Social Media updates and what they mean for you – August 15th

Welcome to your weekly roundup of everything you need to know about the social media world AND what it means for you.

Instagram
Another week, another bunch of Instagram updates (it wouldn’t feel right without them!). The much-anticipated 90-second Reels have landed for the majority of accounts. Support for NFTs is expanding to include smaller creators. Handsfree recording for Samsung flip phones has landed, bringing them in line with other users. Most excitingly they finally released the info you need about how they suggest new content.

What does this mean for you?
Let’s start with the good ish shall we? A definitive answer to how new content is suggested – in a nutshell it comes down to engagement, similarity to existing interests, and whether it would be at home in their home-feed. Which means you need to be focusing on creating content that your users care about enough to engage with and enjoy seeing on their feeds.

Longer Reels means even more time to share. Our advice is still to keep things short and sweet – the average watch time is around 4-5 seconds – so frontload videos with a great hook to encourage people to keep watching. NFT support is a good move for smaller creators, although not something that will impact many businesses. Hands-free recording has been around for a while so we’re pleased to see them including Samsung flip phones in this.

LinkedIn
Three exciting updates in LinkedIn world this week… Link stickers have landed, templates help everyone get creative, and a “discover” feed is being tested (are we surprised?).

What does this mean for you?
Link stickers represent a better way to encourage interactions and get people where they need to be to buy from you. Uses included directing to a sale, book a call, or a specific product. The templates option is a pretty good one in our opinion because, as much as we’d love for everyone to use a graphic designer or social media manager it simply isn’t possible, so this is a happy medium for the everyday user. We don’t think the “discover” feed test is anything to worry about just yet but is something to bear in mind for the future.

TikTok
Increased e-commerce tools such as “order centre” landed this week, helping users track purchases made within the app.

What does this mean for you?
If you’re a product-based business get your shopping tools set up ASAP! There are a few caveats around follower number (of course) but there is a big advantage to be had here if you qualify.

Struggling to keep up with it all? We live for it!

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