Posts tagged “Twitter”

Social Media & Digital Marketing November 2024 Roundup

Posted on 28th November 2024

The end of November is here, and before we move into the Christmas period, we’ll be taking a look back at the biggest and most relevant social media news from this month!

Here’s the latest news from the last month…

Following Hashtags Removed on Instagram

After a surge in unrelated content being used under hashtags on Instagram, Meta have announced that users will no longer be able to follow hashtags on the platform. Whilst they’re still able to be used in posts, users will now have to search a specific hashtag instead of seeing it pop up on their feed as it would if they were following it – a potential limitation to marketers who rely on hashtags for visibility.

Reddit Overtakes LinkedIn & X in The UK

Reddit has become one of the UK’s most used social media sites, overtaking both LinkedIn and X. Why? Well, Google updated their search function this year, giving Reddit a huge boost in organic search traffic. Ads on Reddit appear in threads and on the homepage as if they’re part of the conversation or just another post, which is great for functionality and for getting the attention of users. Whilst the 97 million global user mark is smaller than some of the big-hitter platforms, it still remains one to keep an eye on over the coming year.

Bluesky On The Rise After US Election

After Donald Trumps Victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election, the announcement of Elon Musk’s new position in Government has caused a stir in the world of Social-Media. Musk, owner of X, has had a controversial run since taking over the platform – removing the way blocking works, adding in a subscription-based service, de-boosting posts with links, changing link reviews, pushing his own content onto timelines, and of course, changing the name from Twitter to be more in line with his own brand. Due to his affiliation with the US Government, many users have been looking for an alternative, with Bluesky emerging and growing at an incredible rate.

The app was in development before Musk took over X, and was created by developers who were behind Twitter in 2019, including former CEO Jack Dorsey (who left the project recently). It was an invite-only platform up until February 2024, and saw an uptake of users after X was banned in Brazil this year. Now, it’s growing beyond expectations – gaining over a million users a day, it’s completely overtaken another alternative – Threads – in both usage and growth. Bluesky shot to the top of the Appstore charts after the election, with X continuing to struggle, and whilst it’s still very much in development users haven’t yet been put off by some of the missing parts that made X an attractive platform originally.

TikTok Launches AI Studio

In order to help you with marketing 24/7, TikTok have launched their new Symphony Creative Studio – which they have explained by saying: “Input the information and assets for your brand or product, or import them directly from a URL. Symphony Creative Studio generates a range of video options with unique layouts and scripts. These videos draw inspiration from TikTok’s top-performing content and incorporate licensed assets - videos, images, sounds, and avatars sourced from partners like Billo and Getty Images - all cleared for commercial use to help make your content TikTok-ready.”

Whilst the use of AI has been debated, especially when it comes to marketing and the shift in audiences favouring authenticity, the new system has proved popular in China – so TikTok will be hoping that success translates worldwide.

That’s all for November! Have a great Christmas if you’re celebrating, and keep an eye out for any updates over the festive season in the social media and digital marketing world.

Finally, your social media tip for this month is: Anyone can create an ad campaign...

Doesn't mean it's going to be any good though

Any business owner can log into an ad account, click a few buttons and launch their first campaign

I'm not going to tell you that you can't... because you absolutely CAN

You may even get a few quick wins

But you'll likely get nothing or results that aren't as successful as you need them to be

But it's OK because you can then say that "paid ads don't work for my business"

But do you truly believe that?! Or is it just to save face from the failed campaign

It took me years of learning (you never really even stop learning). I've spent hundreds of thousands on paid ads but I've got the results to back up any claims I make

Endless split tests, creative testing’s, analysis

Evenings spelt learning new ways, testing different things

Thats the difference...

You can go learn it yourself if you want results in a few months or even years (but you more than likely want those results now)

Social Media & Digital Marketing October 2024 Roundup

Posted on 24th October 2024

October is coming to an end, which means it’s time for our 2024 social media roundup!

We’ll be looking at all the newest updates across social platforms that can help you in your digital marketing journey.

Let’s see what’s happened in October 2024...

