Twitter Shuts Down ‘Fleets’ Just 9 Months After Launch

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Twitter is saying goodbye to Fleets, its take on the popular Story format across most popular social networks, after launching the feature just nine months ago.

In a recent announcement, the company said it would stop supporting Fleets as of August 3, 2021.

As Twitter explained, it had hoped that Fleets would help drive new engagement and new users. From what they’ve seen, that just wasn’t happening.

The official statement stated:

“We built Fleets as a lower-pressure, ephemeral way for people to share their fleeting thoughts. We hoped Fleets would help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter.

“But, in the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped.”

That isn’t to say the feature wasn’t being used. Instead, the people who took to using Twitter Fleets were already active and engaged on the platform before the feature was rolled out. 

“Although we built Fleets to address some of the anxieties that hold people back from Tweeting, Fleets are mostly used by people who are already Tweeting to amplify their own Tweets and talk directly with others.

“We’ll explore more ways to address what holds people back from participating on Twitter. And for the people who already are Tweeting, we’re focused on making this better for you.”

It is somewhat surprising to see a company be so candid about an underwhelming launch, though Twitter isn’t treating the shutdown of Fleets as a loss. Instead, they say they will apply what they’ve learned towards future improvements.

What Comes Next

When Fleets are removed from the platform, Twitter will use its current place to highlight live audio streams and chats through Spaces.

“The top of the timeline continues to be a good spot to highlight what’s happening right now so you’ll still see Spaces there when someone you follow is hosting or speaking in a live audio conversation.”

There’s no need to worry about lost content, however, since Fleets were already designed to disappear after 24 hours.

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New Facebook Group Experts Provide An Opportunity To Establish Your Authority

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Facebook Groups have been a clever way for entrepreneurs and business leaders to establish themselves as an important figure in both their local community and their national industry. Now, Groups are getting the chance to formally tag those authority figures as the experts they are.

In a new update, Facebook Groups administrators gained the ability to tag specific group members as “subject matter experts.”

This title will come with unique labels when posting or participating in streams or audio chats, as well as a few unique abilities to help generate and lead discussions. 

According to the social network, the new tag is designed to help acknowledge those who regularly share helpful knowledge and provide a bit of clout to those voices. 

“There are more than 70 million admins and moderators running active Facebook groups around the world. Many of these groups are home to subject matter experts who love to share their knowledge, from fitness trainers to highly skilled crafters.

“Now, it’s easier than ever to help experts stand out in groups and offer ways for them to engage with their communities.”

What Comes With Being a Facebook Group Expert?

The most obvious perk of being a Facebook Group Subject Matter Expert is the small badge that displays under your name when posting in that group. 

This will make it easier to spot comments that may have important information among even the biggest comment chains.

Along with this badge, Facebook is also working on a few unique ways for group experts to help generate community discussion, including:

  • Ask Questions: When people write a post that looks like a question in their group, the post will automatically be upgraded to a format that encourages others to share advice, information or perspective. 
  • Create Live Audio Rooms in Groups: A low-pressure way for subject matter experts and communities to get ideas and inspiration from each other through audio-first conversations. Live Audio Rooms are coming to Groups this summer.
  • Host Q&As: A way for people to lead real-time question-and-answer sessions with their communities, in a text-based format. Answered questions are featured in an interactive, swipe-able stack, while all questions may be viewed in the Q&A’s comment section.

How To Designate a Facebook Group Expert

There are two ways for group admins to mark someone as an expert.

The first way is by searching the group member list for an individual by name, then selecting “Make group expert” from the member menu.

The other method is by choosing the option within the drop-down menu on posts or comments.

Note that this role must be accepted by the member in question, and admins can revoke the title at any time.

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TikTok Triples Its Maximum Video Length

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TikTok announced this week that it is extending the maximum length of videos on its platform, tripling the limit from sixty seconds to three minutes.

The update began rolling out to users over the past few days. As users get access, they will be notified with a notification in the app, as shown below:

As the company says in the announcement:

“There’s so much that can happen in a TikTok minute, from crowdsourced musicals and sea shanty singalongs to feta pasta recipes, roller skating revivals, and more. Now we’re introducing the option for our global community to create longer videos – paving the way for even richer storytelling and entertainment on TikTok.”

Keeping with how videos have always been handled in the app, users can record, edit, and share their videos entirely within TikTok, or choose to upload pre-edited videos.

Is TikTok Challenging YouTube?

