What a month! Talking to the national press about our 4-day working week trial, settling into our amazing new office space (check the vlog to see the big reveal).
Oh, and some of the usual stuff too – you know, client meetings, website design, SEO, content strategy, socials, video – and staying on top of the latest news from the digital marketing world.
Want to catch up? Let’s get you up to speed.
Episode 32, with Darren, Jess, and Kaitlyn – Watch Here
Is WhatsApp underrated?
Quite possibly – a recent Sprout Social study shows 41% of consumers are WhatsApp users (compared with 7% of marketers).
It’s the biggest chat app in Europe, and they’ve just introduced WhatsApp Premium, a subscription account for businesses with room for up to 10 devices/users, and a customisable chat URL.
Kaitlyn approves – for customer-facing businesses, this is really useful. Darren says that other apps can already provide this service, but the fact that it’s available through WhatsApp is a huge selling point – a great way to personalise your customer service.
Instagram’s new Stories will hide some of your content
Insta’s trialling a new Stories layout that only shows your first three slides to your followers – if they want to see the rest, they have to click ‘show all’.
Kaitlyn’s not keen – is it really such a hardship to tap away from someone’s account, once you’ve seen enough? On the flip side, Darren offers the possibility that followers who click ‘show all’ will be more invested in engaging with the hidden content.
Jess’s advice? Make good use of those first three slides – make sure you’ve got your most engaging and relevant content right up front.
Google launches new tool for job interview help
Google’s Interview Warmup tool uses AI to test you with a series of job interview questions typical of your chosen industry. The tool records, analyses, and transcribes your response – then offers suggestions to help you improve your chances.
Jess LOVES this feature. It’s fun, and really useful for younger interviewees. Kaitlyn explains that the real value of the tool is the improvement tips offered by the AI.
Darren sees the benefit too – the transcript could help you identify and reduce verbal tics – ‘I mean’, ‘like’, that sort of thing. Wonder if you could manually adjust the tool to practice for other professional situations – client meetings, presentations? Could be useful.
Episode 33, with Colleen, Jess, and Cian – watch here
Is Apple launching a new search engine?
This is the big question. After tech writer and guru Robert Scoble’s recent revelations about a potential Apple Search Engine were neither confirmed nor denied by Apple, everyone’s holding their breath to see if the tech giant is planning a digital earthquake.
Colleen points out the sheer scale of the job Apple might face in competing with Google – it’s not just Chrome, it’s Gmail, it’s Google Analytics, Google Ads – a whole ecosystem of perfectly functioning digital products that Apple will have to challenge, somehow.
Cian wonders whether Apple would go all-out and prohibit their device users from installing Chrome and other Google products.
We’ve written a blog investigating the massive implications of this potential move from Apple – read it here.
Content you should prioritise – and avoid – on LinkedIn
In their new video series, ‘Mythbusting the feed’, LinkedIn have explained some of the ranking factors prioritised by their algorithm. Dwell time is apparently high on the list, as a measure of audience engagement. Content themed around wellbeing and mental health is also shown preferential treatment by LinkedIn.
The Trio team has a lot of respect for this approach – Colleen feels that social media generally is an important place for these conversations. It’s good to balance out the negativity you can experience when comparing yourself to the curated perfection of other people’s lives.
Cian agrees strongly – given LinkedIn’s position as the ‘workplace’ social media, it’s really good that it’s taking a stance on these issues, as stress and anxiety are often intertwined with working life.
Paid or organic content on TikTok – which is better?
It’s a tricky question. 79% of surveyed users expressed a preference for brands that ‘get’ TikTok and use it ‘socially’ by posting content other than ads.
Colleen wonders whether this stat actually reflects what we’re seeing happen with brands on TikTok. Legacy platforms like FB and Insta have always emphasised that brands should use a wide range of engagement strategies alongside their ads. But TikTok is also delivering great results for brands whose only content is paid ads – possibly due to the sheer number of users on the platform now.
