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June saw the arrival of many new features across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more of our favourite social media platforms, as well as plenty of updates to enhance our browsing experience and make it easier for businesses to connect with their fans and followers. Whether you’re a brand marketer, influencer or casual scroller, read on to find out which ones might be beneficial for you and your strategy.
Dynamic Travel Ads on Snapchat
Snapchat kicked off the month by introducing Dynamic Travel Ads, a new ad format which will help brands in the travel industry such as hotels, airlines, tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs) reach new audiences and attract bookings. Dynamic Travel Ads will show travel destinations to each user based on places they’ve visited and products they’ve previously viewed, through advanced targeting, locally-relevant campaign delivery and a customised catalogue setup. During the tool’s test phase last year, one of the world’s most popular travel directories, Booking.com, was able to unlock an incremental audience which resulted in a 20% lower cost per purchase than other US advertisers.
Advertise adventure. With Dynamic Travel Ads, your business is ready for takeoff. https://t.co/zppnTvAVVw pic.twitter.com/rOvgRenpIx
— Snapchat for Business (@SnapForBusiness) June 16, 2022
Calls Tab on Messenger
In line with the rising use of Messenger to conduct audio and video calls (there are over 40% more daily callers in the app now compared to early 2020!), Meta has added a new dedicated Calls tab to the lower function bar in the app, alongside Chats, People and Stories. The feature is rolling out gradually across iOS and Android so not all users will be able to access it immediately, but once it becomes available to everyone, it will be much quicker and easier to start calls, set up group calls, view missed calls and browse suggested contacts.
New Options for Instagram & Facebook Reels
Meta also unveiled a range of updates for Reels on both Instagram and Facebook. Firstly, Reels can now be up to 90 seconds in length instead of the previous 60, giving users some extra time to show off their creations and entertain viewers. Plus, Instagram Story stickers such as Polls, Quizzes and Emoji sliders are now available on Reels, opening up more opportunities for engagement and interaction. A new feature called Sound Sync has also been launched, enabling users to automatically sync their Reels to the beat of their favourite songs - and another new tool called Templates lets users easily and quickly create their own Reels using the same structure as one they’ve just watched. When you see a Reel you’d like to recreate, simply tap ‘Use Template’ to pull in the audio and clip sequence, before customising it with your own content by adding and trimming.
💥 Upgrading Reels 💥
— Instagram (@instagram) June 2, 2022
Starting today, you’ll be able to:
✅ Add polls, quizzes and emoji sliders like in Stories
✅ Create Reels using existing templates
✅ Make Reels up to 90 secondshttps://t.co/BR902jC9g6 pic.twitter.com/oHF52g2IUo
Product Listings on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has added a new product showcase element within the Experience section on user profiles, allowing people to highlight specific products and projects they’ve worked on throughout their careers. However, before a user can add a product to their profile, the company must have that product listed on its company page so that a link can be made. This will give users more ways to show their expertise and pinpoint their strengths and achievements, while also giving LinkedIn more detailed insights regarding what types of projects people usually work on under certain job titles.
Product Drop Notifications on Twitter
Twitter announced the arrival of Product Drops, the newest member of the Twitter Shopping family. When a brand tweets about an upcoming launch, users will now see a ‘Remind me’ button at the bottom of the tweet, which they can tap to register their interest in the product or collection. On launch day, users will then receive an in-app notification 15 minutes before the drop, and another when it goes live. This means dedicated fans can be among the first people to visit the brand’s website and make a purchase, which will be particularly beneficial for limited edition products that are likely to sell out fast.
Introducing Product Drops, a new feature that helps shoppers stay on top of your latest launches. Check it out👇 pic.twitter.com/X0YDqtE3YA
— Twitter Marketing (@TwitterMktg) June 10, 2022
YouTube Video Corrections
Up until now, YouTubers have had to completely delete and re-upload a video if they realise it contains an error, potentially resulting in a loss of engagement metrics and comments. However, now, thanks to a new feature called Corrections, creators will be able to call attention to corrections and clarifications in info cards that will show up in the top right corner of the video at the required timestamp. If a viewer clicks on this info card, the video description will be expanded, where the creator can provide a written correction based on the desired amendment. While this doesn’t permit YouTubers to fully change their videos, it might be a helpful way for them to explain small errors and mistakes that they only noticed after uploading, or add further context to things mentioned in the clip.
Laugh Reaction on LinkedIn
A new reaction is now available on LinkedIn - a laughing face, which the platform says can be used if a post “made you laugh, felt humorous, or offered light-hearted fun in a professional context”. LinkedIn gave some examples of where it could be appropriate to use the new ‘Funny’ reaction option, such as laughing along with a coworker who shared a funny virtual meeting mistake while working from home, sharing an inside joke relevant to your role or industry, or heartwarming humour that shows vulnerability.
