🍊 Facebook’s Name Change, LinkedIn’s New App and Instagram’s New Desktop Feature
Welcome to Prosek's Digital Download: the best digital marketing newsletter in financial services
Hey everyone!
These past two weeks have flown by since the last edition of Prosek’s Digital Download. Some big takeaways include:
Apple’s second hardware event. They unveiled new AirPod and Macbook models and finally got rid of the touch bar!
Season 3 of Succession premiered and did not disappoint.
The NBA is back and the Knicks look… really good? I’m trying not to get my hopes up… again.
In this edition of the Digital Download, we’ll be covering the details behind Facebook’s name change, Instagram’s new desktop feature, LinkedIn’s new app in China, as well as the latest updates on all your favorite social media apps.
There’s a lot to get to in today’s newsletter, with some awesome articles in the Good Reads section including 26 predictions for marketing in 2022, a digital nomad who's been “working from wherever” since 1984 and more. So pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, or a glass of water if you forgot to hydrate today, and stay a while.
Enjoy!
Digital Updates
TikTok
New Audio Sounds: TikTok has partnered with six new sound partners to put a bigger emphasis on audio in part with its larger Marketing Partners program. Advertisers will now be able to create custom sounds for #HashtagChallenges and marketing campaigns.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn Leaves China: Last week, LinkedIn announced that it will be sunsetting its website in China and replacing it with a job board specific platform called InJobs. This new app won’t include any peer to peer networking features, which has been a critical part of its global success. It's no secret that China has strict internet censorship laws, which is what makes this announcement so significant. LinkedIn was one of the last big tech companies to remain active in their market. Google, Twitter and Facebook have been blocked for many years.
Twitter
#TwitterPrism: To promote inclusivity on its platform, Twitter has created this new initiative to help marketers develop inclusive advertising strategies and boost media spend towards minority audiences. “#TwitterPrism encourages and enables our advertising partners to create campaigns that are rooted in culture, and center diverse, intersectional voices.”
Instagram
Post From Your Desktop: Instagram just announced the ability to post pictures and videos from your desktop. Although this sounds like a somewhat primitive feature in 2021, updates to improve the desktop functionality have been somewhat ignored for many years. It will be interesting to see if posting from a computer starts to become commonplace.
Longer Videos: To keep up with the growing importance of video content across social media, Instagram is testing out some new features. In addition to extending the length of videos on your Story, you will also be able to upload Reels directly to your Story.
New Data Analytics: Marketers and creators will now gain deeper insights to the performance of their content. Instagram is adding new metrics such as Accounts Engaged, Engaged Audiences and Reached Audience. These added metrics are part of Instagram’s larger initiative of providing more transparency to its users.
Teens Think It's Cheugy: It became apparent in 2020 that teenage signups on Instagram started to slow down in place of other social media apps like TikTok. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called this an “existential threat.” If they don’t act swiftly, Instagram might become the new Facebook. Not sure what cheugy means? Learn more here.
Facebook
Drop the “The”: Facebook just announced it will be changing its name to reflect the company’s shift from a primarily social media company, to an all encompassing metaverse platform. While it might be surprising, it isn’t uncommon for tech giants to rebrand as they scale. Snapchat changed its name to Snap in 2016 when it debuted its first pair of spectacle goggles and Google realigned in 2015 under the holding company Alphabet. Is it a coincidence that this announcement comes after a former employee exposed the company for their unethical use of data related to mental health? 🤷🏻♂️
Reddit
Predictions: Similar to polls, the new Predictions feature will allow you to guess answers for timely questions like “what stock should I buy this week?”. This addition is designed to increase user engagement and is the first posting format update Reddit has launched in almost 2 years.
Snapchat
500M Monthly Users: Snapchat added 13 million more daily active users in Q3. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter with year over year growth for the platform. With the app’s continued success, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised the next time we meet someone and they ask for our Snapchat instead of our phone number.
Good Reads
26 Predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2022: With COVID-19 beginning to appear in the rearview, marketing strategies will continue to adapt. Over the past 18 months, we saw an increase in mediums like audio and the development of a Metaverse. This article considers how our lives will look in a post-COVID era and how marketing initiatives may evolve.
TikTok’s Newest Commercial: If you’ve been on the outside of an inside joke or were clueless to a new trend lately, it's probably because you’re not on TikTok. And that's exactly what this ad promotes — FOMO. In this new commercial promoting the social media app, people are talking about their favorite trends, highlighting the virality of content on its platform.
YouTube Plans Week Long Shopping Event: Starting November 15th, YouTube will launch its YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop campaign, where viewers can shop new products and receive limited time offers while engaging with select creators. The upcoming event will feature products from big name brands like Walmart, Samsung and Verizon. Digital Ecommerce is quickly becoming more common. Earlier this year, Netflix announced plans for a similar integration.
Spotify Launches Live Audio App Spotify Greenroom: Back in March, Spotify purchased an audio streaming company called Locker Room to compete with Clubhouse. With this new launch, Spotify users can join live audio rooms with the option of converting them into saved podcast episodes.
2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: It’s officially podcast award season. Did your favorite podcast make the final list? If you’ve been trying to find a new show that will keep you up to date on the markets, check out the Business & Finance category.
Working From Anywhere Since 1984: Digital nomad Steve Roberts might’ve been the first employee to start working from home, or in this case, everywhere. As a full time freelance writer in 1984, he sold all of his possessions and lived off of whatever he could fit on his bike to travel the country.
Campbell’s Soup Signs A Record Deal: The soup company teamed up with Universal Music Group to create QR codes that play music when scanned. Consumers can scan these codes for behind-the-scenes content and exclusive playlists. To compliment this activation, the brand will also launch a contest over SoundCloud where contestants can submit their favorite cooking-inspired songs for a chance to win $20,000.
Marketing Inspiration
Oak HC/FT promoted the company’s sponsorship of the #HLTH2021 event through a series of Creative LinkedIn Slides.
Schroders produced a new video as part of its #MyStory content series, which focuses on looking beyond profit.
J.P. Morgan released a new video to educate viewers on the future of digital payments.
NYSE leveraged #StatsDay2021 to showcase eye-catching metrics through interactive polls.