Cian asks – does it make you trust a company more if you’ve seen them post content other than ads? And surely that content still counts as promotional activity, even if it’s only intended to raise brand awareness?
During the bloopers reel, the team get used to the new Imax vibe, while Cian seems unsure about having his lower half visible onscreen.
Episode 34, with Nichola, Jess, and Jamie-Lee – watch here
TikToks’s latest Creative Centre update
A whole bunch of new features for TikTok’s marketers – you can explore trending topics and audio, and filter popular hashtags by industry or region.
We’re welcoming these additions with open arms. As Jamie-Lee says, previous analytics data on TikTok was limited to the performance of your own content – so if you were starting an account from scratch, you had to wait a month or so before you could see what was working.
Now you can quickly find out what’s working in your industry, and craft your content strategy to suit.
Google is ending expanded text ads this month
From 30th June, expanded text ads will no longer be a thing. Given the push towards responsive ads and automation generally, we’re welcoming the simpler process, even if it does have additional limits.
Instagram’s new update could impact your reach
A new ‘sensitive content control’ is allowing users to choose exactly how much sensitive content they see in their ‘Explore’ feed. The filter will be applied to all the usual culprits – violence, nudity, cosmetic procedures, and weight loss ads.
The team discuss the ins and outs – are we all sensitive about the same things? Is it right to just create one big ‘sensitive’ category? What about industries like cosmetics, that might be unfairly impacted by this feature?
Episode 35, with Kaitlyn, Jess, and Beth – watch here
Instagram releases new Reels features
What’s new in Reels? We’ve got;
- Increased length for Reels vids – up to 90 seconds, or 60 seconds for ads.
- Upload your own music
- New interactive stickers, with polls, quizzes and emoji sliders now available
- Instagram Reels Templates, allowing you to speed up your production process
All great additions – Kaitlyn thinks the Templates are going to really help businesses making their first Reels – when you’re adding a new marketing channel, it can take a little while to get the hang of it, so shortcuts are always useful.
Beth wonders if you can combine the new interactive stickers to create different kinds of experience – for example, a poll at the start of a video, then a quiz at the end, could really help you test the clarity of your messaging.
iMessage’s new features
As announced at Apple’s WWDC 2022 recently, you can now go back and edit your messages in iMessage – but you’ve only got 15 minutes to do it.
Mixed feelings on this one – Beth feels it could be useful for B2B communications if you’re already using iMessage to talk to customers, colleagues, or suppliers. It’s often handy to edit your messages for additional clarity and professionalism.
Kaitlyn and Jess are unimpressed. Kaitlyn feels it’s a bit of a pointless attempt to jazz things up, given that other messaging services have had this feature for ages. Jess rightly points out that WhatsApp for Business have got the ‘business messaging’ market sewn up anyway.
TikTok marketing tips
TikTok have released a second season of ‘Made for TikTok’, to help creators get the most from the platform. Top tips?
- Shoot in high resolution (at least 720p)
- Use music and sounds as creatively as possible
- Make sure your videos are more than 10 seconds long – somewhere between 21-34 seconds is the sweet spot now, apparently.
Beth’s surprised – it was only six months ago TikTok were recommending much shorter videos.
Kaitlyn suggests that perhaps the ideal video length changes every time all the videos get too samey – content of different length is then more likely to stand out.
Jess reckons that the age of your account might be a factor – now everyone’s had a couple of years on TikTok, the algorithm has a better understanding of your preferences. This means the videos it serves up will hold your attention for longer.
Pure drama on the bloopers reel – Jess warns of mysterious ‘significant consequences’, while Kaitlyn works hard to find the right tone of voice. Exciting!
We hope some of these updates come in handy for you. We find them useful, anyway -staying on top of all the latest tips in the whirlwind world of digital marketing is what separates us from the competition.
Our knowhow could be just what your business needs – so drop us a line.
