The summer months are usually a time for some quiet and relaxation. I wish the same could be said for the social media space, July has been jam-packed with updates! As the saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked!
We all know that Instagram prefers video content above all else. This latest update is a move towards reels only video content. So, following up on reports earlier this month, Instagram has officially announced that new videos will be shared as Reels. The change is rolling out in the coming weeks and will only apply to new videos under 15 minutes. And yes, 15 minutes is not a typo, I went searching myself to see if I had read this right. It’s not exactly short form, which means that pretty much all uploaded videos in the app will now be fed into the Reels stream. Old videos will remain unchanged but will show up within the Reels tab in user profiles. As explained by Meta, “Since reels offer a more immersive and entertaining way to watch and create videos on Instagram, we’re bringing the full-screen experience to your video posts, too.”
Instagram says almost half of its global users interact with a Reel at least once a week, highlighting opportunities for brands to connect with audiences using the format.
Noteworthy points
More users will see recommended Reels on Instagram, improving your discoverability.
It’s no longer just good practice, shooting in 9:16 vertical is essential – otherwise your videos won’t look right on the feed. And Instagram’s algorithm rewards early adoption, so experiment with Templates and Remixes.
However, there has been some backlash, from two Instagram heavy weights, Kim Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner. The sisters shared a message to their collective 686 million Instagram followers to ‘Make Instagram, Instagram again’, complaining that it was “trying to be TikTok” instead of focusing on photo sharing. Here what Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri had to say in response to the comments here
Twitter Best Practices
With a different ads manager for each social media platform, it can be difficult to keep up to date with the most recent platform best practices. This month Twitter has produced a comprehensive guide with some of their best practices to get the most out of your ads to help optimise results. The guide includes best practice on all areas of Twitter ads: strategy, copy, images, video and campaign optimisation.
Top tips for top tier ads
Keep tweets clear and concise: around 50-100 characters. Even though there is a 180-character count allowance, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to use them all. I feel since the introduction of TikTok, if something doesn’t catch my attention in the first few seconds then its game over. Ads should also include a strong call-to-action to follow or get audiences to click through.
Give people a reason to take immediate action. Limited time offers, sales or incentives for customers who sign up to a newsletter or reply to your tweet are all good examples.
Cap videos at under 15 seconds with clear branding included within the first three.
TikTok – Ad Personalisation
TikTok is releasing a new feature that lets users customise the ad topics they’re interested in. In the Ads Personalisation section of user settings, TikTokers can access a list of inferred interests based on the app’s data, which dictates the ads they see. For each topic shown, users can disable personalised ads. Changes take 48 hours to take effect. Now this may sound like a hindrance to advertisers as it could possibly mean reaching a lower audience. But the audience you do reach will genuinely be interested in your brand/business/product. Quality over quantity always! The feature is currently available in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. TikTok is working on a broader rollout.
What does this mean for advertisers?
TikTok’s attraction for advertisers is its sophisticated algorithm, which serves hyper personalised content to users. This update won’t necessarily limit your ad targeting options. It gives users control around the ads they see, giving you the best chance possible to serve relevant content – and increase those clicks.
Another platform succumbs to the pressures of the popularity of TikTok. Facebook has split its main UI into a Home feed for recommended content and a new Feeds tab, which shows the latest posts in categories like Favourites, friends, groups and Pages. TikTok’s ‘For You Page’ (FYP) pulls in the most engaging content based on your likes and interests and isn’t restricted to your connections. Meta’s now trying to latch onto the same – but do Facebook users really want a TikTok-esque experience with Facebook content? The Feeds tab is free of suggested content but may still include ads, whereas the Home feed focuses on recommended Reels and Stories.
Facebook will show you whatever it thinks you’ll like in your main feed, as you can find your friends and Pages you follow in the other tabs. Similar to the FYP and Following tabs on TikTok. This feature was also added to the Instagram home page a few months ago, in the format of ‘favourites and following’
Zuckerberg had the following to say “One of the most requested features for Facebook is to make sure people don’t miss friends’ posts. So today we’re launching a Feeds tab where you can see posts from your friends, groups, Pages and more separately in chronological order.”