For the most part, videos on social media have tended towards short-form clips. From Vines to Snapchat Stories and YouTube Shorts, most platforms have prioritized keeping videos easily consumable while on the go. 

Until now, TikTok has worked within these limits to establish itself as the platform for bite-sized videos. 

This marks the app’s first foray into longer videos, which can demand more attention and focus from users.

The question is whether users will be willing to invest this energy in longer content, though the announcement is optimistic:

“With all the ways our community has redefined expression in under 60 seconds, we’re excited to see how people continue to entertain and inspire with a few more seconds – and a world of creative possibilities.”

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The Head of Instagram Declares “We’re No Longer a Photo Sharing App”

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In a video shared across social media recently, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, emphatically stated that the social network is about more than just sharing pictures. 

These days, the app has expanded into a more multifaceted social platform and will continue to by prioritizing four key aspects of its services.

Instagram’s Four Big Priorities Moving Forward

As a social network, Instagram’s first priority is and will always be its users, particularly the creators who fuel the platform with new engaging and exciting content every day. To further this goal, the company is emphasizing providing creators with ways to earn a living through new monetization approaches.

The second priority for Instagram is developing its video services. The social network has expanded the ways users can both create and discover videos and will continue to do so in the future. As other popular social video platforms like TikTok have provided new competition for Instagram, the platform is experimenting with new approaches to mobile-first video to keep users coming back to the social network.

Following the meteoric rise in online shopping during the COVID pandemic, Instagram is also prioritizing expanding its online shopping tools and services. While Mosseri didn’t offer specific steps Instagram is taking to achieve this goal, he said that he sees the shift to online shopping continuing to grow as shoppers find new ways to confidently and safely purchase the products they see across the platform.

Lastly, Mosseri says that Instagram is prioritizing bolstering its messaging tools. The company head explained that users are moving away from sharing everything publicly in their feeds and stories, and instead want more tools for sharing content in private messages.

Instagram’s Big Video Plans

Of the above priorities, Mosseri spoke most at length about Instagram’s big plans for investing in video tools and services moving forward.

Though the platform has widely been seen as a primarily photo-based app, Mosseri bluntly stated “we’re no longer a photo sharing app.” 

Instead, the company’s goal is to keep users entertained with a variety of content types.

Particularly, the company is working to bring itself inline with other massive social video platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

This is a broad initiative which will influence many of the company’s upcoming tools and features, with some being publicly tested over the next couple months. 

For example, one new test involving showing users video content from accounts they may not be following yet started rolling out last week, while another test allowing users to control which topics they want to see more or less of is being launched this week.

“We’re also going to be experimenting with how do we embrace video more broadly — full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video. And so you’ll see us do a number of things, or experiment with a number of things in this space over the coming months.”

If you want to see the full video statement from head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, check it out below:

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More Than 100k Google Web Stories Get Shared Every Day

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Google’s take on the popular Story format hit a big milestone, as the company recently reported more than 100,000 new Google Web Stories are getting added to the search index every day. 

Combined, these daily new stories have helped accumulate more than 20 million Web Stories total since the launch of the content format. 

The report also notes that more than 6,500 new domains have published their first Web Story since October 2020, when Web Stories were launched for Android and iOS devices, as well as being added to Google Discover. 

This led to a significantly larger reach for Google Web Stories and a significant increase in interest from brands.

“Last October, we created a home for Web Stories in Google Discover so users could find a personalized stream of the best Web Stories from around the internet. The goal with Web Stories is to enable publishers and creators to easily build and take full ownership of their content.”

Unsurprisingly, putting the short video clips front-and-center on Google’s content discovery page has also helped millions of users check out and engage with Web Stories every day.

For those who are still skeptical about Google Web Stories, or those who just want to improve the stories they are putting out, Google compiled data from users to create five suggestions for creating the most engaging and exciting stories for your audience. 

Five Tips For Engaging Google Web Stories

  1. Lifestyle content, complete with inspirational imagery and messages, informative how-to info, or relevant product-partnerships drive the most engagement of any vertical.
  2. Thanks to a diverse array of visually engaging topics and videos, the Arts and Entertainment and Food and Drink verticals consistently get the most impressions.
  3. Users show a clear hunger for new Arts and Entertainment, Celebrity, and Sports/Gaming content. “With new TV, movie, and game releases rolling out all the time, these verticals offer opportunities for growth.”
  4. Though Google has seen successful Web Stories of all sizes, users are typically willing to click through an average of 11-15 pages before ditching a Web Story. 
  5. Users watch an average of 1.7 Stories for every Web Story opened on Google Discover. However, this can vary significantly across industries and demographics. 

