Social in Six 86
1. Ad safety nonprofit GARM is ceasing operations amid X’s antitrust lawsuit
The story:
- On Tuesday 6 August, X announced legal action against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and its chief coordinator, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) over what X claims is an “illegal” boycott of the platform by select advertisers.
- The lawsuit alleges that GARM, the group responsible for brand safety guidelines for advertisers, “conspired, along with dozens of non-defendant co-conspirators, to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue from Twitter.”
- A US government investigation reportedly found that GARM advised its members – including major advertisers, tech companies, agencies and ad tech firms – to avoid advertising on X after Musk bought the platform in 2022 on the grounds of safety concerns.
- In an open letter to advertisers, CEO Linda Yaccarino said, “We have proven our platform provides advertisers a way to showcase their brands and reach their target audiences safely, efficiently and effectively.”
- On 8 August, the WFA said it plans to disband GARM with no clarity on if or when it’ll return – but still intends on contesting X in the lawsuit.
So what?
GARM is an essential organisation and one our industry needs to respond to the many challenges of brand and audience protection. Advertisers need independent bodies to keep them accountable and brands safe. Elon Musk might be able to throw money at this particular problem, but it could lose him the PR war, as advertisers will surely take this into account when considering whether or not to keep spending their money with X and – with this being the whole reason behind Musk’s lawsuit in the first place – he might have just shot himself in the foot with this move.
2. Instagram wants you to focus on views instead of likes
The story:
- Instagram has introduced views as the primary metric across all organic and boosted formats, including Reels, livestreams, photos, carousels, and Stories.
- Reels plays are being renamed to views, and views as a singular metric will replace “accounts enagaged”, “accounts reached”, “interactions” and “watch time” in Insights (you’ll still be able to access them but their location will change).
- These changes will roll out across the app in the coming weeks.
So what?
Comparing your content across formats when they all use different metrics is confusing enough. Comparing posts across platforms is another thing entirely. This update should help on both of those fronts, as views is a key metric on X, TikTok and YouTube too. So what constitutes a view in Meta’s book? Typically anything over 3 seconds, which should mean your data will be more meaningful than clocking passive impressions. It’ll count repeat views, to, so you’ll know if people are watching your content again and again. Cue super short videos designed to play on loop…
3. You can now put paid support behind any LinkedIn newsletter
The story:
- After letting brands boost their newsletters as an ad last month, LinkedIn is now expanding the update to include member-created newsletters too.
- The update means brands can sponsor their own or any LinkedIn member’s newsletter content subject to approval, turning it into a single image ad for brand awareness, engagement, and lead generation campaigns.
- For lead generation campaigns, the CTA will appear as a button to unlock the article, prompting users to fill in their details before they can access newsletter content.
- With Out of Phone: Branded Mission, brands can take UGC off-platform and display these creator-made ads in traditional out-of-home placements like billboards, bars, restaurants and airports.
So what?
Long-form formats like newsletters take a lot of time to curate so it’s always a bonus to be able to amplify this and reach new audiences, but newsletters are also gaining popularity and effectiveness for engagement and lead generation. A paid push could be just what brands and B2B marketers need to maximise that impact. Sponsoring someone else’s newsletter might come about if they’ve endorsed or mentioned your business or product within it, or if it comes from a client announcing a shared win.
4. YouTube has announced a new type of ad for livestreams
The story:
- YouTube’s trying out mid-roll picture-in-picture ads for its livestreams, which will play on a smaller screen within the livestream window as it’s streaming.
- Some viewers on select devices will begin to see the new ad format in the coming months, allowing creators to run ads without disrupting the livestream.
- If previous tests for live mid-roll ads are anything to go by, then YouTube will automatically determine the best placement and timing for these ads – or creators can manually do this themselves.
So what?
For brands, the value of mid-roll ads is clear – with YouTube saying creators on average see more than a 20% increase in in-stream ad revenue per hour. And these have an added bonus in that they’re not disruptive in the same way other mid-roll ads are because they play alongside livestreamed content. Just be considerate of how and when you interrupt these moments. Like all new ad types, get testing to make sure that pop-up isn’t obstructing the view of anything crucial in your stream.
5. You can now upload custom TikTok thumbnails
@codyjayartistry Custom TikTok video thumbnails!? Oh I'm here for this update! This definitely can be a game changer for creators, especially since most of us are dealing with such significantly reduced viewership and engagement! #tiktokupdates #tiktokfeatures #tiktokchanges #codyjayartistry ♬ original sound – Cody Jay Pro Mua
The story:
- A short and sweet update: TikTok has answered the prayers of many a user and rolled out a customisable thumbnail update.
- You can now upload your own custom thumbnail image when posting a TikTok in the upload flow. This is in addition to the existing thumbnail feature that lets you select a frame from the video.
So what?
This one’s long overdue. Some TikToks don’t have that perfect frame from the video that does a good job of explaining exactly what the video is about, so here’s where your custom thumbnail comes in handy. It also means you can brand up your thumbnails using your font, colours or assets. Our advice? Always include a title so viewers can find your content super easily when browsing your profile or in Search.
6. Instagram now lets you add up to 20 frames to carousels
The story:
- Another small but mighty update! Last time we reported that Instagram was tinkering with carousels, namely binning its format restrictions – so you could post carousels comprised of images in multiple formats.
- Now, following testing, Instagram has announced users can upload up to 20 images in carousels, up from the previous limit of 15 in March.
- However, it’s worth noting that this is available to mobile users only. The limit is still 10 for carousels posted on desktop.
So what?
Although users use carousels for their photo dumps, there are loads of creative opportunities for brands too. A photo dump works well for BTS content or product shots, but you can also use carousels to get creative, like teasing a new product reveal by making people swipe across, or putting information into a timeline or storyboard. You don’t have to use 20 frames every time, but it’s good to know they’re there if you need them.
Like this? Read more
