There’s so much happening on social media this month.
From TikTok Partnering with Amazon & Pinterest, 20 songs on an Instagram reel. And then presidential hopeful Kamala Harris joins TikTok.
I am going to talk about all the things that are happening in social media this month, and what I think that you should definitely be paying attention to.
TIKTOK
First let’s talk about TikTok partnering with Amazon and Pinterest.
If you’ve been on TikTok for a while now, you know that TikTok has changed a lot. In order to get the most traction on TikTok, you should be creating content around the TikTok shop, but not to mention a lot of the content that is being created on the platform has completely changed.
First it was dancing, then it was educational. Now creators are making TikTok a full time career, and it’s actually a smart move because there’s a lot of money that can be made on the TikTok platform in so many different ways.
The platform has changed so much,so if you are still doing your same 2022 or even 2023 strategy over on TikTok, You have to make a change because things have changed a lot and you’ve got to want to move with the times.
The biggest story is TikTok has just partnered up with Amazon and Pinterest for selling and shipping and all the things. Now it’s all still uncovering, so I don’t have all the details yet, but here’s how I look at it. First, it is definitely easier for people in the US to be able to buy something from Amazon, get it shipped.
And of course we all are becoming in love with TikTok shop and buying things on TikTok shop and it takes just a little while to get to us depending upon what the item is, you know, and for TikTok to partner with you. Amazon is an extremely smart move because most of us can get our products within 24, 48 hours, sometimes 72, once you make a purchase on Amazon.
And with the rise of TikTok shops and so many TikTok sellers coming about, you’re going to be able to like, of course, have your merchandise stored inside of the Amazon warehouse. And you can either buy it directly from Amazon or you can buy it from a TikTok shop. I think what is going to happen is that. If a product is going to be connected through a TikTok shop, that I don’t think it’s going to be available for you to purchase from Amazon, because if I was a business and I was going to do a partnership, I would make sure that people can’t backdoor.
So what does that mean?
Like if I sold, let’s just say lip gloss and I have it listed on TikTok shop, and it’s going to be fulfilled by Amazon, TikTok as a company needs to be able to make a little bit of money from that sale. And if people find out about a product on TikTok, but they can actually go to Amazon and find it and like cut TikTok out.
That’s not actually good business. And so I think what’s going to be the case is that if a product is listed on tick tock, I don’t think it’s going to be allowed to be housed on Amazon as a standalone to, to keep the relationship intact. Right. And I also think that I’m still learning, but I think that this is a smart move with Pinterest because Pinterest is quite a search engine and is a place to learn, to, Learn about things, buy things.
It really is quite the place that I think many people don’t even realize how big it is. And I think that their partnership in allowing people to be able to buy directly from, from Pinterest, but it’s connected through Tik Tok and then fulfilled through Amazon. I think it is wise as well. That way Pinterest doesn’t have to have its own fulfillment center or anything like that.
They can regulate things and now you can go to Pinterest and your Tik Tok Shop links are there. Buy from there and then fulfill through Amazon. I think it’s really smart. I also think it is a very big political move because we all know that TikTok has been having some challenges with the U S wanting to ban the app.
And with this partnership with Pinterest and Amazon, it’s. It’s helping the U S of course, continue to make a ton of money, right? I think that there’s going to be lots of regulations already in place with Amazon and Pinterest. So that makes it a little bit safer. but also it keeps the boys at Amazon.
Who’s got the bag, right?
Keeps them super happy and lobbying for keeping TikTok from being banned. So. I think it’s a smart business move, but I really think it’s a smart, political move. And now I’m a political, I don’t go either way. You know, I’m a Jesus girl. I’m always like, Jesus, tell me what to do, who to vote for.
That’s who we’re going for. Right? So I’m like, I know I’m black. I know I’m female. I know I’m Christian, but I’m always like, God, talk to me. I don’t want to see any debates. I don’t want to see nobody talk online. So. I don’t go no here, no there, but I am pro TikTok.
Another recent announcement with TikTok is that you are now able to put covers on your TikTok video.
So recently, well, for the longest time, it used to be, you would have a TikTok video and then you could put like a little text of a preview of that. Or you Well, now very similar to what is available on Pinterest and what’s available on Instagram. Now you can upload a cover to be over top of your TikTok videos, which is going to allow for a more aesthetic feed.
Right now, what do I think about that? I feel like right now, it doesn’t really matter to be able to do that. But I think that there are some people whose brand is very aesthetic. And I think it’s going to go really well with their regular aesthetic on other platforms, which will bring their same branding over to TikTok.
Do I foresee myself doing that right now? No, because it’s an extra step. Step is another layer of like design and all that type of stuff.
Will we do that at some point? Yes, because oftentimes that, you know, is very similar to YouTube. One of the reasons why people watch different things on the YouTube feed is that you can see the thumbnail and that thumbnail usually will draw people into that particular piece of content.
If we start putting thumbnails on TikTok videos and they get to our actual profile page, then that’s gonna be really good for us when it comes to people watching our content. But also I think that as TikTok, people go to more TikTok desktop, that you’ll be able to draw people in even better with your hooks and your videos because you’ll have those uploaded, the cover art to go with.
And they will stand out amongst other videos in the feed that don’t have it.
Another partnership that TikTok just announced, they partner with Eventbrite. And now if you are hosting an event, you’re going to be able to promote that event, sell that event directly on the inside of the TikTok app, which I think is great because oftentimes I’m hosting live events and if my community is on TikTok, it’s a great way to be able to.