For more information about Google Web Stories, check out the latest announcement in this blog post or explore Google’s playbook for creating the most engaging Web Stories here.

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Facebook Introduces More Online Shopping Tools – Including Shops On WhatsApp

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Following the massive success of online shopping through Facebook and Instagram, Facebook announced it is bringing Shops to WhatsApp along with a slew of other new e-commerce features.

According to the announcement, nearly 75% of people said they use Facebook-owned social networks to discover brands or products online. 

Even more, some industries have seen wild gains with over 85% of people surveyed saying they had purchased a fashion, beauty, furniture, or electronic product they first found through a Facebook platform. 

Now, the company’s goal is to streamline the process while bringing in new features and expanding shopping capabilities to the often forgotten WhatsApp.

To achieve this goal, the latest updates include:

  • Bringing Shops To More Places
  • Introducing Customer Reviews on Instagram
  • Creating Personalized Shop Ads
  • Opening AR Features To More Brands

Let’s look at each of these a bit more in-depth.

Bringing Shops To More Places

Facebook Shops on WhatsApp and Marketplace

When setting up a Shop, brands have been presented with two options for where their products can appear: Facebook and Instagram. Now, those options are finally getting expanded. 

First, brands in the U.S. will have the option to also showcase their products in Marketplace.

With over one billion people using Marketplace every month, it only makes sense that Facebook would be making it easier to get their products included.

Additionally, businesses in several countries around the world are also getting the ability to put their shop on WhatsApp, the popular Facebook-owned message and phone call app. 

With this, users will be able to browse your entire product catalogue, share products with friends, and ask you questions they might have about your products without leaving the app. 

Best of all, you only have to set up your store once to have it up and running on all three apps. 

Introducing Customer Reviews on Instagram

In the coming months, users will begin getting the ability to rate and review products they’ve purchased in Shops on Instagram. 

Instagram Product Reviews

Similar to most modern online product reviews, users will be able to leave a simple star rating, write a longer in-depth text review, and share pictures of the real-life products with others. 

Brands will also be able to leave responses to address any concerns or manage customer-service opportunities. 

As the announcement says:

“We always want shoppers to feel confident in the purchases they make, so we’re giving people more information before they buy…

“These changes will help people make more informed decisions on what to buy, and will let businesses know if they are meeting customer expectations.”

Creating Personalized Shop Ads

Facebook is introducing a new type of personalized ads for shops which will showcase curated collections to those most likely to purchase. 

Personalized Ads For Product Collections

By comparing past shopping behavior, the platform is attempting to connect users with the products most likely to excite them. 

Facebook says:

“Personalized ads are often the beginning of the shopping journey and businesses want to offer shopping experiences that are seamless and personalized. That’s why we’re introducing Shops ads solutions that provide unique ads experiences based on people’s shopping preferences.”

Opening AR Features To More Brands

Augmented Reality (AR) has been predicted to be a major force in product advertising since the earliest days of the internet, and it is finally making good on that promise. 

Smartphone cameras and increasing processing ability are making it possible for users to virtually “try on” products without having to deal with dirty dressing rooms or pushy attendants. 

The last hurdle is making these tools widely available to brands that don’t have millions to spend on developing AR systems. 

That is exactly what Facebook is hoping to do by developing new APIs that will make it easier for brands to integrate AR into their product catalogues. 

The APIs will begin rolling out to beauty product brands in the near future, with support for other industries coming shortly after. 

Along with these features, the social network says it is testing a new ad format which would use AR technology to allow users to “try on” products from your ads. Though it is only in testing currently, Facebook says it expects to roll out the ads to more brands by the end of the year.

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Twitter Will Let You Add a ‘Subscribe’ Button To Your Profile

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Twitter is making it possible to drive newsletter sign ups straight from your profile through recently acquired company Revue. 

Those publishing their newsletters through Revue will be able to add a ‘Subscribe’ button directly in their profile, underneath the ‘mutual followers’ section and above your most recent tweets. 

Revue announced the new feature earlier this week in a series of tweets, which said:

“We’re currently building new ways to grow your newsletter audience, and we want to preview one that will live right on your Twitter profile.

“We want to give writers tools to turn their growing, engaged Twitter audience into newsletter subscribers. This will be available for Revue newsletters soon, so stay tuned. Now, back to work to keep building.“

Along with the sign up button, Twitter will highlight the name of your newsletter, what type of content they can expect to receive, and how many subscribers you have. 

