Instagram links for all?
You can’t easily link out of Instagram. It’s a pain but it’s another thing that makes the network interesting and challenging.
It looks like that is about to change. Instagram is testing a link sticker that could allow all users, no matter how many followers they have, to link to websites from their stories. They may revert to the 10k follower restriction after the test.
This will delight a lot of people but I wonder how effective it will be. Using the DM function to get your audience to ask for a link is a good way to build deeper relationships, we will lose this if we can simply link. But it should also mean more traffic to your website.
What about the feed? Apparently, they have no plans to add links to the feed.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/29/22555434/instagram-link-sticker-post-test-swipe-up
Share Tweets to Instagram stories
Did you ever see an amusing tweet and want to share it on Instagram? Or did someone say something good about your business on Twitter and you want to share it with your Instagram audience?
Lots of people do but the process meant screenshots and editing.
Twitter just made it a whole lot easier. Now you can click a button to share a tweet directly to your Instagram story.
This option is currently only available on iOS devices, and the tweet isn’t clickable, it won’t drive traffic back to Twitter.
Why would Twitter do this? It’s in your face branding. I’m guessing the more full tweets people see, the more inclined they will be to go take a look at Twitter.
Facebook Bulletin
A lot of social networks are banking on newsletters right now. You can sub to newsletters on LinkedIn, Twitter, and now Facebook.
Facebook just launched ‘Bulletin’ their newsletter service. This lets you view, subscribe and share newsletters. The first few creators are all well known public figures. Including Malcolm Gladwell.
Although the initial newsletters are free, creators will be able to charge a subscription fee, and at the moment, Facebook isn’t taking a cut.
The choice of creators they’ve started with, and their decision to launch audio-rooms to public figures first, tells us that Facebook wants to be taken more seriously, and that it is hoping to nurture influencers in the future.
https://www.bulletin.com/home/
Facebook ads – optimise text per person
There are three areas of text on a Facebook ad. The primary text is the main caption that accompanies your visuals, the headline and the description.
If you want to create different versions of your ad copy that’s a lot of writing. And creating different versions works, different people respond to different versions.
Facebook has introduced a new feature ‘Optimise text per person’ which will take those three areas of text and switch them around. Meaning the primary text could be the headline, the description, or the primary text you created.
The text shown will depend on who the ad is shown to and will be based on their preferences.
Twitter 15-second video view objective
Twitter ads are taking a leaf out of Facebook’s book with their new objective.
When you choose the 15-second view objective, you are optimising your ad to be seen by people who are most likely to watch for 15 seconds or more.
This is similar to Facebook’s Thruplay ad which optimises for the same thing.
It will be helpful to advertisers who want to ensure their video gets seen rather than getting a website view or a follow.
It could also help you build stronger retargeting audiences as you will get longer views, the video views audience you retarget will be way more engaged.
https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/new-way-to-buy-premium-video-views.html
TikTok says don’t make ads
In an article this week, TikTok have renewed their plea to businesses to not make ads.
TikTok has been working hard at getting businesses to use the platform. They have tutorials, events and they’re even adding a desktop version of the video editor to the ads platform.
All of this is a bid to make sure businesses ‘don’t make ads’ but instead embrace the TikTok aesthetic.
Ads stick out like a sore thumb on social networks, particularly when they are new and the advertiser hasn’t taken the time to fit in. For many, this will be a waste of money.
Just like when you get up to make a cup of tea or surf the net during a television commercial break, you will swipe by bad ads on TikTok.
https://www.tiktok.com/business/en/blog/what-we-mean-when-we-say-dont-make-ads
Zoom auto-translation
Technology means the world has become a smaller place. You can now talk to people almost anywhere on the globe and see their faces.
But one thing still gets in the way. Language. We are limited by the languages we speak.
But Zoom is going to fix that. They just acquired a company that is working on real-time translations and captions. That means just like Dr Who, you’ll be able to understand everyone in the conversation no matter what language they speak.
This will be huge for larger companies but also for smaller companies who work internationally, or who want to.
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