LinkedIn Repost Option
LinkedIn users normally have just one option when they wish to share another person’s post - adding their own comments and creating their own post above the shared content. However, due to a recent update which is currently being rolled out across the platform, users will now be able to simply repost a post (just like the retweet function on Twitter), which will hopefully boost engagement and increase the reach of useful, inspiring content and job opportunities. What do you think? Is it better to add your own thoughts when sharing someone else’s post, or is it sufficient to share other users’ content without further comment?
Shopify Integration on Twitter
As part of its ongoing venture into the world of social commerce, Twitter has announced a brand new partnership with Shopify which will allow merchants to connect their Twitter account to their Shopify admin and access Twitter’s Shopping Manager, the platform’s suite of shopping tools. Sellers will be able to automatically sync their inventory, meaning they won’t need to manually update their product catalogue each time a new item is added or removed, or details change. They can then highlight their products at the top of their Twitter profile via the Shop Spotlight, which will direct customers through to the merchant’s website to checkout.
Long-Form Blogging Option on Twitter
Twitter has always been known for its short-form content style, but since extending the tweet character limit from 140 to 280 back in 2017 and its acquisition of editorial newsletter platform Revue last year, it’s become clear that there is a growing interest in longer posts too. In line with this, a new blogging option called Notes has been released, which enables users to attach longer text elements to their tweets.
Note titles are limited to 100 characters and the main body of a Note can contain up to 2,500 words. Notes offer all the regular elements of a blog post composer, including the ability to add a header image, insert images and links throughout the text, and a streamlined option to embed tweets. Plus, unlike tweets, they can be edited by the writer after they’ve been published, with an ‘Edited’ label being added to the top of the page to let readers know that it’s been amended since the original version. Notes will also have unique URLs which people can navigate to from outside of Twitter, even if they aren’t logged in or don’t have an account.
✨ Introducing: Notes ✨
— Twitter Write (@TwitterWrite) June 22, 2022
We’re testing a way to write longer on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/SnrS4Q6toX
Branded Like Animations for Tweets
June was a busy month for Twitter! The next update it revealed was a new Branded Likes feature which lets businesses and advertisers create custom Like animations on selected tweets for 24 hours, meaning a fun icon or graphic will quickly flash up when a user taps the heart button underneath a tweet. According to Twitter, some examples of where this could be used include movie or series premieres, big conferences, major product releases or large-scale sports events. To access the feature, brands need to use the Timeline Takeover ad placement, which is Twitter’s biggest single-day mass awareness ad format that maximises impressions by ensuring the ad is the first thing to appear when someone opens Twitter for the first time that day. They must also select a hashtag to trigger the animation.
👋 We're launching #BrandedLikes, a feature that lets advertisers customize Twitter’s Like button animation for 24 hours.
— Twitter Business (@TwitterBusiness) June 30, 2022
Branded Likes will appear on any organic or promoted Tweets that contain the advertiser-selected hashtags after an individual has liked that Tweet. pic.twitter.com/mBRRTWtAru
Snapchat Plus
Snapchat launched a new subscription service called Snapchat+, which involves users paying a monthly fee of $3.99 in order to gain access to exclusive in-app features such as special icons, a profile badge to show that you’re a Snapchat+ user, the ability to view your friends’ location history over the last 24 hours, details of who has rewatched your Story and the capacity to pin a user in the app as your #1 best friend. Snapchat explained that the tool will be for “some of the most passionate members of our community” and that it will allow them to provide prioritised support for paying members.
Happy Snapchat+ing! 👻https://t.co/j2SN7ArqHf
— Snapchat (@Snapchat) June 29, 2022
Creator Collaborations on Facebook
Perhaps as a result of the rising popularity of the Collabs feature on Instagram, Facebook is launching a new Creator Collaborations tool, which will enable creators to join forces with other people on content to expand their reach. Facebook says that the option is currently only available for video posts, although more creation options are in development. Creators can invite a second user to publish a piece of content together, and if they accept, the post will publish on both collaborators’ pages, with both of their names being displayed above it. Collaborators will share the same distribution for the content and can view shared insights, such as reach and engagement, within the Creator Studio.
Storing Recorded Twitter Spaces
Back in January, Twitter gave Spaces users the ability to record their broadcasts, which meant they were available for public playback after the Space ended, making the experience feel more adjacent to a regular podcast. However, recorded Spaces would automatically disappear after 30 days. Now, thanks to a recent update, they will stay on a user’s profile for as long as they want them to. A new section has also been added to the Settings page where users can manage their recordings and perform a range of actions such as listening to them, sharing them or deleting them.
now your Spaces recordings will live as long as you want them to! starting today, hosts on Android are able to host a Space that lasts indefinitely
— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) June 30, 2022
iOS is coming up next!
Summary
Did you or your business take advantage of any fresh social features in June? Which ones are you excited to delve further into throughout July? If you’ve found a fun new element to incorporate into your upcoming content strategy or a more efficient way to assist your customers online, we’d love to hear from you! Tweet us @3sixfivepro to share your thoughts.
