Wmr78U
— Support (@Support) April 22, 2022
Twitter Bans All Climate Change Denial in Ads
In Twitter’s Earth Day blog post, the platform announced that any ads including messaging related to climate change denial would be banned.
The company deemed that any content contradicting the “scientific consensus on climate change” will be prohibited under its inappropriate content policy. Twitter’s approach to prohibiting climate denial will be informed by “authoritative sources,” such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports.
Twitter will continue to add more context to climate conversations on Twitter in the coming months, with plans to share how exactly that is happening soon.
On #EarthDay2021, @Twitter is taking bigger, bolder steps to confront the global climate emergency. The science is clear – urgent action is needed now.
Today, we announced that we signed the Science-Based Targets pledge to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
— Ned Segal (@nedsegal) April 22, 2021
Twitter Tests In-App Promotions for Third-Party Tools
Twitter is working on new ways to promote third-party tools built with its developer platform.
When a user takes a specific action on Twitter, such as blocking another user, Twitter’s new initiative will then display third-party tools related to the action from the Twitter Toolbox. The original Twitter Toolbox was launched in February and showcases reliable tools developed by third-party developers.
[Source]
Twitter Tests Crypto Payouts for Creators with Stripes
Twitter first partnered with online payment processing service Stripe last year to handle payments for Ticketed Spaces. Since then, the company has integrated Stripe’s “Connect” API-based programmatic payouts platform for various monetization services such as Tips and Super Follows.
Stripe has now introduced crypto payouts for Connect, and Twitter is the first partner for this new integration. Twitter creators will be able to opt-in to having their earnings paid to a cryptocurrency wallet, and Stripe will handle all of the operations including acquiring, storing, and transferring the cryptocurrency.
At launch, Stripe will support payouts in USDC, a coin that is fixed to the U.S. dollar. By the end of the year, Stripe plans to support crypto payouts in more than 120 countries.
[Source]
Instagram Tests Pinned Posts on User Profiles
According to several reports by Instagram users and social media analysts, Instagram has launched a live test with the option to pin feed images to the top of a user’s profile.
New In Instagram Pin To Your Profile Is Now Available In India @alex193a @TechnicalMJTV @MattNavarra @socialmedia2day @polityinstabook @insta_leaks @insta_leak @WFBrother @legion_mj @SaadhJawwadh @InfluenceTmrw @SydneyKBradley pic.twitter.com/UkND4913qH— salman_memon7 (@salman_memon_7) April 22, 2022
Twitter user Salman Memon posted a screenshot of the new feature as it appears on their profile. After navigating into the three-dot menu present on feed posts, a new “Pin to your profile” option is present. Upon selecting this, the post is then docked to the top row of the user’s profile feed.
#Instagram keeps working on the ability to pin 📌 posts in your profile 👀
ℹ️ You can pin up to 3 posts pic.twitter.com/UgBq4pdMKR
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) February 15, 2022
Work on this feature was uncovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, a mobile developer and reverse engineer, back in February. In this version of the feature, users could pin up to three posts, filling the top row of their profile’s feed.
A new useful feature from @Instagram — the ability to pin posts. 📌
It’s a great way for creators to highlight their best content to convert profile visitors into followers and creators to increase visibility on sponsored content on behalf of brand partners. pic.twitter.com/0d4GNRFYzq
— Lindsey Gamble (@LindseyGamble_) April 26, 2022
Twitter user Lindsey Gamble also shared a screen-recording of how the process of pinning plays out on their account.
Instagram has not provided a date for a full rollout of the feature.
New “Templates” for Instagram Reels
First reported by Business Insider, Instagram is testing a new “Templates” feature with selected Reels creators. These templates will allow users to easily replicate the format of an existing Reel with their own content.
#Instagram is working on the "Use as template" option for #Reels 👀 pic.twitter.com/JORfxxc8rj
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) January 31, 2022
Alessandro Paluzzi uncovered and shared the potential user interface for the feature in a recent Tweet. The template will match the timestamps of the existing Reel, allowing the user to insert their own content into the markers.
Instagram Tests new Reels Promo Tab
Instagram is also testing out a new way to generate interest in Reels with a new full-screen Reels promo slide between Stories.
New? “Suggested reels for you” in between Stories, same as for ads.
You can tap on the preview and it takes you to the reel. pic.twitter.com/3Mrw20Pzya
— marsella (@marselladondi) April 22, 2022
In this example shared by Twitter user @marselladondi, the slide titled “Suggested Reels for you” includes three highlighted Reel thumbnails recommended based on the user’s activity. The user can then click on a specific Reel, or tap on the “Watch Reels” CTA at the bottom of the page.
This follows the trend of Instagram pushing its short-form video content, which Instagram chief Adam Mosseri cited as a key focus for the platform in 2022.
Instagram Tests New Simplified Reels Monetization
Instagram is testing out a new feature that would allow creators to have overlay ads appear on top of their Reels.
#Instagram is working on on #Reels overlay ads 👀 pic.twitter.com/ypmVcJZFD0
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) April 21, 2022
Alessandro Paluzzi shared screenshots of the potential new feature in a Tweet earlier this week. The screenshots show an invitation to creators to earn money from their reels with Reels overlay ads. These ads will appear as banners on eligible advertiser-friendly Reels. According to Paluzzi’s screenshots, allowing Reel overlay ads will be toggled through the settings.
This update would allow Instagram to attract short-form video creators, furthering the platform’s push for video content.
Music Clips can now be inserted into Comments on Facebook
Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst, shared a Tweet with a screenshot of Facebook’s new feature which allows users to add music to their comments.
New! You can now add music to your comments on @facebookapp 🎵 pic.twitter.com/6XRSnZrvQR
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) April 22, 2022
The feature, represented by a music note icon, is located in the comment box alongside the existing GIF and emoji buttons. It functions similarly to the music sticker for Stories, which allows users to search through tracks and then select a segment of the song to use.
New Creative Tools for Spark AR Studio
[Source]
Meta is expanding Spark AR Studio’s capabilities as it rolls out version 136. The latest version gives creators more tools to build augmented reality experiences across Facebook and Instagram. The new tools included in the update are new audio options, depth mapping features, and improvements for occlusions.
New audio features will allow creators to include advanced integrations of audio processing into their effects. Multiple audio tracks can now be blended together seamlessly along with voice effects and sound effects. Six new audio patches have been included in the update, including Mixer, Gain, Oscillator, Vocoder, Filter, and Compressor. Several new asset patches have been added as well, including Audio Fade, Pulse Limiter, Loop Player, and more.
A new depth mapping capability called “Camera Depth Texture” can detect the distance of objects and surfaces from the camera and then extract their textures.
The occlusion feature, which allows creators to blend virtual objects into a real-world space, was previously available to selected creators and has now been fully launched to all creators.
New “Link Showcase” for LinkedIn Profiles
Shared by Matt Navarra in a Tweet, users now have the option to share a link on their LinkedIn profile. Previously, users had to click the “Contact info” link to see if a user has shared any links.
New! You can now showcase a link on your @LinkedIn profile 🔗
Good news for creators pic.twitter.com/ywxkSdRiWK
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) April 25, 2022
The link can be set in the profile customization menu and will be displayed below the user’s name, description, and title. The link can also use custom link text rather than limiting users to display the full URL. Custom link text can be used to clarify the link’s purpose on the user’s profile and grab the attention of profile viewers. The link provides new opportunities for organic promotion, potentially driving new traffic to the user’s chosen site.
That wraps up the latest social media update for this week! Be sure to check us out on Twitter for more digital marketing trends and news.
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