TikTok is letting down its Wonderwall this week and giving us some insights into what Shoppertainment is and how we can benefit and reach consumers that actively use TikTok. We also discuss, LinkedIn stickers, Meta’s new key goals (again), we explore some new trials and take you through our very own Oh My DIgital Meme Checklist. Let’s dive right into each social media update!
TikToks New Guide to Shoppertainment
TikTok has made its goals clear, that it’s not a social app, it’s an entertainment platform. Its focus is apparently video content and not connecting you to your friends. From an advertising angle, it plans to mirror its goals by connecting users to products through something it likes to call Shoppertainment (where Shopping meets entertainment). Let’s unpack this.
A reduction in ads has made TikTok a more pleasant platform experience for its users. Tiktok establishes Shoppertainment by forcing brands to create TikToks instead of disrupting the flow of the platform. Its success is encouraging brands to use popular talent to create TikTok ads for them. TikTok says its customers have six main needs when shopping and has divided them into two main groups. Emotional needs vs functional needs. Have a look at the six smaller needs detailed in the chart below.
TikTok is encouraging brands to appeal to both emotional and functional needs to create a stronger resonance with modern consumers. What’s the best way to reach them? TikTok has also supplied some key insights. They recommend telling stories, educating, focusing on video, never enforcing decision-making, being authentic and gaining credible referrals. We couldn’t agree more.
LinkedIn Adds New ‘Person’ and ‘Page’ Stickers to Posts
The LinkedIn ‘Person’ and ‘Page’ stickers are likely an element that was meant for LinkedIn stories but now that is no longer. So we get Stickers for our Posts instead. LinkedIn is seeing gains in engagement every quarter and is the most likely beneficiary of Twitters audience should Twitter go downhill under Elon Musk. We can’t wait to use these stickers for some social media scrapbooking. Twitter has also added some new Post templates and carasoul posts to help build engagement on LinkedIn.
Metas New Key Areas
Meta has announced its new key areas moving forward:
- Improving its AI discovery tools to maximize engagement in its apps
- Adding new business messaging features to monetize the user shift towards messaging, and away from social apps
- Re-building its ad tools to reduce reliance on user data
- Continued development of AR, VR and the metaverse, with a focus on the future
Firstly, they aim to improve AI discovery by mixing content you engage with from photos, texts, links, communities and videos with your family and friends which isn’t AI-generated. Secondly, Meta has noted that users aren’t posting as much anymore but are sharing a lot more to personal or smaller groups of people via DM’s. This is likely due to public cancellations of celebrities and the divisiveness of political campaigns. Meta aims to capture this audience by running and promoting more click-to-messaging ads. This is an ad format where users can click on ads in their Instagram or Facebook feed and it starts a thread in their messenger, Instagram direct or WhatsApp DM’s. This is one of the fastest-growing ad products to date with a $9 billion annual run rate for Meta.
With the updated privacy regulations on our data, Meta is looking for new ways to help advertisers reach consumers. They are now promoting their Advantage + ad suite which cuts out targeting and all you will need to do is set a budget, date range and upload your creative. Meta says recent testing has found campaings gain a 17% gain and a 32% increase on Return on Ad Spend. This is a shift away from using Meta’s insights and advertisers audience subsets and instead trusting Meta AI black box to do the job for you. It may work or it may not but it will be interesting to track. Lastly, you don’t have to worry about AR, VR and the metaverse as it’s likely 10 years or longer from being a reality for our businesses. IF it takes off.
Show Less For 90 Days On Facebook
For some users, a new option on Facebook is appearing to allow users to see more, a normal amount or less content from family and friends for 90 days. This would be great if you feel strongly about a cause or need a break from someone or maybe you’ve resolved a situation and are ready to reinstate them back into your feed.
The TikTok Group Chat
TikTok is testing a new group chat feature. Some users are gaining access to test creating and engaging with group messages. We would assume this will go wide for everyone soon. It would be a great addition to the app.
The Oh My Digital Meme Checklist
This month we’ve created a Meme Checklist to help all you cool brand mums out there.
- Is it right for your brand?
- Is it hot right now?
- Is it funny or relatable?
- Is it legal?
First up, is it right for your brand? Not all brands need to be funny and sometimes it might not be appropriate for your branding. Make sure it’s not controversial and insensitive. Secondly, is it timeless? Sometimes fads like frosted tips don’t age well. Make sure your content is original or your own original take on the trend. Is it funny or relatable? Will you still be laughing about it tomorrow? Does it make you feel seen? Keep that in mind. Lastly, is it legal under fair use? If you need to ask your lawyer about it is it worth posting? If it passes all of our tests then we will cheer you on. <3
Thank you for joining us again for another social media roundup. Between the word of the day Shoppertainment, LinkedIn stickers, Metas new goals and our new Oh My Digital Meme Checklist. I hope you learned a lot this week, I know we have.
XOXO OMD SQUAD!
