• Melissa Harvey
• 17 June 2024
• 0 min

Social in Six 84

1. Instagram could introduce unskippable ads  

The story: 

• According to reports, Instagram is testing a new paid feature on a very select group of users: unskippable ads.
• They look just like a regular in-feed ad, but they work by stopping your scrolling until you’ve viewed the ad for a predetermined number of seconds, similar to YouTube’s pre-, mid- and post-roll ads.
• Meta currently offers a monthly subscription plan which lets users pay to use its products without ads – but this is only available to EU users right now.

So what? 

This is a bold move, mainly because it comes with significant risk to the user experience. But, for brands, this could be an incredibly rich area to play in when done right. Think of this as your elevator pitch to audiences. The goal here should be to create ads that feel less like interruptions and more like valuable, entertaining content.

2. TikTok is launching TikTok Studio to manage your content      

The story:  

• TikTok Studio is an updated version of the Creator Centre, which lets creators manage their TikTok presence on desktop. The platform is also testing an app version coming soon.
• You can upload, film, edit, and post to TikTok directly from TikTok Studio, and use tools like auto caption, photo editor, and autocut to polish your content.
• TikTok Studio also provides a key analytics overview of your content, and lets you manage and interact with comments, with the option to filter and search for specific responses.

So what? 

TikTok’s launch of TikTok Studio is a significant development for brands aiming to collaborate with creators. This new platform does three key things: it simplifies content creation, management of creators, and uncomplicates the strategic planning, making it easier for creators to focus on high-quality output. For brands, this means more polished and more effective strategic partnerships.

3. LinkedIn’s ad improvements let you generate creative from scratch with AI 

The story:  

• Currently in testing, LinkedIn’s The Wire is a new video sponsorship programme allowing brands to run pre-roll video ads alongside trusted content from publishers Bloomberg, Business Insider, Forbes, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and more.
• Following positive feedback in testing, LinkedIn’s also given its AI-powered Accelerate ad solution an upgrade with Microsoft Designer integration. Similar to Midjourney, this lets you generate and customise campaign creative. Plus, you can now add targeting exclusions via company and third-party lists.
• Finally, it’s improving its AI marketing assistant chatbot so you can ask questions, like “How do I build better ad creative” to gain insights on how to improve your campaigns. The assistant can also provide recommendations, like adding a data source to help inform targeting, and perform tasks, like adjusting your budget.

So what?

While creative AI may give you some time back to focus on things like strategy and targeting, it’s still vital to ensure ensure your unique voice, brand assets and message don’t get lost in the process. This becomes even more important as we often see through competitor and category analysis that brands are losing their distinctiveness in this social sea of same, and with that their competitive edge in a highly competitive, highly saturated, low attention space.

4. Instagram is testing new features for your carousel posts 

The story: 

• First up, some users have spotted a new Instagram feature that lets you write text as an overlay on your image carousel posts, similar to the way the caption feature works on Stories.
• And second, the platform is reportedly testing a feature that lets you customise the image formatting for individual images in a carousel post. Currently, you can only select one format (either square or 4:5) that will apply across all images in your carousel.
• The new formatting options are: original (photo retains its original size); portrait (photo is cropped for portrait) and square (photo is cropped 1:1).

So what? 

Could this be a convenient distraction from the aforementioned unskippable ad update? Whatever it is, this is a welcomed update for users. There’s an opportunity here to leverage low-fi, nostalgic design themes like Microsoft Paint or Word Art-esque aesthetics that have resurfaced into the mainstream, which can help brands create striking and memorable posts and ramp up their distinction. 

5. X is upgrading its analytics offering, but there’s a catch

The story: 

• According to X Daily News on X, the team is currently working on improvements to its analytics tools that will let you easily analyse metrics like impressions, likes, new followers and more over time.
• It’s possible to do this currently on X, but manually – i.e. you have to comb through the data yourself, and you can only view one specific time period at a time.
• X is also apparently developing advanced analytics dedicated to audience demographics, with data on gender, location and age group of your followers. But there’s a catch – this is set to be paywalled under X’s subscription offering X Premium.

So what? 

It could be time to look into X Premium if you’re doubling down on your X strategy. Not only will it give you deeper insights into your audience behaviour and campaign performance, you’d be doing some future-proofing of sorts, because Elon Musk isn’t stopping his ‘move essential features behind a paywall and give people no choice but to subscribe’ strategy any time soon.

6. Shoppers notice your ads 1.5x more on Pinterest than on other platforms, according to new study

The story: 

• Attention measurement platform Amplified Intelligence says Pinterest is 170% more effective at driving total attention than other social platforms, according to its latest study commissioned by the platform.
• The study found people are constantly switching between two types of attention: active, which requires conscious focus produced by big TV moments or high-impact digital sponsorships; and passive, which subconsciously reinforces your message. Pinterest was found to be effective at capturing both types, otherwise known as “total attention”.
• Pinners were found to scroll past ads 1.5x more slowly than on other platforms, plus data found that active attention increased by 60% when ads were shown in relevant context – like serving a handbag ad among fashion content. 

So what? 

Dual attention is crucial for driving higher interest and action – not just on Pinterest, but across all channels. So as a general rule, agencies and brands should aim to create contextually relevant ads that blend seamlessly with users’ searches and interests. This is where Pinterest’s UI really shines, though: unlike on other platforms, Pinners scroll through multiple interconnected posts at a time, meaning your ads feel less jarring and more at home in the feed environment.