Welcome to The Lighthouse Social, your go-to resource for staying on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of social media marketing. In this blog, we will be bringing you insights into everything you need to know about social media this month. As usual, the two social media gurus who provided all this information are Luan Wise and Andy Lambert.
Luan Wise is a distinguished chartered marketer and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. With her consultancy and training business, Luan is at the forefront of social media marketing. As the curator and editor of www.thelighthouse.social, Luan provides valuable guidance and resources for social media managers like you.
Luan is joined by Andy Lambert, a seasoned professional with over 12 years of experience in creating markets and building successful businesses, particularly in the B2B SaaS industry. Having led sales and marketing teams, launched two companies from scratch, and achieved significant exits, Andy’s expertise is unparalleled.
You can watch the recording, here:
What we’ve got for you in this update
- Data
- Best times to post
- User growth and consumption
- Trends
- Features
- Instagram Updates
- Facebook Updates
- Twitter Updates
- LinkedIn Updates
- TikTok Updates
Data
Best Times to Post:
According to Sprout Social, here are the optimal times and days to post on different social media platforms:
– Facebook: Best time – 8am to 2pm; Best days – Mondays through Thursdays.
– Instagram: Best time – 9am to 1pm; Best days – Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
– LinkedIn: Best time – 10am to 12pm; Best days – Tuesdays through Thursdays.
– TikTok: Best time – 2pm to 6pm; Best days – Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
– Twitter: Best time – 9am to 2pm; Best days – Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Remember, these insights serve as general guidelines, and analysing your audience data for more accurate results is always recommended.
User Growth and Consumption
– A report by Semafor revealed that Instagram received a 5% increase in daily active users from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
– Pinterest and LinkedIn continue to witness steady growth.
– YouTube dominates TV viewership, with 45% of all YouTube viewers watching content on television, surpassing other networks and streaming services, according to Nielsen data.
Trends
– Instagram has experienced a 24% increase in time spent since the launch of Reels.
– BlueSky is gaining traction, surpassing Mastodon, with a 606% rise in mobile downloads in April.
– Lemon8, once a top-ranking app, has slipped out of the top 200 free-app charts.
Features
Instagram Updates
1. Collaboration Enhancements:
– In the United States, Instagram users can now collaborate on broadcast channels and invite guests. Hopefully, this comes to the UK soon!
– Introduction of songs in photo carousels, adding a new creative element.
– Visibility of who liked your Instagram story for a longer duration.
– Customisable sharing options for Instagram Notes- you can select who can see these instead of them previously being viewable by everyone.
2. Improved Collaboration:
– Collaboration group stories are on the horizon.
– The “Open to collaboration” option allows creators to advertise their willingness to collaborate with brands and other creators, visible in their profile status, direct messages, and search.
3. Enhanced UGC Promotion:
– Branded content ads are now becoming partnership ads, allowing partnerships with multiple content types.
– Partners can boost all content tagged or mentioned, expanding UGC reach.
– Easier integration of UGC into Instagram Shop, showcasing community-generated content featuring products.
4. Engaging Features:
– Adding GIFs to comments to foster community participation and increase engagement.
Facebook Updates
-Native Checkouts: Facebook and Instagram shops will eventually remove third-party application checkouts, transitioning to native checkouts by April 2024.
-Lead Generation Forms: New lead generation forms on Facebook for effective lead capture.
-Location Tagging: Location tagging was introduced in Facebook reels for better contextualisation.
-Page Health Insights: Professional accounts can now assess their Facebook page health to optimise reach and performance.
Twitter Updates
-Pay-to-Play Platform: Twitter continues to be a pay-to-play platform, with limited organic reach for non-verified accounts. Some accounts with fewer than 1K followers are subscribing to increase initial growth.
-Highlights Tab: The addition of the Highlights tab for showcasing top tweets and moments.
-Account Purge: Twitter is purging inactive accounts, potentially opening up new handle opportunities but causing a suspected drop in follower counts.
LinkedIn updates
-Enhanced Messaging: Messaging tools introduced on company pages, allowing users to directly request demos, seek support, or explore career opportunities.
-AI-Powered Post Prompts: AI-generated prompts and ideas for posts, facilitating quicker content creation.
TikTok:
– Geotagging: Geotagging feature added for location-specific content.
– AI-generated avatars: AI-generated avatars are coming to TikTok, offering new creative possibilities and further highlighting how powerful AI is becoming.
-Text-only: New “text” mode for text-only posts, lowering the barrier for engagement.
– Ability to add a cover for multiple pictures in photo mode.
– Most frequently used words are now displayed in comment sections, facilitating trend analysis.
In summary…
- Generative AI is becoming ubiquitous across the social platforms
- Collaboration is a big focus of Instagram
- UGC is essential for brand growth
- TikTok is shaping up to become the new Google
- YouTube continues to be a strong and underutilised platform
- Keep an eye on Twitter alternatives, but often early ‘hype’ is just that
If you found the above information useful, join us again on June 30th, 2023, as The Lighthouse Social presents an exciting Social Summit from 9am to 1.30pm. This not-to-be-missed event is completely free to attend and promises a wealth of valuable insights. Our Summit will delve into key topics such as diversity and inclusion, harnessing the power of social media to support the LGBTQ+ community, exploring the latest Gen Z behaviours, unlocking the potential of B2B businesses on TikTok, and providing updates on the ever-evolving world of social media.
With AI being the topic on many people’s lips, have you read our recent AI-focused blog that looks at how far it can go in terms of social media?
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.