Twitter isn’t the only news-worthy platform to report on this month, Instagram and TikTok have been very busy throughout October too. Let’s take a deep dive into some of the new platform updates.
Last week Elon Musk officially bought Twitter, for a mere sum of $44 billion. Mustn’t be a cost-of-living crisis for Mr. Musk! In a statement published to its advertisers, Musk aspired to make Twitter the “most respected advertising platform in the world”, adding that users should choose their experience according to their preferences. He also stated that Twitter ads should be as relevant as possible to the needs of the viewer, arguing “low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content”.
As part of Musk’s takeover, there have been reports that Twitter was working on a new Twitter Blue tier costing a monthly fee of $19.99, the latest is that the new subscription plan – now officially priced at $7.99 – will not roll out just yet. Twitter’s latest App Store update on Saturday confirmed that the all-new Twitter Blue subscription, available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, includes verification as one of its benefits.
The implications for advertisers
Musk has been vocal about his opinions on how Twitter’s advertising should evolve – or should be removed, in the case of a tweet he posted in 2022. But now it’s official, he’s attempting to reassure advertisers that business will at the very least, continue, and at the most, give advertisers sophisticated tools to deliver highly personalised ads.
Twitter’s official confirmation suggests existing verified accounts won’t be faced with losing their blue check mark if they don’t pay up (contrary to previous reports). And Twitter is reportedly working on a label for blue ticks that lets users know if the verification was paid for through Twitter Blue. For me personally, it would give me the ick to see that brands on Twitter used have paid to have the blue tick. But then that’s just me.
Instagram’s latest test just made content planning a whole lot easier. Some users have spotted a native post scheduling feature in the app. If you have access, you can schedule a new feed post when in the creation flow under Advanced Settings. You can also schedule Reels the same way. Meta has been offering the Instagram scheduling feature through the Facebook Creator Studio since 2020. However, the new in-app tool for scheduling can benefit creators who don’t have access to special software for social media management. Instagram is late to introduce native scheduling as Twitter has had this feature for a few years now.
Here’s how it seems to work:
- Prepare a grid post.
- Once you’re at the final step — the one after you’ve finished editing, and can tag people, add a location, and other sharing options, scroll down to the bottom and click “advanced settings.”
- Here, you’ll have the option to “schedule this post.” You choose the date and time, and voila! You’ve scheduled a post.
Instagram is reportedly working on a feature that allows users to add a song to their profiles.
Another new feature which has got me super excited as it feels like a nod to the Bebo and MySpace days. Instagram is reportedly working on a feature that allows users to add a song to their profiles. (My song was Hey Soul Sister on Bebo). Reportedly, the feature would appear in your Instagram profile at the very bottom of your bio, underneath the links section. As this feature isn’t being externally tested, there’s no certainty that Instagram will make this feature publicly available. It may never see the light of day. But this nostalgic former teenager hopes it does.
And a third and final update on Instagram from this month. They are rolling out a profile update that lets you drive traffic to multiple sites. Users with access can add several links to their Instagram bio, which include customisable titles. It seems there are no restrictions on domains you can link out to.
Only the first link shows up on Instagram profiles as a preview. You’ll need to tap the ‘+’ prompt in order to see a full list of all links.
How to use your Instagram profile to drive traffic
Native support for multiple off-platform links means you can direct followers to key landing pages without using third-party tools like Linktree. These tools often come at a cost if you want to customise their link menus with your own branding or images. Customise each link with a call-to-action to drive traffic to your website, latest video, news article, podcast or event page.
TikTok
TikTok’s latest ad format for Video View campaigns, Focused View, means brands only pay for ads when users voluntarily watch or interact with them for at least six seconds – whichever action comes first. It’s similar to YouTube ads, which only require advertisers to pay if users watch the ad without skipping.
Focused View offers a way for advertisers to drive brand impact by ensuring their ads are shown to users who are truly paying attention, who are both emotionally and tangibly engaged. Engagement is at the heart what makes TikTok so powerful, both for users and advertisers. The For You page is an immersive, full-screen and sound-on experience, where users give their undivided attention.
There are two important things that make engagement different on TikTok:
The first is choice. Every second of every video that a user watches is the result of an active decision to swipe up, listen up, and pay attention. TikTok users are voluntarily watching ads for longer and are actively engaging with them.
The second is that viewership is its own form of engagement. Thanks to the way that the For You page works, engagement on TikTok isn’t restricted to a few secondary actions that users might take. It’s the fuel that powers the For You feed, and this means that engagement in the form of viewing is just as important as any other form of engagement.
Focused View ads means you can engage with your audience more effectively and cost-efficiently.
Samsung was one of the first global advertising partners to leverage the 6-second Focused View objective during its alpha phase. The brand used the objective on their Summer of Galaxy campaign, aimed at driving awareness and engagement for their Galaxy products. The 6 second Focused View objective helped to drive:
- +11% increase in ad recall
- +18% improvement in 2-second CPVs
- +53% increase in average watch time per view
- 8x increase in completion rate
