As we make the transition from summer to fall, and schools open their doors, holiday season planning is in full throttle for most brand marketers.
But before doorsteps are swarmed by Amazon boxes and people begin fumbling with wrapping paper, it’s time to get in one last barbecue for Labor Day and acknowledge the many contributions Hispanics have made in all areas by celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
Social Media Holidays to Mark on Your Calendar
- Sept. 4: Labor Day
- Sept. 5: International Day of Charity
- Sept. 10: Grandparents Day
- Sept. 15 through Oct. 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
- Sept. 23: First day of fall
Download our Social Media Holidays Trend Report to ensure that you don’t miss out on any big dates in 2023.
Brands That Stay On Trend
Hyvee
@theboardloon crafted a vibrantly colored fruit board, showcasing the freshness and variety of the grocer’s produce offerings.
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Uber Eats
@fulltimefoodie opted for a different type of food, promoting the Uber Eats-exclusive two-for-one offer on Simple Uniburger Milkshake Combos from Uniberger with a juicy look at a picnic in the park.
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Santa Monica College
School is in session, and Latina mom creator @thelatinamom showed off her Santa Monica College swag while sharing a useful checklist for those starting at SMC or any university.
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Social Media Platform Updates
One of the most requested updates to Instagram’s recently introduced Threads app is finally here, as the rollout of Threads via the web is underway.
Users who gain access in the gradual rollout will be able to post, interact with posts, and view their feeds, but functions such as editing profiles and sending posts via Instagram DM are not available at launch.
Threads introduced an update aimed at giving reposts some love, adding a dedicated Reposts tab to the profile page and letting people see reposts in the Following feed (they had only been displayed in the For You feed) opening new avenues for even better Threads creator marketing.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg fittingly used Threads to reveal three more updates to the app: the ability to directly share posts to Instagram DMs, custom alt-text for photos and videos, and a mention button to enable people to more easily mention other users.
Finally, Threads profiles can now be verified on Mastodon
Instagram creator marketing introduced three new ways for creators and their audience to interact with each other.
- Music can now be added to photo carousels.
- The Collab tool was updated to allow up to three other people to co-author a carousel, feed post, or Reel, with the resulting content reaching all collaborators’ audiences and appearing on each account’s profile grid.
- And the new Add Yours sticker for Reels lets creators invite followers to participate in challenges or respond to prompts, after which they can choose the best submissions and spotlight them.
Instagram also said its music library will be expanded to more countries, and it teamed up with Spotify in Brazil and Mexico on a new Reels Music Chart on the streaming platform, featuring the 50 most popular songs from Instagram Reels.
TikTok
All advertisers on TikTok now have access to search ads, an automated option that lets brands opt in or opt out of having their ads appear in search results on the platform (all campaigns are opted in by default).
Negative keywords can be specified by advertisers to ensure that their ads don’t appear adjacent to content that may not align with their values which will only improve TikTok influencer marketing.
YouTube
Links that appear in the comments section, descriptions, and the vertical live feed for short-form video option YouTube Shorts will no longer be clickable as of Aug. 31.
YouTube parent Google said the measure was put in place to protect YouTube users from links to malware, phishing, scams, or spam.
Clickable social media icons are also being removed from all desktop channel banners for the same reason.
Starting Aug. 23, users on desktop and mobile will start seeing clickable links on creators’ channel profiles, near the Subscribe button, and YouTube said creators can use this space for links to merchandise sites, social profiles, websites, and other links that comply with the platform’s Community Guidelines.
The new Samples feed on YouTube Music is a TikTok-like short-form personalized video feed aimed at bringing users the artist, feel, and video for recommended tracks. People can navigate this feed by swiping vertically.
Finally, YouTube Premium subscribers now have access to an enhanced bitrate 1080p option on the web.
X
The platform previously known as Twitter extended its partnership with Integral Ad Sciences to give its advertisers access to pre-bid adjacency controls, ensuring that their ads appear next to content that has been vetted as brand-safe, within the context of the GARM Safety & Suitability Framework.
X will also begin testing Sensitivity Settings in its Ads Manager, calling it an automated solution that will help brands align their messaging with content that meets their specific sensitivity requirements.
And the platform introduced an automated, industry-standard blacklist to protect advertisers from appearing next to unsafe keywords in the app’s Following and For You feeds.
The option to be notified about all posts and replies from specific accounts was added.
Finally, X Premium subscribers have a new Highlights tab where they can spotlight their favorite posts.
Snapchat
All Android Snapchatters now have access to dark mode. The feature had previously been available on that operating system only through subscription option Snapchat+, but it has been free for iOS users since 2021.
Pinterest announced several updates aimed at protecting teens on its platform, including private profiles, the removal of followers for Pinners under 16 and more control over who can follow their accounts, stricter permissions for messaging and group boards, and giving caregivers the ability to opt in and out of its parental passcode and update the protected settings on their teen’s account.
This new direction will create better protection for Pinterest influencers and their audience.
Twitch
Twitch began rolling out a TikTok-like Discovery Feed, which will show users short clips from streams so that creators can be discovered more easily by people not viewing their livestreams.
The new feature is in limited release with plans to roll it out fully by this fall.
BeReal
The app added a Friends of Friends feed, replacing its Discovery Feed, and, as the name suggests, users can see posts from friends of friends if they opt in.
Open Influence’s team stays on top of the latest trends and is here to help you maximize your creator campaigns. Open Influence is a global creator marketing agency dedicated to creating engaging campaigns. Reach out to us today!