Threads Continues To Grow In Popularity

Threads has seen a slow but steady increase in popularity over the last few months, and has now reached the top of the download’s charts on iTunes, and sits at #7 for Google Play. X, it’s competitor, doesn’t feature on either chart – potentially due to the fact it’s not a new app, although Instagram and Facebook are still going strong with downloads.

X Facing Even More Competition

Speaking of X, the constant changes have been met with negative feedback – the newest being that the block feature is changing, so you’ll still be able to see content from accounts you’ve blocked and vice versa, but you can’t interact with it - with the only way to avoid these accounts seeing your posts is going private. This has seemingly driven people away from the app and to Bluesky. Bluesky is a relatively new platform created by X’S (or Twitter’s) former CEO Jack Dorsey, and this month it gained almost half a million users in one day. The interface of Bluesky is incredibly similar to that of X, but has more interactive features than the platform which sets it apart. Should Bluesky continue to see a rise in users, X will have to make big, positive changes to keep their existing users onside.

Updates To Google Shopping

Google are introducing AI to Google Shopping to help users search for items they’re interested in, and boost a brands connection to their audience. As explained by Google: “The new Google Shopping experience uses AI to intelligently show the most relevant products, helping to speed up and simplify your research. You’ll now get an AI-generated brief with top things to consider for your search, plus products that meet your needs.”

They’ll let users know when a suggestion has been made by AI by labelling it as ‘experimental’ – allowing users to feedback if something isn’t quite right to improve how the system operates.

Search Filter Updated On Facebook Groups

Meta is introducing AI to the search function in Facebook Groups, helping users search for certain phrases or questions by initiating a chat with the group’s AI to receive answers. This can save time for businesses who struggle to keep up with their audience within their own groups, with AI helping these members instead with any questions they may have that have already been answered by you or another user previously.

New ‘Best Practice’ Dashboard On Instagram

Instagram will be rolling out a new feature over the coming months to creators on the platform looking for further insights into their content. Separate from the current insights’ dashboard, the Best Practice Dashboard will give users the following information:

• Creation: Get information on how often to post, how to grab attention, advice on reel length and more.

• Engagement: Know how to understand your metrics and relate to your audience

• Reach: Learn about algorithms and follower growth.

• Monetization: Get advice about making money via Instagram.

• Guidelines: See updates to policies and community guidelines.

That’s all for October – have a great November and keep an eye out for any beneficial social media updates that could appear over the next month.

Finally, your social media tip is: I know, I know—we don’t want to talk about Christmas too early, but if you're running an e-commerce business and hoping to cash in on the festive sales, now’s the time to get your Google and Facebook ads ready! 🎄

Don’t leave it till you’re hanging up the tinsel—start thinking about your ad strategy now, so you’re fully prepped when the Christmas rush hits.

Let’s get your campaigns sorted! 🎅💻

Social Media & Digital Marketing June 2024 Roundup

Posted on 27th June 2024

June is coming to an end, which means it’s time for another social media roundup!

We’ve seen quite a few updates to digital platforms over the last month, so let’s take a look at what’s been hitting the headlines over the last few weeks…

AI Insights Added To Google Ads

Google Analytics 4 has been updated, now offering AI-powered notes created to highlight key data events, using more simplified language for better understanding. Google have explained this by saying: “Imagine your “Purchase” events spiked on a series of individual dates. Our AI engine works through the countless combinations of dimensions and metrics to proactively connect the dots, explaining why these spikes are happening. These insights will be written in a natural, easy-to-understand way, almost like a colleague summarizing the key takeaways for you.”

With Google Analytics 4 becoming the standard platform from July 1st, they’ll be adding aggregated impressions from the linked Campaign Manager 360 accounts. Cross-channel budgeting will also be added so users can see their projected performance against target objectives.

AI Assistance Tools Expanded For YouTube Creators

Struggling for video ideas? YouTube has updated their ‘Research’ tab – renamed the ‘Inspiration’ tab - in YouTube Studio to provide AI recommendations for creators looking for some ideas on what videos they should make. YouTube have commented on this: “Breakout Videos will highlight videos from similar channels that have performed exceedingly well. The goal is to give creators a more holistic understanding of channels similar to them, what content is resonating with their audience, and inspiration.”

