Hottest Marketing Updates You Don’t Want to Miss

In this week’s Michelle’s Monday Marketing Minute we are talking about a ton of updates across several different social media platforms. More and more apps are becoming more social and it’s because they see how so many people love the social aspect online now more than ever. So, just know social media is a broader term than it has ever been before! This week we’re discussing Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Here are the hottest marketing updates you don’t want to miss!

 

 

Michelle’s Monday Marketing Minute is a new series I’m doing on my podcast and blog. I’ve been doing it on my Instagram for a while now and with all the feedback I get from it I thought many of you would like to get these updates in a more permanent place! So, every Monday you can count on me to release a podcast episode and blog post with the latest news and updates regarding marketing and how it affects your business. 

I hope these updates will help you when you create your content and marketing plan! Social media is constantly changing and it’s important for us business owners and influencers to know what those changes are and how we can pivot our businesses in order to stay relevant and ahead of the marketing game. Alright, let’s get started!

 

 

Hottest Marketing Updates for Instagram

Instagram is now offering scheduling! (No more having to use a third-party app and getting dinged by the algorithm! Woo!) You can now schedule your posts up to 75 days in advance. Instagram will be rolling out this new feature to a selected amount of users. So, it won’t be available to everyone at once. If you don’t have it, don’t panic, it’ll be available soon enough!

You can find out if you have it by creating a post and then before you hit publish, go to the very bottom and click on “advanced settings.” Once you click there you’ll see an option to schedule a post. After you click on that, you can select the time and date on which you want to publish your post. 

I am so excited about this new feature because it’s going to make content creation and batching content that much easier. And when you can plan ahead and schedule out your content it makes it so you can be more consistent in showing up for your business online. All of these things help grow your business! I know scheduling posts is something Instagram users have been asking for a long time and Instagram has now delivered! 

 

Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram is also showing new ways to monetize your influencer marketing. Subscriptions are fairly new, but have been around for a few months now which was HUGE for creators. If you haven’t heard of subscriptions, it is when creators have the option to add a subscription to their Instagram account. This means their followers could pay anywhere from .99-$4.99 a month to have exclusive access to the creator. 

Instagram just announced that they are making this subscription option available to all U.S. creators who have a business account and they are testing this feature in the UK and Canada.

Instagram is also doing stars and gifts, which are ways for followers to pay creators. It used to only be available on reels, but now it’s available on photos and text. This feature is now automatically turned on in your account, so if you are producing really great content your followers can buy stars to help boost your content, and you get paid for it! 

Do you see how Instagram is trying to really incentivize its creators? They know that if the creators are producing really great and engaging content on a regular basis then more people will stay on the app. And if people are staying on the app, then they make more money. (Plus, they are trying to keep up with the competition from TikTok.)

I know it can sometimes feel confusing or exhausting to build your brand or influence on Instagram. However, I have to say, and firmly believe, that it’s worth investing in building your following here because Instagram is investing in keeping people on the app. 

 

 

Hottest Marketing Updates for Pinterest

Pinterest just announced Pinterest takes! I have a YouTube video releasing this week to explain exactly how Pinterest takes work, so make sure to subscribe to my channel HERE to get notified when it releases. 

Do you remember idea pins on Pinterest? Idea pins are like reels but for Pinterest. It’s when you can create a short video or a slide show and then upload them as an idea pin.  With Pinterest takes, you can now turn on the ability for your followers to do a take of your idea pin. 

For example, if you are a yoga instructor and you upload an idea pin of your three favorite yoga moves for the morning, your followers can now take that idea pin and do their take on their three favorite yoga positions alongside yours.

This is a great tactic Pinterest is using to increase follower engagement on their app and fight for our attention, which is what all the social media platforms are doing. There isn’t normally a lot of follower engagement on Pinterest, but with this Pinterest takes announcement, I think we will only be seeing more and more of things like this, which is super exciting! 

Pinterest has also changed how you can view its app/website. Now, you can either browse the pins like you normally do or you can watch idea pins. And the format for viewing the idea pins is very similar to TikTok videos. It’s a full screen and you can easily scroll through to the next ones. 

I’m very interested to see how this pans out for Pinterest as they take this role to compete with the more mainstream social media platforms!

 

 

Hottest Marketing Updates for TikTok

TikTok is constantly searching for all the good features happening across all social media platforms and bringing them into their app. One of the things it has brought in is “Be Real.” Be Real is an app that sends you a notification at a random time once a day. Once you get it you have two minutes to open the app and take a picture of yourself and what you’re looking at. 

Next, you’re able to upload that picture and you’ll be able to see other people’s Be Real once you post yours. So, the ticket here is you only get to see other people’s Be Real after you post yours. If you do not participate in it, then you cannot see anyone’s Be Real. 

This new feature has absolutely taken off! And since TikTok’s users are enjoying it so much, TikTok has now released a new feature that is very similar to it. It’s called TikTok now, so be on the lookout for that! 

TikTok is also adding photos to its app. It looks a lot like Instagram, but it’s more in a photo slideshow kind of format. They will also have some ways to edit the slideshow to make it more engaging. 

Why is TikTok adding these new features? It is trying to bite off more of the social media pie than its competitors. If their competitors have certain features and it’s doing well, TikTok will add them to their app because they want to be the one-stop shop for social media users. 

 

Hottest Marketing Updates for YouTube

There is just one quick update for YouTube, and it’s actually pretty cool! They will now be using handles, similar to what you use on Instagram. So your web address for your YouTube channel will now be www.youtube.com/whatever your handle is. Your handle can be anywhere between 3-30 characters, only alphabet and numbers, and it has to be unique to you. 

 

 

Hottest Marketing Updates You Don’t Want to Miss

Was I right about these being the hottest marketing updates you don’t want to miss? Super exciting things happening, right?! I recommend you start using them as soon as possible. Some of these trends are super easy to do that require no prep, so take advantage of that. The sooner you start the better because, first of all, social media rewards early adopters and, two, you have a lot less competition if you are trying out these new features right away since hardly anyone will be using them yet.

I know staying up to date with these marketing updates is a full-time job you should not have to do. That’s why I do this for you. So, subscribe to my podcast, so you can get notified when Michelle’s Monday Marketing Minute gets released every week! If you want some quick reference links to go along with these updates, you can sign up for my email newsletter HERE. And if you have any questions at all, come send me a DM over on my Instagram. I’d love to chat!