Welcome to our blog summarising the latest social media data and trends from April 2023.
As always, we had the pleasure of hearing from social media experts Luan Wise and Andy Lambert, who provided valuable insights into the current state of social media and what we can expect in the coming months.
You can watch the recording, here:
Social Media Data
- TikTok is still leading the download charts and continuing to grow– This growth can help businesses understand which platforms to prioritize moving forward.
- TikTok and YouTube are currently the strongest platforms for driving revenue directly through the platform– Therefore, they both make great platforms for businesses in the E-commerce industry.
- Short-form videos work best for LinkedIn Ads– Videos that are seven to 15 seconds in duration tend to have a higher view-through rate.
- Including a person in the opening quarter of the video can lead to a 175% lift in view-through rate.
- Displaying messaging early on in the video can lead to a 149% lift– In general, including a hook and clearly telling the story you’re trying to convey early on in the video is essential.
- It’s also worth noting that LinkedIn reports its monthly active users differently than other platforms since it’s owned by Microsoft. Additionally, LinkedIn is more of a desktop tool than a mobile tool, which may explain why it’s not as prominent in the download charts.
Social Media Platform Trends
YouTube
- YouTube Shorts are continuing to capture consumers’ interest and can be described as “underpriced attention.” They have lots of potential for additional exposure, and it is demonstrating a lot of growth potential.
- YouTube should not be forgotten despite the focus on Instagram and TikTok. Consumer spending on YouTube is significant, and YouTube needs to fight back against TikTok.
- The use of keywords in the captions is crucial in YouTube Shorts.
Lemon8
- Lemon 8 is launching in May, which is a fusion of Instagram and Pinterest. It has a very specific use case and a strong aesthetic, making it suitable for fashion and retail. Even if you do not think Lemon 8 will be suitable for you or your brand, we advise grabbing the handle once it has launched, even if not posting immediately and seeing what’s going on. The platform has been downloaded 17 million times in just the last week and a half.
- Adam Mosseri has given his opinion on the matter and has debunked the myth that hashtags significantly affect post reach. The use of hashtags may depend on the growth stage of an Instagram account and you will likely find it useful to analyse your data to see if hashtags are effective for your specific account.
- Instagram is making a lot of updates and improvements to its video creation and editing. Some of the notable features include:
- The ability to trim videos down to 60 seconds for stories
- View story reshares
- Collaborative collections feature to share posts with friends.
- Additionally, the new reels trends dashboard allows users to see trending sounds and hashtags, which can help with creating in-the-moment content.
- Having a professional account can unlock many more features and tools for businesses and creators.
- Instagram has announced new features including a “professional dashboard” for creators, insights on average view time, and the ability to add up to five links in a user’s bio
- The “professional dashboard” will allow creators to track their performance, access monetization tools, and manage promotions all in one place
- The average view time insight can help creators identify if their videos have a strong enough hook to keep viewers engaged
- Instagram is focusing on creative monetization to help users make money from their content
- The ability to add up to five links in a user’s bio reduces the need for third-party tools and allows for more direct linking to important content
- Facebook is introducing Meta broadcast channels for groups, allowing owners to talk to many people at once.
- Users can create clips from live streams and cross-post them within groups.
- Users can also create clips from other people’s live streams with their permission.
- Facebook is adding the option to add the first comment on Facebook stories, but it is unclear if people use Facebook stories directly.
- AI is becoming more prevalent in social media, including Facebook, and we can expect to see more suggested content for us to post from the networks directly. However, there are concerns about losing creative control with generated content.
- Despite changes, Twitter remains valuable with 50 million monthly active users and growing.
- Twitter’s algorithm is prioritising likes, then retweets then replies.
- Paying for Twitter Blue features is becoming necessary for reach and advertising.
- Verification on Twitter is crucial for organisations and the blue tick is necessary for advertising.
- Twitter’s 10,000-character tweets for Twitter Blue subscribers will likely appear as threads, not a whole essay on one page.
- LinkedIn has introduced a new feature that allows sharing a post with multiple members at once.
- Verification is coming to LinkedIn, which will help in identifying whether an employee genuinely belongs to a company page or not.
- LinkedIn is adding more algorithmically suggested content to its feed to expand its content like other social media platforms. The expansion of content has pros and cons depending on how relevant it is to the user.
TikTok
- TikTok now provides more detailed analytics that allows creators to see their video views and performance in the first 24 hours, as well as notifications based on how the content is performing.
- Playlists are becoming increasingly more powerful on TikTok. Creators can organise their content into a playlist, allowing viewers to continue watching a series of videos in a path chosen by the creator.
- TikTok has a new feature called “Effects House” that allows brands to work with creators to create unique visual identities through filters or other tools.
Meta
- Broadcast channels have now come to WhatsApp, Facebook pages and groups, and Instagram. This feature allows creators to send messages to groups of individuals who will see the message irrespective.
YouTube Shorts
- YouTube Shorts provide more detailed analytics, helping creators understand where their viewers find them, whether it be from their long or short-form content.
- YouTube is also a powerful platform for podcasts, and it has a whole directory dedicated to them.
In summary…
- TikTok and YouTube are currently the strongest platforms for driving revenue directly through the platform.
- Short-form videos work best for LinkedIn Ads, with including a person in the opening quarter of the video leading to a 175% lift in view-through rate.
- YouTube Shorts have a lot of potential for additional exposure and growth.
- Instagram is making updates and improvements to their video creation and editing, including a “professional dashboard” for creators, insights on average view time, and the ability to add up to five links in a user’s bio.
- Facebook is introducing Meta broadcast channels for groups, and AI is becoming more prevalent on social media platforms.
- Twitter’s algorithm is prioritizing likes, then retweets then replies, and verification is crucial for organizations.
- LinkedIn has introduced a new feature that allows sharing a post with multiple members at once and is adding more algorithmically suggested content to its feed.
- TikTok now provides more detailed analytics and has a new feature called “Effects House” that allows brands to work with creators to create unique visual identities through filters or other tools.
On top of the key takeaways, here are three actions that you could do to prepare yourself for the latest updates:
- Monitor where creators are heading – chances are, their audience will follow them
- Follow Adam Mosseri to be kept up-to-date on all things Instagram
- Organisations should be having conversations about Twitter Blue and whether it is a worthy investment for the company
Tinisha Osu
Tinisha Osu is a Marketing Executive with two degrees in Psychology. She is the first-author of a published psychology paper and is beginning her career in marketing through blog-writing, creating social media content and running marketing campaigns.