It’s December. Winter is here, and so are all the latest trends.
After this busy holiday season, there’s always another one coming. It’s never too early to plan. Be sure to secure a good marketing campaign with creators for the next social media holiday. Check out our latest report: Planning A Successful Creator Holiday Campaign.
If you want to lean into the holidays that happen this month, look at planning your content around a few of these special December days.
December Social Media Holidays You Need To Know About
3 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
4 – National Cookie Day
10 – International Human Rights Day
10 – Nobel Prize Day
11 – International Mountain Day
18 – Hanukkah begins
21 – First Day of Winter
24 – Christmas Eve
25 – Christmas Day
31 – New Year’s Eve
Take advantage of the days that matter most to you with influencer marketing.
Brands That Stay On Trend
November was a month full of notable Instagram and TikTok brand campaigns worth highlighting.
Disney
We got creative with visual effects. Our partnership with digital content creator Caleb was ideal for creating a strange new world, highlighting Disney’s new movie. Check it out!
View this post on Instagram
Fidelity
We made people laugh with this bit for Fidelity by @jazmynjw. Not only was it comedic relief, but it naturally communicated Fidelity’s mission statement without sounding like an ad. Check it out!
@jazmynjw After you hold up your money for photos, use @Fidelity Investments to help you manage it wisely! #tiptok #bossmoves💰#AD ♬ original sound – Jazmyn W
Platform Updates
Now for platform updates. Staying up to date with all the latest platform updates is essential when planning your content strategies. Here are all the most significant announcements you should have on your radar.
- TikTok Clickable Stickers on Videos
- TikTok Launches First In-App Shops in the US
- Instagram Scheduling
- Instagram Music on Feed Photos
- YouTube Expanded Music in Shorts
- YouTube Testing Tagging Products in Shorts
As we just mentioned, TikTok has new clickable features that go directly on video content.
TikTok
Looks like TikTok is rolling out clickable mentions and hashtags now to feature directly on video content!
In-App Shops
As part of an eCommerce push, TikTok launches its first in-app shops in the United States.
TikTok Shops exist on profiles – in a separate tab. This is where users can browse products and make a purchase, all without leaving TikTok.
Scheduled Posts
Now onto Instagram. This platform has finally listened to its users’ requests for a scheduling tool. This content scheduling tool has been integrated into the app so users can plan in advance.
Choose To Schedule:
- Pictures
- Carousel Posts
- Reels
This feature makes scheduling up to 2.5 months possible (75 days max).
HOW IT WORKS:
- After creating the desired post (AND BEFORE SHARING), you can access scheduling tools by tapping “Advanced settings.”
- Tap the “Schedule this post” toggle.
- Select time and date when they want to post to go live on their feed.
- Navigate back to the Instagram post flow.
- Tap “Schedule.”
This feature will be rolling out globally over the coming weeks…stay tuned!
Add Music to Static Posts
Now users can add music to In Feed photos, just like you can on Stories and in Reels.
View this post on Instagram
Instagram states:
“Music is a huge part of expression on Instagram, and we’re excited to provide the ability to add music to Feed photo posts, like you can with Reels and Stories. No matter which format works best to tell your story, you can now add a soundtrack to your favorite photo moments to bring them to life.”
YouTube
Tag Products in Shorts
In a new test, YouTube lets some creators tag products for purchase within their Shorts clips. This is another launch for monetization on YouTube, making this platform desirable for creators.
The Financial Times reported:
“[YouTube’s] currently piloting its ‘affiliate marketing’ scheme – paying commission to creators that sell products – with a select number of US-based creators. YouTube, the merchant, and the creator all take an undisclosed cut of the sale.”
For now, YouTube has rolled out this pilot program with selected US creators.
Expands Music Options for Shorts
Creators have been asking to use more than 15 seconds of audio in their shorts. YouTube has listened and now users will be able to use 30-60 seconds of music for most tracks and up to 60 seconds of original audio from eligible Shorts and VODs.
This feature will not only help viralize trends on YouTube, but boost music promotions, helping YouTube even more.
YouTube says:
“The audio picker will display how much audio you can use from each music track or video (15s, 30s, or 60s) and you’ll need change your video recording duration to 60s to use more than 15s of audio.”
The new, more extended music clips option is being rolled out to all users.
As for LinkedIn news…
Schedule Post Testing
It’s in the beginning phases of allowing scheduling to posts.
LinkedIn stated:
“We’re starting to roll out post scheduling on desktop and Android so that our creators can easily plan the content they want to share next, with iOS coming soon. This means you can schedule text posts, videos, and images up to three months in advance.”
This feature is not available to everyone, but hopefully will be soon.
Did you know LinkedIn will be turning 20 years old?
This makes LinkedIn nine months older than Facebook. It’s the oldest of the major social media networks still in use today, proving year after year its worth. Check out more about this platform and how you can utilize it for LinkedIn influencer marketing campaigns.
