Although the summer months are often slower when it comes to platform changes, the month of July brought a variety of updates across social media. From new AI integrations to updated video tools to profile verification, there have been updates across all major platforms. Let’s dig into the top updates and trends for B2B social media marketing from the month!
Source: Social Media Today
Someone order a cake: July marked the first birthday of Meta’s text-based app, Threads! 🎂 Born out of the aftermath of Elon Musk's controversial changes at the app formerly known as Twitter, Threads has carved out its space in the social media landscape by leveraging Instagram's ecosystem and has hit an impressive 175 million users milestone. Despite initial skepticism, Threads has emerged as a formidable contender, drawing in diverse communities like tech enthusiasts and left-leaning commentators seeking a refuge from X's tumultuous shifts. While it trails X's 250 million daily active users, Threads' steady growth—adding 5 million new users monthly—signals its potential to rival Musk's platform in the future, and possibly eclipse X’s userbase by the time its next birthday rolls around.
Source: @cmcalgary on Threads
It appears that Facebook is rolling out a new feature as a part of its Meta AI push with new summaries of comments left on a post showing on user’s feeds. When I tested this out, the AI summaries were visible on posts within the mobile app, but not on desktop view. To access these new summaries, you need to click into the comments section of a post, and the summary appears at the top of the feed. While there’s certainly room for error when there are comments left by trolls or spambots, this seems like it will be a highly beneficial feature for more efficiently managing accounts that get a lot of comment engagement.
Source: Social Media Today
Instagram is introducing a surprisingly fresh new feature that allows users to add up to 20 audio tracks to their Reels. This means you can now create dynamic soundscapes within a single clip, blending and overlapping tracks to match different phases of your video. It's like playing DJ, mixing and merging tracks to create unique audio experiences. Whether you're switching up tunes as your Reel changes focus or blending old and new versions of songs to give your own spin to a favorite, the creative possibilities are endless. Plus, other users can tap into your custom audio mix for their own Reels, making this a fun and collaborative addition to the platform. It's a refreshing and original idea from Instagram, proving they still have some innovative tricks up their sleeve (even if TikTok has been their muse lately).
Source: Search Engine Journal
In a surprising turn, Google has decided NOT to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome. 🤯 Instead, they're putting privacy control directly in the hands of users. Despite years of planning to eliminate these cookies, Google will now offer new privacy options in Chrome, allowing users to make informed choices about their settings. This shift comes after extensive feedback from various stakeholders. Google claims to remain committed to its Privacy Sandbox initiative, continuing to develop privacy-focused technologies to protect users. This policy reversal will have significant implications for advertisers and publishers, who may need to reassess the strategies they’ve been working on for a cookieless future that now may never arrive.
Source: Social Media Today
Bad news for brands! Instagram’s new variable image size carousels, which let users upload carousels with different sized images, now face a restriction: you can't boost carousels that include full-screen images. While this update offers creative freedom in post composition, attempting to promote these carousels results in an error message, as shared by Ahmed Ghanem . This limitation could impact promotional strategies and the overall value of the new carousel format. Instagram has been approached for more details on this restriction, but for now, keep those full-screen images out of your paid posts!
Source: Meta Newsroom
Meta’s new AI Studio aims to revolutionize content creation by enabling users to build custom AIs for everything from generating memes to answering common DMs. While the feature is intriguing, it’s hard not to view it as another ploy to boost engagement on their platforms rather than a genuine tool for empowering creators. This initiative could streamline interactions and add some more fun to the mix. Several creators with big followings are already on board, and although the promises of transparency and safety are reassuring, it remains to be seen how this will actually evolve, especially with the recent retiring of their celebrity AI bot feature.
Source: Social Media Today
In the latest edition of “X implementing changes no one asked for,” the app is attempting to keep users from leaving the platform during use by testing a new feature that blocks links in post replies. This move aims to reduce spam and keep discussions within the app itself, preventing users from being led away to other sites. While it should be great for cutting down on unwanted crypto scam links and spam, it might also limit users from sharing valuable counterarguments or reference sources in debates. This feature could be a game-changer for regular users tired of spam-filled replies, but its real impact will only be clear once it’s fully rolled out.
Source: Hubspot
Video consumption is undergoing significant shifts this year, and as marketers, we need to stay ahead of these trends to effectively garner engagement from users. According to a survey by HubSpot and Wistia, video plays are up across the board, especially for small- to medium-sized businesses which are seeing a 13% increase. Consumers are increasingly leaning on video for product research, favoring short-form content on mobile devices. Social media users, especially Gen Z, prefer genuine and relatable content, with 63% favoring it over polished videos. While the push towards interactive and authentic videos is exciting, the emphasis on shorter videos (under 60 seconds) reflects a dwindling attention span. With 89% of consumers wanting more video content from brands, it’s clear that engaging, relatable videos are now a must for all brands.
Source: Social Media Today
LinkedIn is adding verification badges for company pages, aiming to boost trust and authenticity. Selected company pages will receive a gray verification tick, signifying that they’ve passed LinkedIn's checks for identity and authenticity. This process involves verifying data points like location and website URL, ensuring active page admin presence, and compliance with LinkedIn’s policies. However, companies can't apply for verification (or pay for it like on some platforms); LinkedIn will approve pages at its own discretion. While the rollout is limited and may take time, this added layer of verification is expected to reassure users they are interacting with official company representatives.
That's a wrap on this month's update!
Join us again next month as we continue to bring you the latest and greatest updates to help you succeed in the B2B social media marketing community. In the meantime, follow us on LinkedIn for additional updates.