Users can also choose to read a sample issue of your newsletter before subscribing. 

To help prevent accidental opt-ins, Twitter will also require users to verify their subscription via a link in their email.

Monetization Opportunities?

One thing that makes Revue somewhat unique in the newsletter area is that publishers can choose to offer paid newsletters (with Twitter/Revue taking 5% of the revenue). By linking these newsletters with the subscription button, users can technically take advantage of one of the first ways to monetize content on the platform. 

Importantly, Revue is entirely free for those who opt for the traditional method of delivering free newsletters to subscribers. 

When Is It Coming?

Despite the announcement of the feature, it is unclear when exactly we can expect to see the Subscribe button go live across Twitter. 

Rumors suggest it could be launched as soon as the next few weeks on Android and desktop devices, with iOS support coming further down the line. Still, there is no official launch window in the statement from Revue, meaning we could be pleasantly surprised with an earlier launch or that we may have to wait even longer.

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Instagram Makes It Easier To Set Up Online Shops and Share Affiliate Links

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By partnering up with a range of online marketplaces, Instagram is making it easier for brands and creators to establish shops that are directly accessible in the social network, as well as introducing new features for affiliate links and other ways to monetize your social media content.

Facebook and Instagram Emphasize Monetization Tools for Creators

The wave of new and upcoming monetization features and tools come as part of a broader initiative to attract creators and influencers to Facebook and Instagram by offering a broad array of ways to monetize your online presence.

As the announcement says:

“We want Instagram and Facebook to serve as a home base for creators to tell their story, grow and make a living.

“…Today’s updates are a big part of a broader effort to support creators as they build their careers. …we are committed to building the right mix of tools to help them accomplish their goals.”

As such, the new tools and features are designed primarily with social creators in mind. Still, many brands may see opportunities to diversify and monetize their online presence by also taking advantage of the latest Instagram and Facebook features.

Opening a Shop on Instagram Gets Easier

One of the more interesting new features for many smaller businesses and entrepreneurs will be the announcement that the social network is making it easier to launch a shop directly within your Instagram profile. 

By working with an array of merchandising companies, you can now quickly and easily set up and link stores, rather than manually establishing a version of your shop through Instagram.

“For creators who already have their own product lines, they can now link their shop to their personal profile in addition to their business profile.

“Creators will also be able to set up a new shop and drive excitement with exclusive product launches from the Instagram app by linking their account with one of our four merchandise partners: Bravado/UMG, Fanjoy, Represent, and Spring.”

Currently, the tool is limited to creators and brands in the US and may take through the end of the year to fully roll out.

Native Affiliate Links

The announcement also mentions another tidbit which may be attractive to brands with their own partnerships or to entrepreneurs is the testing of a “native affiliate tool” which lets you earn revenue from promoting other brands of products.

The tool streamlines the process of sharing affiliate links entirely within the Instagram app and ensures sponsored content is appropriately tagged for audiences.

“When people come across an affiliate post from a creator featuring a tagged product, they will see “Eligible for commission” at the top of the post, so it’s clear that their purchases help support that creator.”

Though currently limited to a small group of well-known brands and creators, the feature is expected to be more widely available somewhat soon.

“Affiliate will test with a small group of US-based creators and businesses including Benefit, Kopari, MAC, Pat McGrath Labs and Sephora, and will expand to more partners in the future.”

Social networks like Instagram and Facebook have been gradually expanding to include storefronts and marketplaces for some time. With these new features, it is clear they hope to ensure this benefits everyone involved, including the brands and creators helping to promote those products through partnerships.

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Snapchat Finally Introduces Public Profiles For Businesses

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Since its launch, brands of all sizes have been using Snapchat as a major tool for connecting with younger audiences. Despite this, the platform has been slow to meet brands halfway. 

The social sharing platform has provided very few widely available tools to facilitate branded content, and – until very recently – didn’t even provide specific profiles for brands.

That changed in the past couple of weeks, as Snapchat has finally launched Public Profiles for Businesses. 

What Are Snapchat Public Profiles for Businesses?

Snapchat Public Profiles For Business - City Boutique

Similar to the separate profiles available for creators, Snapchat’s Public Profiles for Businesses provide a place to collect all your content, provide branded media like lenses, connect with your brand directly, and even house an online store full of your products (note: this feature does require directly working with Snapchat to implement in its current form). 

