September 2021 | Social you should know
Here are the latest social media trends & updates you might have missed in the past fortnight:
- LinkedIn is ending its short-lived experiment with LinkedIn Stories by the end of September, after it failed to catch on among the professional social media set. LinkedIn is now looking to replace Stories to make way for richer video creation features, joining platforms like Snapchat and Instagram that have built their own TikTok-like feeds.
- After testing, Instagram launches ads in the Instagram Shop tab globally. Currently, items on Shops appear in a two-column grid of square tiles. Ads will appear as a tile within this structure, but they’ll be marked “Sponsored” in the bottom-left corner of the image. When the ad is clicked, it will open the Product Details page, which shows more information about the item, additional images and other products from the brand. Users can save a product from an ad to their wish list or send it to a friend.
- Instagram has just revealed how its Search feature works, and how businesses can get ranked more easily in search results.
Tiktok
- Speaking of e-commerce, TikTok announced an expanded partnership with Shopify, as well as a pilot test of TikTok Shopping among select Shopify merchants across the U.S., U.K. and Canada in the weeks to come. Soon, Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will be able to add a new “Shopping” tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create mini-storefronts on their profile.
- TikTok is launching a new “Creator Marketplace API,” that allows marketers to connect directly with influencers on TikTok, and to tap into first-party data including audience demographics, growth trends, best-performing videos, and real-time campaign responses, such as views, likes, shares, comments, etc. TikTok’s Creator Marketplace allows marketers to find TikTok personalities, and to create and track campaigns with them. The new API is currently only available to alpha partners, but the company is expected to officially announce its broader availability in September.
- TikTok is rolling out a new Promote option, to let business accounts easily boost their posts, turning their organic posts into ads. The feature will become available globally via a new fire icon added on videos – but can also be accessed through TikTok’s Creator Tools menu, or via Business Suite. To learn more about TikTok’s Promote guidelines, the platform has put together a dedicated page where creators can learn anything from how to set up video, to how to watch how the campaign is performing.
Global Campaign Spotlight – Confectionary
Nerds x Dungeons & Dragons!
- According to a press release, Nerds is introducing new packaging that unlocks access to a themed Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign developed with the Wizards of the Coast tabletop brand.
- Nerds Gummy Clusters and Rainbow Nerds Theater Boxes will come with a receipt that can be posted to nerdscandy.com/dnd starting in September. Visitors can participate in an unique “Restoring Harmony” campaign on the site, which includes a PDF adventure and character sheets based on the Ferrera candy’s mascots.
- The box also advertises a sweepstakes that runs until the end of the year and includes prizes such as a D&D Starter Set and Player’s Handbook. The endeavour demonstrates Nerds’ commitment to its content strategy at a time when tabletop gaming is gaining popularity.