They’re also adding A.I. tips, where creators will add a topic into the search bar so YouTube’s AI can provide ideas and notes based on what viewers may be interested in watching, and can generate a bullet pointed outline to help you get to grips with these suggestions.

They’re rolling these out currently, and hope to have them in the EU and the UK soon.

TikTok to Add ‘Virtual Influencers’

TikTok stay ahead of the curve by taking the AI boom further – now allowing businesses to choose from digital characters in their ‘Symphony’ Platform that can advertise their products and services on TikTok Live.

If you don’t want to use one of their digital creators, you can create your own, which have the ability to advertise in multiple languages.

The feature has been used in China since 2022, and has seen huge results for business owners who have seen their sales rocket thanks to these 24/7 livestreaming virtual influencers.

TikTok have added further detail on this new innovation: “To help creators and brands captivate global audiences and deliver impactful messages in an immersive and authentic way, we are excited to announce Symphony Digital Avatars. Digital Avatars help breathe life into branded content with generative A.I. avatars of real people, which will enable new ways to scale creative strategies on TikTok.”

Meta Adding New Features

AI seems to be the topic for June – and Meta aren’t getting left behind.

First of all, they’re rolling out an A.I. Q and A feature to help streamline the query process for businesses and their customers.

They’re also offering users the chance to sign up to business’ marketing – from then on, any messages, offers or information from businesses will be sent directly to a user’s Messenger inboxes.

Broadcast Channels are set to be rolled out for Facebook Pages with 10,000 or more followers, allowing businesses with smaller audiences the chance to get their followers into one channel and communicate with them directly.

X Analytics Updated…For Premium Users

Probably the most significant update this month for marketers on X – they’ve finally switched over what was Twitter Analytics to X Analytics, with a catch.

The previously free-for-all feature has been locked behind a paywall, with users signed up to X Premium or the tier above the only ones able to access their advanced analytics.

These analytics are now offering the following: total impressions, engagement rate, profile visits, video performance, link clicks and a new display to allow ease of access to different data.

X have been slowly trying to drive up subscriptions in the last 2 years, with little success of hitting any of their targets to do so. By putting analytics behind a paywall, it’s just another way they hope to get people to pay for previously free features. The question remains whether they will – analytics are imperative to businesses whose main marketing is done on X, but often they’ll be using multiple platforms – so using another website who can provide the same info in one central place is probably the way many will go.

That’s all for June! Have a great July and keep an eye out for any updates to come over the next month.

Your social media tip this month is: Many business owners I speak to struggle to get their ads in front of the right people, pouring money into campaigns but seeing little return.

You see the key to cost-effective, profitable paid ad campaigns is understanding your audience better.

By using detailed targeting options and creating content that resonates with your ideal customers, you can turn your ads around and start seeing some real results.

So, here are three tips that when used will help improve your ad performance:

✅️ Research Your Audience - Dive deep into their interests, behaviours, and demographics.

✅️ Test Different Ad Formats - Experiment with images, videos, and carousels to see what works best.

✅️ Monitor and Adjust - Regularly check your ad performance and tweak your targeting and content as needed.

These 3 simple steps can transform your ad strategy and help you see much better results. 💡

Social Media & Digital Marketing April 2024 Roundup

Posted on 25th April 2024

Over April, there have been updates in the world of social media that will be important for you to make note of, to aid your business' digital marketing.

Here’s all of the news from this month.

TikTok Photo’s App Launched

Last month you may remember the announcement that a potential Photo’s version of TikTok was in the works.

Well, the app has now officially launched in Canada and Australia – titled ‘TikTok notes’, it allows users to share images just as they can already on TikTok or Instagram, giving other users a peek into their lives.

Reach vs Impressions: Which Is More Important?

Posted on 19th April 2024

If you’ve looked into marketing your business on social media, chances are you’ve heard of the terms ‘Impressions’ and ‘Reach’.

If you’ve never come across them before, it may be difficult to know what they both exactly mean, and how important they are to your overall Marketing efforts, but that doesn’t mean you should totally ignore what the numbers are saying.

Here’s more information on reach vs impressions.

Social Media & Digital Marketing February 2024 Roundup

Posted on 22nd February 2024

We’re coming to the end of February, meaning there’s been a couple of updates in the world of social media and digital marketing.

