Social media has evolved yet again throughout June, with changes and new test features being introduced across multiple platforms – giving social media marketers more trends to keep an eye on. Here’s a round up of what changed throughout June!

Instagram introduces pinned posts

In June, Instagram introduced pinned grid posts, enabling users to pin up to three posts or reels to remain at the top of their profile. This has been picked up by content creators instantly, pinning their top posts or current campaign work. It will be interesting to see how this impacts post engagement and brand/influencer relations over the coming months. From a brand perspective, it’s a great way to showcase three types of posts that your audience can expect to see from following you – allowing you to keep your most important/hero content at the top of the feed.

Instagram have also introduced interactive stickers on reels. Historically just a story feature, you can now add polls, quizzes or slider stickers to reels to increase their interactivity and drive audience engagement.

At the end of June, Instagram began rolling out their new feed format which mimics TikTok as users view content in a 9:16 full-screen ratio with buttons overlaid over the content. Initial reaction to this has been varied, with many users calling out the “TikTok copying”, although Instagram has been adamant that a video-only platform is not in the plans for Instagram and static content will remain. Definitely one to watch as video continues to be a key content type…

social media apps

Facebook moves towards video

Facebook reels haven’t quite taken off as hoped, with more changes coming to ‘make Facebook more like TikTok’ including serving recommended reels to users from anywhere – not just their friends or those they follow.

This algorithm shift could go either way, as Facebook follows the consumption patterns initiated by TikTok, but loses some of the personal connectivity element Facebook has been known for. One to watch for sure and another note to marketers to make video a key part of content strategies.

Twitter moves towards long-form content

The increased character limit for tweets from 140 to 280 was monumental for Twitter, with users able to exercise more freedom. Now, Twitter is looking into longer-form content through ‘Twitter notes’, enabling users to create and publish articles on the platform.

Twitter notes are currently in the testing phase with a small group of writers, through a ‘Twitter write’ composer tool. If long-form content is implemented on Twitter, the implications for B2B marketing could be interesting, offering a place for more insightful, thought leadership style content.

LinkedIn engagement soars

Recent studies from Social Insider have shown that LinkedIn engagement is at a record high, with a range of post types contributing to this. Native documents, aka PDF posts, uploaded directly to LinkedIn as carousels have been shown to generate 3x more clicks – likely due to the interactivity of the post itself.

Video content also performs well, as it the cross-platform trend, be that drone footage, animations, timelapses- video is king on LinkedIn!

New rules for ‘TikTok made me buy it’ come into play

The #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend may soon be in jeopardy as new advertising rules have been implemented on the app in June, for more transparency with business activity. Users will now be able to report ads and offers that may be tricking children into purchasing.

TikTok has also introduced a new label for paid ads featuring in videos and enables users to also report branded content that hasn’t been properly disclosed. This all comes alongside TikTok aiming to serve more personalised, ‘For You’, advertising which requires the use of certain data (with permission).

These changes are important for any brands advertising on the platform through their own pages, or through influencers. Influencers must be aware of the ad disclosure in their contracts and briefs to ensure proper procedure is followed to protect users.

At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors to create engaging social media marketing strategies that allow brands to stay up to date with the latest trends and updates. Get in contact today to find out how we could help you.

For more interesting articles from us check out these posts:

  1. 3D Avatars Launched by Instagram and other social media trends
  2. How effective is video on social media? 
  3. LinkedIn changes it algorithm to tackle ‘engagement baiting’ and Instagram introduces a new story format

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