March 2023

Meta Verified Accounts:

Following in the footsteps of Twitter, Meta have decided to jump on the pay to play bandwagon and are testing a brand new paid for verification feature. In probably the biggest news to hit the social world this month, Meta announced that they are launching Meta Verified.

The new verified feature will be a subscription bundle that users can opt in to on either Facebook or Instagram and will allow subscribing users to have that coveted blue tick on their profile.

To become Meta Verified you will need to provide the platform with your government ID details to gain access to features such as proactive account protection and access to additional support, as well as increased visibility and reach.

The new service will be initially trialled in Australia and New Zealand with the expectation that it will be launched worldwide in the coming months. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this?!

Keeping up with ‘Instagram Channels’:

Instagram is giving us a glimpse into their new feature ‘Instagram Channels’ using Zuck himself’s Instagram account. The feature is a group messaging function within the app which allows users to keep up to date with a specific brand, topic, or person.

It is a broadcast feature supporting text, images, polls, and reactions. You also get messages from your favourite creators and brands in your direct message inbox.

Almost acting like a crossover between a news bulletin and a status update, it’s the perfect way to ensure that your followers never miss an update from you

But for now, we shall sit still and wait to see this brand-building feature come into play and what opportunities it will bring for engagement and customer relationship building.

TikTok Scrambles After its Secret ‘Heating’ Button Scandal:

TikTok is trying to make amends after the controversy that erupted last month when it was leaked that TikTok employees had been boosting content with a ‘heating’ button and choosing what goes viral by offering their new ‘Promote’ feature. According to Forbes, TikTok staff were hand-picking specific videos to ‘boost’, using a practice known internally as “heating.”

This new feature allows creators to boost existing videos into ads and use targeting features within a few easy steps. Like Meta, it will enable you to create which goal you want to complete and choose precisely how you want the target audience to engage with their content.

Let’s countdown the new suite of features…

Coming in at number 1, the ‘more profile views’ goal allows advertisers to drive traffic directly to their TikTok profile. This new CTA (call to action) will enable brands to display their products and services.

At number 2, we have ‘Promote for Others,’ allowing all marketers to boost content, partners, or influencers that they are working with at the click of a button.

There is also the new Location Targeting option, which allows small businesses with physical locations to target their local community directly. Is this the beginning of the long-awaited geo-targeting feature on Tik Tok? We certainly hope so!

Number 4 is all about talking more, and the new “more messages” goal allows small businesses to drive traffic directly to their TikTok inbox, making it quicker for B2B brands and service businesses to close their sale deals, furthering the customer capabilities that TikTok has become known for.

Say more with the Blue Verified Bird:

Mr. Musk is giving Twitter a new look by introducing the ‘Show More’ button to express your thoughts with a new 4,000-character limit.

But there’s no such thing as a free lunch and the same can be said with new features on social, as the new 4,000-character limit comes with a price; it is only available to Twitter subscribers. But everyone can read and see it.

Let the essays of Twitter threads disputing Paul Mescal’s hair, who should win Love Island, and the Cadbury vs. Nestle Easter Egg Winner begin.

Watch out for YouTube Shorts:

To tackle the ongoing competitive field of TikTok’s vertical video feed, YouTube shorts has added another way to utilise Shorts by enabling users to reply with a Short in the comments feed, sounds verrryyy familiar to a feature that TikTok launched many moons ago!

Mimicking TikTok’s video reply option, YouTube is working hard to update and create a more engaging platform as the increasingly shaky grounds of TikTok in the US continue; YouTube hopes to push Shorts as a better option for creators and brands to engage with their audience.

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