Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, Reels have taken over Instagram as the only video format on the app, Twitter is exploring status updates, and Facebook has a new feed format. Continue reading for more updates across social media!
TikTok Marketing Insights
TikTok published a marketing guide for businesses called “The Power of Sound.” Sound is an essential part of being successful on TikTok and your brand should be using it as a critical engagement element. Here are some key insights from the guide:
- 88% of users believe sound is important to the TikTok experience.
- 68% of users remember a brand better when using a popular TikTok sound.
- The report explores three types of trending sounds: creator-made anthems, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), and new narrators.
TikTok explains these three sound types and provides a case study for each. Read all about it in the full guide here.
New Updates for Reels Remix
[Source]
Reels, Reels, Reels. Instagram’s favorite feature has some new updates. First off, the Remix feature is getting new updates such as an extension to photos. Users will be able to remix an Instagram photo post by adding it to a Reel.
Secondly, get ready for new layouts including a green screen, horizontal or vertical split screen, and picture-in-picture are now all available Remix options. Lastly, users can now add an existing Reel to the end of Remix, rather than it playing at the same time. This is similar to the stitch feature on TikTok.
Templates and Dual are Official
The second set of Reel updates is for templates and dual. Templates have officially launched. Users can create a Reel from a template that provides audio and clip placeholders to make video creation even easier. A new feature, Dual, allows users to record using both their front and back cameras at the same time. Creators can show both the experience and their reactions to it!
Say Goodbye to Instagram Videos
📣 Reels Updates 📣
We’re announcing new features making it easier and more fun to collaborate, create and share Reels. These updates include:
– Reels Video Merge
– Reels Templates
– Remix Improvements
– Dual CameraCheck them out and let me know what you think 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/XZUiqmANSX
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 21, 2022
Probably the biggest update for Reels this week is that all video posts will be converted to Reels. Any new video post that is under 15 minutes will be shared as Reels and all existing videos will stay as videos. Additionally, there will only be one tab on the profile for both videos and Reels.
Details are scarce at the moment with many questions still left unanswered — for example, the Reel format and video size have yet to be determined. We have seen that photo posts have gained black bars at the top and bottom in order to fit a 9:16 ratio, so the same may be done for new videos. Additionally, whether videos over 15 minutes will still be available on the app is unknown. Instagram stated that there will only be one tab on the profile but that old videos will still be in their normal format. Where those will be displayed on profiles is also unknown. Stay tuned for more updates in future reports!
Is Instagram Rethinking Some Changes?
After Instagram’s announcements about new Reel features, they received a lot of negative responses from users. As stated by a spokesperson from Meta and Instagram head, Adam Mosseri, they have decided to pause the testing of its full-screen feed and limit recommended content. They also stated they are going to regroup and rethink future planned updates. What this means for Reels is unknown as no mention of this week’s Reels updates were included in the statement. We will see what happens next in the ever-changing world of Instagram!
What do you think of all these Reel updates?
Hashtags in Communities
Twitter Communities is testing a new hashtag feature. Within each Community, the hashtags that are used will be displayed at the top of the page in order from most to least popular. Users can select each one and see all Tweets that use the hashtag. The company hopes to increase engagement with its Community feature as it’s not widely used yet.
Update your Twitter Status
Twitter seems to be finishing up with Twitter Status, a new label thingy that people can add to their Tweet from a list of predefined statuses (for now?)
Tapping on the Status shows its discovery page, letting people Tweet with that status, discover relevant people and Tweets https://t.co/PDUDfM3VWA pic.twitter.com/vrAb5voIMK
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 21, 2022
Get ready to update your status! Twitter is developing its new Status feature allowing users to add short updates to their Tweets. As seen in the Tweet above, users can choose statuses such as “Spoiler Alert,” “Hot Take,” and “Unpopular Opinion.” Users can also click on the status to see all of the Tweets that use the same one. Are you looking forward to this update?
New Elements for Notes
Twitter added new elements to its Notes feature, which is still in limited testing. Writers’ profiles will have a Notes tab to categorize all their Notes in one place. There will also be recommendations for Notes to read based on trending topics. Writers have also gained the option to add block quotes, making the feature more like a blogging platform.
TikTok
Accessibility Tools
TikTok has announced two new caption tools for increased accessibility on the app. The first is auto-generated closed captions. In the past, creators had to select the closed caption option before uploading a video but now users can choose whether they see captions or not. Secondly, TikTok has finally introduced translations! Selecting the translation button will translate the caption and any text on the video such as stickers. Your content can now be even more accessible to a wider audience!
Licensed Music on Facebook Videos
Licensed music is coming to Facebook. Meta announced Music Revenue Sharing to allow creators to include licensed music in their ad videos and share ad revenue with music rights holders. Ads must be 60 seconds or longer and music can be selected from Facebook’s Licensed Music Library.
Updated Facebook Feed
Another new feed! Facebook launched a new categorization for its feed. The home feed will now offer personalized and recommended posts based on the algorithm. A new Feeds Tab provides different categories of posts and shows them chronologically. Some categories include favorites, friends, and groups. Mark Zuckerberg stated that users wanted to see their friends’ posts more easily and separating the feeds out like this will help to do just that!
YouTube
New Creator Safety Center
Creators on YouTube have expressed concerns about unwanted behavior on the platform and a lack of resources to handle such situations. To fix this, YouTube launched a new Creator Safety Center to give links, tips, and advice to address various situations. The company worked with third-party experts and online safety groups to create a platform that can advise users on how to manage bullying and other issues. Click here to access the platform!
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.
Looking for some help with creating social media content for your brand? Our marketing experts can help! From video, photos, and blog content – we can do it all! Start a conversation today by clicking the link below.
href="#" data-color-override="false" data-hover-color-override="false" data-hover-text-color-override="#fff">Book a 30-minute consultation today!