Welcome back to Spark Social Report by Spark Growth, your weekly source for social media updates! This week, Twitter is working with Snapchat to integrate Bitmojis on the app, TikTok is both adding and removing some shopping features, and YouTube is removing the option to hide subscriber counts. Continue reading for more updates across social media!
Twitter Marketing Insights
Twitter is an effective advertising platform for many brands. Its short-form text-based content calls for a different approach than most advertising strategies. Here are some key tips from Twitter’s best ad practices:
- The best performing Tweets are between 50-100 characters, so keep ads simple and concise.
- Be straightforward with the ad’s call-to-action and convey an urgency, such as a limited-time offer.
- 97% of users focus on visuals. Upload high-quality, eye-catching photos that connect to your Twitter copy.
Make Twitter your brand’s next great advertising platform by reading the full guide here.
Say Hello to Bitmoji on Twitter
#Twitter is working on allowing #Snapchat Bitmoji to be used as an avatar 👀 pic.twitter.com/3o8bgLw7nf
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) July 1, 2022
Digital avatars are taking over! Twitter is testing an option for users to display their Bitmoji as their profile image. If this option is officially rolled out, this would be the first time Twitter has partnered with Snapchat, as Bitmoji is owned by the latter company. This could mean further links to Snapchat down the road if a partnership is established. Digital avatars are becoming more popular with the expansion of the metaverse into social media. This partnership may signal that Twitter isn’t looking to create its own avatar tools to compete with Meta, but rather, prefers to leverage a very popular existing feature.
TikTok
New TikTok Shop Tab
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Is TikTok going to be the new go-to shopping app? TikTok is testing a new “Shop” tab where users can purchase items through the app from various sellers. This is currently being tested in select markets as some users have seen the tab beside the “For You” and “Following” feeds. Users can add items to their cart from multiple different sellers and go through a purchase option directly in the app.
TikTok Live Shopping is Failing
On the other hand, maybe TikTok won’t become the new go-to shopping app after all? Although the company is testing the new Shop tab, it is also scaling back on live shopping in select markets. Since last year, TikTok has been building and testing live shopping in the U.K. Creators and brands could hold live streaming events where they do hauls and show products that people can purchase through the app. This is very popular in China but wasn’t successful in the U.K. TikTok is now reportedly stopping its plans for bringing the feature to the U.S. and Europe to focus on making it successful in the U.K. first.
It will be interesting to see if TikTok can make live shopping work where it isn’t currently the norm for shoppers and if the new Shop tab will be successful.
LIVE Age Restriction Options
Last but not least, TikTok is testing a feature allowing creators to restrict users on LIVE to those who are 18 years of age or older. Creators can do this by selecting “mature themes” in their LIVE settings. To prevent minors from seeing content meant for adults, the stream will be monitored for any violations of the community guidelines. TikTok can better protect minors with this feature and creators will be able to tailor their content toward the right audience.
Sound Suggestions for Reels
Another cool feature, now #Instagram will suggest the best music for your video based on the video itself pic.twitter.com/QBlh1Soacm
— Ahmed Ghanem (@ahmedghanem) July 5, 2022
Instagram continues to push users towards its Reel feature with new features like song recommendations. The feature was found by Twitter user, Ahmed Ghanem. It is a section of suggested sounds to use on Reels based on what a user uploaded or created. The process behind the recommendations is not clear yet, though it may be based on video length and other similar videos that use each sound.
YouTube
No More Hidden Subscriber Count
YouTube is removing the option to hide subscriber counts. The company decided to remove the feature to protect users from accounts that were impersonating others. These updates bring some increased security and transparency to the platform.
Disappearing Community Posts
Next, YouTube is experimenting with disappearing content by allowing creators to set a time limit on Community Posts. Creators were looking for ways to share exclusive content, such as discount codes or special messages, that would eventually expire. Community Posts are available to creators with more than 500 subscribers. The text-based content will have an expiration option of 24 or 72 hours and viewers will be able to see when a post will expire. The feature is being tested with a small number of creators on Android.
NFT Display on Facebook
We're launching NFTs on Facebook! Excited to share what I've been working on with the world. pic.twitter.com/TaV66zRanV
— Navdeep Singh (@navdeep_ua) June 29, 2022
Meta is adding NFT (non-fungible token) display options on Facebook. Instagram launched its testing of NFT posts back in May and now Meta is also looking to introduce the feature to Facebook. The posts have a “Digital Collectible” tag and a new NFT section for users’ on their Facebook profiles.
Pinterest’s Global Ad Program
Pinterest is launching ads in Latin America as it furthers the global expansion of its ad program. All businesses in Argentina, Columbia, and Chile will have access to all ad formats and targeting options. Pinterest is seeing positive results from its ads and has aimed to make the program a more widely used ad feature.
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.
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