Trendwatch - September edition
As a marketer or communication manager, you’re active in a world that is evolving every week or month. Following what’s new in the digital world is hard since we all have busy lives. But what if we, who already have this knowledge, could share it with you every few months? Let’s dive into what’s new and coming up!
1. Easier and faster on the gram 👀
One of the main channels for creators is Instagram. Not only the logo with vibrant colors is new, but Instagram is also testing a new feature called Templates. It gives you the opportunity to borrow formats from videos that already exist and use them to make a Reels with it. It's like dropping your content into a premade sequence. Say yes to winning time!
But that’s not all! Instagram is also taking a look into auto-generated captions for IG feed videos. Creators who don't like to add them manually can just turn on the option. Not a fan of auto-generated captions? No problem, because you can also turn them off. Either way, the platform wants to be more accessible for deaf people or people who like to watch videos without sound. 17 languages are already implemented, among which English. Let’s keep an eye out for Dutch and French!
2. Pinned posts explore new horizons 📌
Since June 7, pinning isn’t just for Pinterest and Facebook anymore. Creators have the opportunity to customize their content display on Instagram with the pinned post update. Select up to 3 standout posts and pin them to the top of your grid, as easy as pie! Instagram is also testing an ‘Edit your grid’ option so you can rearrange it the way you like. More and more control and personalization is coming your way!
3. #TheImpactOfHashtags
Something that is well known by all social media users are hashtags. But what is their real impact? For big accounts the impression rate decreases when they use an overload of hashtags on Instagram. According to research of the Socialinsider 3-4 hashtags are enough to reach an average engagement rate, when they add more hashtags their engagement will drop. The important lesson is to think wisely about the hashtag you want to put underneath your post. Check for example how popular your hashtag is on the preffered social media channel. Don’t use hashtags that aren’t used.
4. TikTok on a mission 😎
For those of you who still don't know or use TikTok, TikTok is an inspirational channel for diverse communities and in the meantime also for a quite broad public. Creators get the chance to jump on the latest trends, be creative on the channel and influence Joe Average. With the 10-minute video update, that is sadly not yet available, creators even could be more flexible with their content.
All of this also has an added value for brands: TikTok Branded Mission was born. It’s an industry-first ad solution that enables advertisers to turn top-performing authentic videos from creators into ads. This sounds like Chinese to you? It means that brands can invest in already existing videos on TikTok by promoting them and turning them in an advertisement. The creator gets rewarded with cash and extra traffic and brands get an authentic video in return. A win-win? Yes, it is!
5. The TikTok effect 📈
TikTok is well known for its dance challenges and voice-over videos. It’s no surprise that TikTok has a major influence in today’s music industry. Become a trend on TikTok with your song and your song will top the (international) music charts. For instance I’m Good (Blue) from Bebe Rexha and David Guetta started as a duet from Bebe Rexha on a video of David Guetta. Because its popularity they had to release it. On Spotify you can find it on #16 in the top 50 of Belgium songs.
TikTok saw the opportunity to launch its own music marketing and distribution platform: SoundOn. The goal is to upload music directly to TikTok and to parent company ByteDance’s own music streaming service. That way they help more artists to get their music heard, while they remain all rights and royalties.
What is social media without its effects? Less fun right! 😉 Discover Effect House Beta and build your community effects for TikTok. The platform is open to all designers and developers who want to explore the options of effects. All out-of-the-box creativity is welcome because Effect House’s main goal is to inspire existing and future creators and put their creativity in the spotlight.
Are you ready to put your brand, company or yourself in the spotlight? Explore all upcoming trends because the best is yet to come! Don’t hesitate if you have any questions, because we’d love to help you out!
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