As we enter February, the excitement of the new year may have settled, but it’s still a time to set goals and make plans for the months ahead, especially for social media marketing.
February is a month of love and celebration, with Valentine’s Day on the 14th being the most prominent holiday. But it’s also a month to honor and appreciate important figures in history, as it’s National African American History Month and National Black History Month.
TikTok is celebrating Black History Month 2023 by recognizing 15 Black creators through their first-ever Visionary Voices list and an in-app #BlackTikTok programming hub. The honorees are recognized in three categories: Creators, Small Owned Businesses, and Industry Disruptors.
February Social Media Holidays You Need to Know About
There are many more holidays that brands may celebrate in February, such as Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, and National Pizza Day. The decision of which holidays to celebrate is ultimately up to each brand and should vary depending on the brand’s products, target audience, and marketing strategy. Here are a few top holidays in February and hashtags for content marketing strategy.
- Groundhog Day (February 2nd) – #GroundhogDay
- National Pizza Day (February 9th) – #NationalPizzaDay
- Valentine’s Day (February 14th) – #ValentinesDay
- Presidents Day (February 21st) – #PresidentsDay
- National Margarita Day (February 22nd) – #NationalMargaritaDay
- National Tooth Fairy Day (February 28th) – #NationalToothFairyDay
- National African American History Month (February) – #AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth
- National Black History Month (February) – #BlackHistoryMonth
- National Heart Month (February) – #NationalHeartMonth
- National Children’s Dental Health Month (February) – #NationalChildrensDentalHealthMonth
Check out how creator marketing can make your brand relevant, timely, festive, and authentic by downloading this report: Social Media Holidays to Plan for Your Content Calendar.
Take advantage of the days that matter most to you with influencer marketing campaigns.
Brands That Stay On Trend
February 2023 is off to a strong start with brand campaigns featuring our exceptional partners. These campaigns effectively utilized the reach and influence of social media creators on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, showcasing the brand and its products to a wider audience and leveraging the creators’ unique skills and styles to make the posts authentic, engaging, and creative. Check them out.
Total by Verizon
@momlifewithlaura relies on @totalbyverizon to handle her busy lifestyle.
One comment reads, “Love this ad!”
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Tire Pros
@pang_bang utilizes the carousel feature on Instagram for an Instagram vs. Reality-style post, emphasizes the importance of routine maintenance for preventing expensive breakdowns, and is grateful for @TirePros and their knowledgeable technicians to have their back for all van needs.
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Mars Petcare
Nothing like some dog content. Mars Petcare and the PEDIGREE Foundation are inviting people to join them in their mission to support furry friends and animal shelters and are asking for acts of service and volunteering.
@daisythegoldiee Join us, Mars Petcare and the PEDIGREE Foundation in our mission to help our furry friends and animal shelters! #ad Visit my link in bio to learn more about how you can answer the call through acts of service and volunteering today. #ServiceHumansNeeded ♬ Getting Better – Danilo Stankovic
Platform Updates
In the ever-changing world of social media, platforms are continuously updating and improving their features to better serve creators and brands. In recent months, several major social media platforms have released new updates and features specifically geared toward creator marketing and influencer campaigns. These updates provide creators and brands with new tools and opportunities to effectively reach and engage with their audience. Here are major updates from Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri says that the platform has gone too hard on pushing videos and will look to make photos more of a focus once again in 2023. Mosseri made the remark as part of his weekly Q&A series and further notes that photos will remain a key focus for the app and that maintaining the right balance in this respect will be key.
Adam Mosseri says:
“I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far, and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos. We’ve since balanced, so things like how often someone likes photos versus videos, and how often someone comments on photos versus videos, are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.”
Some more updates by Instagram address some safety and wellness updates.
Instagram is adding new tools to help users better manage their in-app experience. Quiet Mode will switch off notifications, add a ‘Quiet Mode’ notifier to your profile status, and implement an auto-responder on your DMs. The app will also prompt teens specifically to use Quiet Mode if it detects that they’re spending a significant amount of time on Instagram late at night.
Instagram is also adding new self-moderation tools, including the ability to hide recommended posts in the app based on keywords, and the ability to hide multiple posts at once within Explore that you aren’t interested in.
Finally, Instagram is also adding a new element within its Family Center which will enable parents to better monitor their kids’ privacy and account settings.
Snapchat
Now onto Snapchat. Snapchat has launched a new promotional campaign that promotes its augmented reality (AR) features by showing off bizarre effects, in order to present people with a different perspective on the real world.
According to Snap, 72% of active Snapchat users engage with AR elements in the app every day, so there is a lot of interest in these types of activations that provide a new way of seeing the familiar.
Now for Twitter. Twitter has updated its Paid Partnerships Policy to ensure more transparency in paid promotions within tweets. The company is now enforcing that all paid partnerships must be disclosed with the #ad tag in the tweet.
Additionally, #paidpartnership and #sponsored are acceptable disclosure tags. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in enforcement actions. The move comes as governments around the world are implementing new measures to ensure transparency in influencer marketing partnerships. Twitter is working to align with regulatory expectations while still enabling brand deals in the app. Brands and influencers should be aware of these rules and ensure they are adhering to them to avoid confusion and penalties.
YouTube
Next is YouTube. YouTube has announced that creators will be able to make ad revenue on Shorts starting February 1st, as part of a broader update to YouTube’s Partner Program. Creators have been able to make money from Shorts via other methods like Super Chats and shopping integrations, but now they will be able to directly share ad revenue with creators, something that TikTok doesn’t currently do.
Creators are not required to opt-in to Shorts monetization, and YouTube is introducing a modular system for the Partner Program’s terms. Creators will have until July 10th, 2023 to accept the new terms or lose their ability to monetize with the platform and will have to reapply to the program.
The realm of social media is in a state of constant evolution, as major platforms roll out updates and new features on a regular basis. These updates can significantly affect the way users interact with and engage on the platforms, making it exciting to see how they continue to grow and adapt in the coming year.
If you’re looking to connect with your target audience in a more direct, authentic, and organic manner in 2023, partner with Open Influence. We are a leading global creator marketing agency, renowned for collaborating with some of the world’s biggest brands. Let us help you achieve your marketing goals and amplify your brand message through the power of creators and influencers.