To help craft all this content with your team, Public Profiles are linked to mobile and web management tools via the Business Manager, where you can collaborate, review analytics, and manage your store in one place. 

Best of all, these features are all linked to analytics and insights for your brand to help refine your message and content as you go. 

Snapchat Public Profiles For Business - Universal Pictures

While Public Profiles for Businesses provide a lot of tools for brands, the announcement highlighted these four key features:

  • Public Stories: Share what’s happening in your world, from behind the scenes to daily activities, to drive deeper connections with the Snapchat community. 
  • AR Lenses: Publish Lenses to your Profile to ensure your most immersive AR experiences can be discovered by all Snapchatters and engaged with time and time again. Once linked to the Profile, these Lenses will also be discoverable through both Snapchat Search and Lens Explorer. 
  • Highlights: Permanently showcase your best Public Snaps, Stories, photos, and videos. This is the best way for Snapchatters who aren’t familiar with your brand to get to know more about your business, products, and services. 
  • Native Store: Link your US-based Shopify store on your Profile so Snapchatters can browse, try on, and buy through the “Shop” feature, turning Snapchat into a new point of sale. 

Setting up a Public Profile for your business also makes you eligible to be found through an array of new placements, including in Search, @ mentions, Discover, Lens Explorer, and through Snapchat Ads.

Snapchat Public Profiles For Business - Dior

How To Set Up Your Snapchat Public Business Profile

Setting up a Public Profile for your business is a simple, three-step process:

1) Log-In or Create a Snapchat Business Account

If you have already run ads on Snapchat, you simply need to log in to your Business Manager Account. If not, create an account by using your account sign-in info on the Snapchat Ads Manager. Once signed in, select ‘Public Profiles’.

2) Create Your Profile

On this page, connect your existing username (or establish a new one specifically for your business) and provide any additional business information to help others understand what you do. Click “Update Profile’ when you’re finished to make your account public. 

3) Add Content!

The last step is to start filling up your profile with great content that will excite users and drive engagement, such as sharing Lenses, posting new Stories, and creating Highlights for people to engage with.

Snapchat has been steadily expanding its audience to more than just Gen Z-ers. Now that the platform is also providing more robust tools for brands, there has never been a better time to dip your toes in to see if Snapchat is the best social network for your brand.

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LinkedIn Launches New Event Ads and “Boosted” Organic Posts

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LinkedIn is expanding its advertising options for brands and entrepreneurs on the platform with new Event Ads and the ability to “Boost” organic posts from your brand’s page.

As the company said in this week’s announcement:

“We’re announcing new features to make your marketing life a little easier — helping you seamlessly reach more of your target audience and grow your brand community all while measuring impact each step of the way.”

LinkedIn Event Ads

Now that social distancing is coming to an end, many are eager to finally put on a big event for their brand. 

To help make your next in-person (or digital) event a smash hit, LinkedIn is introducing a new ad format which can appear in users’ feeds. Event ads include all the important details potential attendees may want to know, including the date, time, how to register, and if any mutual connections are also planning to attend. 

Along with this new ad format, the company is rolling out an Event Analytics tool that offers info on attendee/visitor engagement with your Event posts, your total number of attendees, unique event visits, the top jobs of attendees, and the peak number of viewers on livestreams. 

“Boost” Your LinkedIn Posts

Have you ever had a post that went over so well you wish you could re-run it to an even wider audience? 

Now you can, with the ability to “Boost” your post as an ad. Directly from your LinkedIn page, you can quickly turn an existing organic post into an ad for your brand which will run to a larger audience.

Simply click the Boost button underneath the post you want to promote, and select the objective for the post from this list:

  • Website visits
  • Post awareness
  • Event awareness
  • Post engagement
  • Video views

From there, you’ll be asked to choose how LinkedIn targets your ad based on either your profile, specific interests, or a LinkedIn audience template, along with some other basic targeting information. 

Lastly, you’ll be able to set your budget for the ad and how long you run, before you publish your Boosted post. 

Currently, the feature does have some significant limitations. Only events or posts with a single image can be boosted for now, and posts can only be boosted once. Other post formats, such as polls, documents, job listings, or Pulse articles are not eligible for boosting. 

The Takeaway

Though basic, these new features make it easy for small brands to test the waters with promoting their events and contents across the business-focused platform. Additionally, LinkedIn suggests this approach could help save money on advertising events, as 40% of beta customers saw their cost per registration decrease when testing the new ad format.

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