Talk about the live event and promote the tickets on Tik Tok without my content being suppressed because it fulfills what they’re looking to do with the event, right? So I think that’s a good plus, but I also think this is going to open up the doors to like digital products, digital courses and things of that nature.
I’m not certain, this is the entryway of what we’re going to see as a digital course world and all that. We’ll be brought over to TikTok, but we’ll see.I obviously don’t work for TikTok, but we’ll see what happens with that.
And then lastly, with TikTok this month you have a Vice President, Kamala Harris, a presidential hopeful who just recently joined the TikTok platform. And I will say that it has been quite amazing, strategically marketing wise, to see how the campaign is choosing to show up over on TikTok. I was sharing with someone the other day where we’re, we love marketing.
It reminds me of former president Barack Obama, how he showed up when he was running for office. It was very, it felt very hopeful, positive and all these different things. And the Kamala Harris team, they are being very, very TikTok. They are being extremely TikTok with the content and it’s very smart, it’s very strategic.
I do think that, you know, I’m not a big political person, but I love it when I see strategic marketing and play. And so it’s, it’s really interesting to see how that team is, doing what they’re doing over on TikTok. And I do wonder if, a presidential hopeful. Donald Trump, I do wonder if his team is going to start playing into that a little bit more as we have, how many more months we’ve got August, September, not very many months.
I wonder if they’re going to play on some of that, as well over on TikTok, because in my personal opinion, I feel like TikTok is quite the place to express your creativity and all the things, whether this is politics or this is healthcare, it’s just a really great place to do that.
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Threads
The next little story I want to talk about is that Instagram threads are paying bonuses.
So they announced a couple of months where they were paying certain creators, for views on their content. And so recently I got notification that, I will get paid for my content on threads and I was just like, okay. I don’t understand. And what I started to see was that it’s not just about how many times I posted content, but it’s like, how many views am I getting to the content that I am posting, whether it’s my content or it’s my responses to other people’s content.
It feels like they are rewarding you for being very intentional and strategic with each piece of content that you are posting on your account, but also that you are commenting under others. Okay. Because the more views you get, the more potential you have to earn with threads. So me over the last 30 days, I earned 140 bucks.
And I think this month I’m on track to maybe getting 75 bucks or whatever. But for me, either way, I’m like 140 bucks. That’s gas in my car for like two months. cause gas out here is like 2. 70, you know? So it’s like, that lasts me forever cause I work from home. So I’m like. I’ll take it. I’ll take some of my same content and I’ll post it on threads and allow people to engage with it and, and all the things, you know what I mean?
So it’s a great way to, monetize. So if you’re not using threads, I would encourage you to come over to threads. So you can monetize that as well.
Now let’s talk about Instagram. Instagram is doing amazing. A lot this month. Okay. A lot. I can’t talk about everything, but I will talk about something.
So one of the first things that they announced recently was that you’re now going to be able to add up to 20 different audios to your reels. Now there was some like, why would I do that?
Oh my God, I’m excited. And for me. When I looked at that, I said, okay, I think that the reason why people would want to add up to 20 tracks on reels is for the amazing editing features, right? So like, if you go into CapCut, you can do so much on CapCut. And I think that this is. Instagram’s opportunity or their way of allowing people that create amazing videos with all different sounds, musicians, and just editors to be able to do a lot more in app editing versus using outside tools now.
I don’t know that to be certain, but if that was me, and I know that most people are using CapCut to edit, I would ask myself, how can I get more people to actually edit an Instagram and not on CapCut? And for me, I think that would be one of those features.
Another thing that Instagram is doing with 20 is they are now allowing you to post up to 20 images for your carousels.
Up to 20 images for your carousel. So it used to just be where you could post 10. Now it’s 20. Now they’re taking a step, a page out of TikTok’s book, because you can do up to like 35 or something like that over on TikTok. And so Instagram just opened that up to where you can do 20. Now, I think if a story is really good, you can get people to scroll through with your carousels.
But if you’re going to use carousels, you can’t put a lot of text. On each image, because we all, we’re doing whatever it is that we’re doing. And we just want to be able to get to it and get gone. Right? So if you’re going to use that 20 image, image thing for carousels, keep it short and to the point. I know a friend of mine, Brock Johnson, he announced it and he has like one word per slide.
And so you learn as you slide. And it’s a really great way for him to announce the 20, the 20 carousels and to be strategic and creative.
The next thing with Instagram is that now you’re going to be able to add little notes with your Instagram reels. So we all know that you have the ability to create a reel, share with a friend, but now not only can you share with a friend, but you can put a little note on top of it. Like it reminds me of a little sticky note.
I think it’s a little creative. I don’t know, bringing more attention to something specific in a reel versus just writing. I’m not really sure about Instagram’s intention with that note thing, but that’s something that Instagram announced and people are starting to use it. I finally got notes on my main profile and I’m starting to use that feature as an announcement for something like here’s our three day challenge.
Here’s this, here’s that. because it expires within 24 hours.
And then the last thing that Instagram announced is that you now can do super likes for stories.
We have talked about that before with TikTok, that if you tap on a TikTok video multiple times, then it’s super liking and it’s telling TikTok that people really enjoy that particular video. Send it out more.
Well, that’s the same thing that’s happening with Instagram stories, that a person can hold down their finger on the story or a double tap at multiple times and they can super like it. Now, I, I haven’t quite seen a strategy of how people are getting. Their audience really utilizes that feature. but I wonder if we can get more people to actually super like that content, if it’ll bring more attention to our stories now, I want to know from you, like, have you tried super liking and.
If you have, tell me what is your experience with it and how are you using it?
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