Here’s all the news this month…

Updates For Threads

Threads has hit 130m users, and with the app now becoming available to those within the EU growth has become steady. Mark Zuckerberg has said: “Threads now has more people actively using it today than it did during its initial launch peak, so that one’s I think on track to be a major success.” Whilst Threads still has a long way to go with development if it wants to really challenge X, it’s expansion of users since launching in mid-2023 has been impressive.

Social Media & Digital Marketing October 2023 Roundup

Posted on 26th October 2023

This October, there’s been a few changes to social media platforms that could be helpful for you to know so you can adapt and create your own business’ social strategies accordingly.

Here’s all the news from October…

YouTube Updates Partner Programme & YouTube Shorts

YouTube has expanded its partner programme to include users in another 23 countries to have access to monetisation options should they have 500 or more subscribers. This was previously only rolled out to select regions.

For Youtube Shorts, AI features are being rolled out to enhance videos and add filters to creator’s videos (much like TikTok). This is still in early development, although looks to be another way that YouTube plans to continue promoting the Shorts feature, making it a worthy competitor to both Reels and TikTok.

Social Media & Digital Marketing September 2023 Roundup

Posted on 28th September 2023

We’ve reached the end of September, and across the month we have seen a number of updates on social media that could be handy for you to consider when it comes to your marketing efforts online.

Here’s all the latest news from the last month…

Instagram Launches Broadcast Channels

It’s likely that recently, you’ve been noticing a lot of invites from people you follow on Instagram to join their broadcast channels. Well, that’s because they’ve been rolled out towards the end of the month for users in Europe, giving them the opportunity to have a direct, DM-like connection with their followers. Users invited to join broadcaster channels will have the options to join or decline, and those looking to use them for marketing will be able to give those who are part of the channel exclusives and behind the scenes content.

Social Media & Digital Marketing August 2023 Roundup

Posted on 24th August 2023

As we reach the end of August, there’s been a number of updates to social media platforms that are worth noting if you’re looking to improve or build on your digital marketing efforts.

Here’s all the latest news from the last month…

YouTube Testing AI Generated Video Summaries

YouTube has started to test out more AI-based features, this time allowing users to use AI Generated Video Summaries to help add more context to clips.

Social Media & Digital Marketing July 2023 Roundup

Posted on 27th July 2023

There’s been some big social media news this month, from new platform launches to rebrands and feature changes that could be handy for marketers to take advantage of.

Let’s take a look at the latest updates for July 2023….

Meta Launches Threads

The biggest news from July is the launch of Meta’s new social media app, Threads.

Threads works in a similar way to Twitter – even having a similar interface, where users can create text-based posts, follow other creators, like, repost and quote other ‘thread’s’. They have also introduced a similar ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ timeline feature, after listening to concerns from users that they weren’t seeing content from users they follow on the initial app’s rollout.

Social Media & Digital Marketing June 2023 Roundup

Posted on 29th June 2023

We’ve had a lot of updates for social media platforms this June, from new features to monetisation opportunities.

Here’s the latest updates in the world of social media this month….

Instagram Tests AI Chatbot in DMs

Meta are currently experimenting with using AI, and over on Instagram they have introduced a new AI chatbot. This works similarly to Snapchats ‘My AI’, where users can ask questions and get instant responses. By @’ing the AI in your DMs, you can incorporate the feature into discussions.

Mark Zuckerberg spoke of Meta’s current decision to focus on developing AI features: “In the short term, we’ll focus on building creative and expressive tools. Over the longer term, we’ll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways. We’re exploring experiences with text, with images, and with video and multi-modal experiences.”

Social Media & Digital Marketing May 2023 Roundup

Posted on 25th May 2023

This May has seen lots of new updates appear for social media platforms, allowing businesses to take advantage of new features to maximise their reach and engagement.

Let’s take a look at the latest news…

Community Posts Available For All Channels

YouTube has made community posts available for all YouTube channels, allowing even smaller creators to have interactions with their audiences more directly.

Initially posts were only available for channels with over 1,000 subscribers, but have now given all users the opportunity to take advantage of the feature in the hopes it will help creators be able to build their presence on the site.

Blog