A Surprising Drop for Instagram

Today's News

• Less Instagram, More WhatsApp

• Flip It Good with TikTok’s New Story Feature

• Snapchat: The Dark Horse of Influencer Marketing

• Microsoft Updates for October

• Google Shopping Gets a Makeover

• Threads Get Local

• YouTube’s Back On Track

Less Instagram, More WhatsApp

Instagram appears to be losing its luster among news and entertainment web sites, with about 85% posting content on the platform in Q3 2024, down from 90% last year, according to new research from Digiday.

These publishers are often used by the industry as a kind of bellwether — as their business depends on using social media to drive clicks to their web sites. Where they go is usually an indication of where active users are.

The bad news

• And worse — ad spend is down too, with 55% of publishing brands purchasing Instagram ads in the past month, a drop from 60% last year.

• Instagram’s branding value has also dropped, with 70% of publishers now finding it valuable for branding, down from 85% last year.

• Publishers are also posting less frequently on Instagram, with more than half saying they post content daily, a drop from more than two-thirds last year.

The silver lining

• However, weekly posts have increased, with 45% of publishers sharing content weekly, up from about one-third in previous years.

• 45% are also still investing in original content for Instagram, a slight rise from 40% last year.

Despite this, the perceived value of Instagram for revenue generation has fallen, with only 2 out of 5 publishers finding it valuable, down from almost half last year.

This shift comes after a Washington Post investigation found that political news publishers are receiving less visibility on Meta's platforms, leading to a more than 50% drop in engagement.

From IG to WhatsApp

In response to decreased engagement on Meta's platforms and Google, digital news publishers are turning to WhatsApp Channels.

The New York Times reports that outlets like CNN and The Financial Times are thriving on the platform, seeing significant growth in audience engagement and gaining millions of followers.

Flip It Good with TikTok’s New Story Feature

As publishers pull back from Instagram, TikTok announced a new feature yesterday designed to keep audiences flipping out.

The new tool, called ‘Flip Stories’, lets brands and creators add a second side to every story that can be unlocked with a "flip". With Flip Stories, brands can showcase promotions, unveil products, share exclusive messages, or offer behind-the-scenes glimpses.

How it works

1. To create a Flip Story, go to the Create Page and toggle to the Story option.

2. You'll find the option to add a Flip Story, which requires you to upload two sides of content to your Story.

3. You can either take photos directly from the Create page or upload photos from your device. Currently, Flip Stories only support image uploads.

To view a Flip Story, press the "Hold to Flip" button on the first side, to reveal the hidden content, which will play for a few seconds. Brands and creators will also have access to a separate list of viewers who engaged with the second side.

Snapchat: The Dark Horse of Influencer Marketing

Looking for the top social platform to drive purchases? New research might surprise you.

Snapchat is taking the crown for influencer-driven shopping. According to a new survey from eMarketer, 85% of users reported making a purchase after seeing a product showcased by a creator on the app.

Snapchat outperformed TikTok, X, and Instagram in this category, leaving YouTube trailing behind — despite the clout of YouTube creators like MrBeast and Logan Paul.

The influencer generation

The survey also found that creators were most effective at getting Gen Zers to make a purchase. 

• 4 out of 5 Gen Z shoppers bought something because of creator or influencer content, compared to just a fifth of baby boomer shoppers.

• Even Gen X showed surprising engagement, with 2 out of 5 making creator-driven purchases.

Meanwhile, Facebook lagged behind with the lowest rate of influencer-driven shopping.

Microsoft Updates for October

Microsoft announced its slew of updates for October today.

Performance Max updates

• Advertisers can now access search term insights reports. These reports help advertisers understand how users find their business by analyzing the specific search terms that led to their ads being displayed during a chosen time period. The reports then organize these terms into relevant categories and provide key performance metrics.

  

• Performance Max also continues to support a pilot for brand exclusions, letting advertisers specify which branded search queries they want to avoid showing ads for.

• Coming mid-October, URL rules at the asset group level will enter pilot testing, along with personalized recommendations for upgrading Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to Performance Max.

Display Ads enhancements

Display ads now offer more bidding strategies and targeting options.

• Advertisers can choose from manual CPM, enhanced CPC, and maximize conversions with CPA targets.

• Targeting options include in-market audiences, dynamic remarketing, and LinkedIn profile targeting, among others.

Other updates

• Advertisers can now use IAS verification for viewability, invalid traffic, and brand safety across native, display, and video ads with any bid strategy.

  

• Microsoft now offers two new actionable recommendations for advertisers using automated bidding strategies in their search, shopping, and Performance Max campaigns. These insights help you identify when your campaign may be underperforming and whether the limitations are due to budget constraints or your automated bidding targets.

  

• Microsoft Invest now lets advertisers use AI to generate image and content recommendations for their native ads.

• Finally, you can find new Owned and Operated packages in the Inventory Library, offering more display, video, and native placements across Microsoft platforms.

Google Shopping Gets a Makeover

A few weeks ago, reports emerged that Google was testing a new Shopping Search interface.

Now, it seems that the update is rolling out, showcasing a new logo and a more e-commerce-friendly layout, complete with large search refinement boxes.

The updated interface also features a new 'refine results' dashboard at the side panel.

Users have noted seeing both the old and new interfaces on desktop, suggesting a staggered rollout.

Threads Get Local

Threads, Meta's Twitter competitor, now lets users tag their location. This feature, however, doesn't provide the exact location on a map like on Instagram.

• Instead, the feature lets users give their followers an approximate idea of their location by sharing things such as a city name, neighborhood, or restaurant.

• By tapping on a tagged location in a Threads post, followers can explore other posts from that area.

YouTube’s Back On Track

After a brief hiatus, YouTube’s missing hits are back. The company has struck a new deal with SESAC, the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, to restore hit songs from artists like Adele and Nirvana that were removed over the weekend. SESAC claimed that YouTube “unilaterally removed” the tracks before the old agreement expired.

The restored content will gradually reappear across YouTube services in the next couple of days.

All apologies.

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