A LOT is happening in digital marketing lately, this past week has been packed full of interesting (and very important) updates. From Instagram Stories to TikTok’s For You Page, there are some important things you need to see for your biz. Ready to find out the latest? Let’s look at each digital update and what they mean.

Instagram is testing out hiding story parts

It looks like clicking through each part of someone’s Story to get to the next one might soon be a thing of the past. Some users have spotted a new test that indicates that Instagram is hiding story parts from view unless you click ‘show all’ to see the complete story.

It is still in the testing phase currently, but it looks like we will be able to see the first 3 parts of the story before you need to click the ‘show all’ button.

Passwordless sign-in will soon be available on Apple, Google, and Microsoft

The three major tech giants recently announced that they are aiming to have passwordless sign-in a reality for their users in the next year.

Essentially, this would make the login process much quicker. Users will use their phones as the primary authentication source for their digital services. Users will need to perform the action they choose, such as a pin or using their fingerprint, to sign in to their accounts without entering a password. This type of sign-in has been available for some services for a while, but the first sign in has always needed the use of a password before these features could be created. We will be watching and waiting for this one!

Pinterest has launched a live-streaming app for video creators

Pinterest has launched a brand new app to help creators go live on the platform. The Pinterest TV Studio app was recently released to a limited number of creators. The app lets creators go live on Pinterest and use multiple devices to film the way they want, such as changing camera angles.

As it is only available to a limited amount of creators, the app isn’t widely available yet, but this could be a handy tool for Pinterest!

TikTok has expanded its test of the new ‘Friends’ tab to replace ‘Discover’

Some of you may have already had a sneaky peek at this feature; some of us here have had it for a while, but TikTok is expanding its test of the ‘Friends’ tab. The new ‘Friends’ tab replaces the ‘Discover tab’ and prompts you to connect with your contacts and shows you videos from followers you follow back and accounts you follow.

The For You Page doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere, so you’ll still be able to see the latest trends. It’s a big change for the app, and we are very interested to see how it goes!

Meta has announced a heap of new ads and messaging features for small businesses

There is a lot to unpack here! Meta has announced a whole heap of new features for small business owners in honour of National Small Business Week.

For communicating with clients, Meta has announced:

• It will soon be possible to create ads directly from the WhatsApp Business app. Lots of businesses report that ads that open into a WhatsApp chat are the best way to get discovered and start communicating with their customers, so this change will be a great help.
• WhatsApp will be joining the Meta Business Suite inbox. PRO TIP: this won’t be universally available straight away; it is starting with a test.
• Meta is testing a new tool that will allow businesses to send promotional message campaigns to customers who opt-in via Messenger.

This announcement comes with even more tools and features that are totally worth checking out! To read the full announcement, click here.

TikTok is giving advertisers new ways to showcase their ads

TikTok will be announcing, in its NewFronts presentation, their new contextual advertising solution, TikTok Pulse. Advertisers can use TikTok pulse to place their ads adjacent to the For You Pages top content! This will put the ads alongside the top 4% of videos on TikTok for engagement.

There will also be plenty of tools to monitor the ad campaign’s progress and measure the effectiveness of the ads and campaign. Let’s keep a close eye on this one; it could change how you advertise on TikTok!

That’s it for this week, folks! There’s been a lot happening, but we hope this has helped break down each digital update for you and give you all the essentials. Sign-up for our newsletter if you want to see more digital updates (and have them sent straight to your inbox).

XOXO OMD GALS