Read our most up-to-date post for August 2022.

Every month, we’re sharing bite-size summaries of the top social media news, trends and practical tips we’ve come across. Both from our own experience working with our clients, and from what we’ve been reading around the web.

See if you can apply these August tips to increase your visibility, engagement and follower growth. Just be sure to always test before changing your social media strategy entirely, as not every approach works for every type of account or brand.

Want even more social media trends, news and ideas? Check out our November 2021, October 2021, and other monthly roundups.

1. Instagram trend: Shift your focus to videos

Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app.

According to the Head of Instagram, in the next 6 months the platform will be experimenting with different types of videos such as full-screen, immersive, entertaining, and mobile-first. This change comes as a result of the growing popularity of videos online, as well as the threat of competitors including TikTok and YouTube.

Instagram is always pushing its new features, so it often pays off to get involved early. You might therefore benefit from more visibility and engagement by prioritizing videos over photos in the coming months.

2. Content tip: Drive engagement with emotionally volatile content

Recent research found that frequent and big emotional swings make content more engaging. This is because we find emotional ups and downs more stimulating and exciting, which makes us like whatever we’re watching or reading more.

For example, highly volatile content might convey the following sequence of emotions: positive, very negative, very positive, extremely negative.

See if this works for your content. When creating social media posts, videos, presentations, blog posts and other content types where you are telling a story, try alternating often and radically between negative and positive emotions.

3. Twitter tip: Increase clicks and engagement with carousels

One social media tip we often give to clients who use Twitter is to try carousel Tweets. This format was rolled out at the end of last year, but few marketers seem to be using it. Or at least not the organic (free) option.

But with carousels’ huge popularity across different social media platforms, ignoring them on Twitter could be a lost opportunity. You can use them to tell a better story, drive engagement, and increase clicks to your website.

Carousel formats are available to all Twitter advertisers (i.e. you’ll need to set up an account and add billing information). They support up to 6 swipeable square or portrait images or videos, and include a link. You can use them for your paid campaigns or organic posts. To Tweet your carousels organically, simply un-check the “Promoted-only” option.

Check out these examples of organic and paid Twitter carousels for inspiration!

4. YouTube tip: Use keywords to reach more people

YouTube is now the second largest search engine after Google. Don’t miss out on this huge search volume — make sure to optimize your videos with the keywords your target audience is searching for.

Moz recommends attaching keywords to your YouTube videos in the following places:

• Video file name: Optimize the name of your video before you upload it.
• Video title: Try to include keywords towards the beginning.
• Description: YouTube allows up to 5,000 characters, so make the most of this!
• Transcript: An additional opportunity to include keywords.
• Tags: Keep keywords and keyword phrases concise, relevant and specific.
• Audio: Make sure to also actually say your keywords in your video itself, ideally in the first few sentences you speak in the video.

While adding keywords is a great way to turn up in more searches, we recommend that you do so in a “natural way”. Avoid keyword stuffing and ensure your titles, descriptions, audio etc. remain clear and appealing to your target audience (aka humans) too. Otherwise less people are likely to click on, enjoy or understand it, pushing your videos back down the search result page.

5. Instagram Stories tips: Don’t frustrate your audience. Do bring value.

Want to improve your Instagram Stories game? BRR Digital gives us a quick refresher of what not to do when creating your stories:

• Using stories only to promote your new feed posts
• Sharing every story reshare
• Resharing content without explanations
• Bad element placements
• No interactivity
• Too much text
• Not showing your face
• Not captioning your videos

6. Social media trends: Stay up to date with the latest platform news and updates

• Twitter is removing its Fleet functionality from August 3, after less than a year. This is due to low uptake of the feature.
• TikTok is rolling out the option to create longer videos (up to 3 minutes) to everyone on the platform. Based on our LinkedIn poll, it seems most of you don’t love this update!
• Instagram has quickly followed suit: Reels can now last up to 60 seconds.
• Pinterest now allows creators to add product tags into their Idea Pin clips.
• Clubhouse has moved out of its invite-only beta system, and is now open to everyone.
• Facebook‘s number of daily average users has stalled in the U.S. and is receding in Europe, while its Asia Pacific user base continues to grow.

Get more social media tips and ideas from our experts

• Read our top social media tips and trends for July and June 2021.
• Learn how Tennis Canada creates better social media content faster with Content Stadium.
• Be inspired by 12 recruitment and employer branding social media examples.

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