September brought the rise of a new creator brand to compete with Lunchables, Meta’s AI powered video creator avatars, a brand new YouTube TV experience, and much more. Let’s break down the top stories in social media and influencer marketing from the month of August.
PLATFORM UPDATES
GOOGLE/YOUTUBE
Google now highlights content creators as trusted sources in search results
TLDR: This is a significant development for content creators and a huge advantage for marketers doing creator partnerships as the creators’ content is more likely to appear in today’s search results and tomorrow’s AI-powered assistants.
YouTube is overhauling their TV experience with seasons and episodes
TLDR: Creators and brands will soon be able to organize their content into seasons and episodes. This further emphasizes the importance of episodic content
YouTube creators can now respond to trending Shorts with their own videos
TLDR: YouTube added an “Add Yours” sticker which lets users post their own videos in response to trending Shorts. It’s virtually identical to the similarly-titled feature on Instagram. Both of those platforms are looking to match the success of TikTok’s Duets. Those split-screen videos are key drivers of TikTok memes and trends.
TIKTOK
TikTok is offering users more control over the content that pops up in their recommendations
TLDR: TikTok viewers can now adjust sliders that affect the frequency of specific video categories on the For You Page. A U.S. Appeals Court recently ruled that recommendation algorithms may interfere with the “safe harbor” protections that stop platforms from being held legally accountable for the content they host, so If TikTok wants to continue benefiting from those protections, adjusting its recommendations mechanism to promote user choice is a smart move.
TikTok introduced a new Delete and re-edit feature
TLDR: TikTok has rolled out a new “Delete and re-edit” feature, allowing users to make changes and repost videos up to three times. While some had early access, it’s now more widely available, and the response to fixing typos, improving hooks, and adding shop codes has been highly positive.
TikTok is bringing its Subscriptions feature to VOD creators
TLDR: Subscriptions are now available to video on-demand (VOD) creators, not just streamers. The newly-expanded monetization feature will be broken into multiple tiers, with creators choosing between three pricing options depending on the rewards they want to offer subscribers.
META
Meta Unveils AI-Powered Video Avatars for Creators
TLDR: AI-powered video avatars that allow creators to generate realistic digital versions of themselves. Up until now, creator avatars could only interact with fans via text. Now they will be able to engage in voice conversations with fans across Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
TLDR: Meta is testing an AI translation tool for Instagram and Facebook Reels that automatically translates and lip-syncs creators’ voices, currently limited to small tests with videos from Latin American creators in English and Spanish.
Instagram Implements Advanced Protections for Teen Users
TLDR: This changes who can contact them, the content they see, and how much time they spend online, while giving parents enhanced supervision features. These measures will be enabled by default for all teens, with under-16s needing parental permission to disable them. It’ll be interesting to see if this changes app usage or drives teens to other platforms.
THE OTHERS
Spotify wants to pay YouTubers millions for their videos
TLDR: Spotify is offering seven-figure sums of money to creators if they’ll upload their content to Spotify as well as YouTube. Their pursuit of video creators isn’t a surprise, after its first-ever NewFronts appearance this past May, Spotify said they were “ready to play in the digital advertising pool and compete for more than audio budgets”.
Twitch is giving streamers more control over the number and type of ads they run
TLDR: The new “ad density slider” will help streamers understand exactly how many ad minutes they’ll be running, what revenue share they’ll be unlocking, and if their choice disables pre-roll ads for incoming viewers. Streamers will now be able to see monthly revenue estimates based on how much ad time they select and their past ad-running activity. This could set an important precedent for other platforms.
“Sponsored Snaps” from brands will now appear as unread messages in users’ chat inboxes
TLDR: Snapchat will soon start experimenting with placing sponsored messages next to chat threads from friends. Sponsored Snaps will appear as unread messages in Snapchat’s main Chat tab, implying that they’ll sit above messages from a person’s contacts until they’re acted on. This is the first time Snap will show ads in the most used part of its app.
X Launches New Connected TV App
TLDR: X has now officially launched the beta version of X TV, which it claims is “a massive leap forward in transforming X into a video-first platform.” It’s essentially the exact same as the YouTube TV app, providing an overview of all the video content that you can watch on X, on the biggest screen in your house.
BRAND INFLUENCER HIGHLIGHTS:
The NFL’s “Creator of the Week” program with YouTube is returning for a second season
Cetaphil made beauty creator Katie Fang the face of new Gentle Exfoliating skincare line
NBC Taps TikTok Influencers to Grab Younger Viewers for NFL Games
NASA invited creators to apply to attend the launch of the Europa Clipper spacecraft
How Target is courting pet owners with a collection designed by ‘fur-fluencers’
Sephora & TikTok partner to help beauty marketers make more inclusive branded content
Topgolf is teaming up with golf creators to promote its sporty new Fortnite island
‘Sleepfluencers’ get free Ikea blinds to turn their windows into Ikea billboards
Logan Paul, KSI, and MrBeast reinvent Lunchables for Gen Alpha
REPORTS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Gen Z is more likely than millennials to make online purchases from creators
TLDR: 73% of US Gen Zers say they make online purchases from creators, compared with 66% of millennials and 59% of adult consumers overall, according to June 2024 data by LTK
TikTok is becoming a travel search destination
TLDR: According to TikTok, 83% of users say TikTok gets them interested in visiting destinations they hadn’t previously considered. 60% said they actually went ahead and visited new places because they discovered them on TikTok.
Creators see AI as a threat to their livelihood
TLDR: According to a study by Awin and ShareASale, 70% of creators said they think AI poses at least a small threat to their business. 30% said AI poses no threat, 16% said it poses a “great threat”, and 6% said it poses some threat. Despite those concerns, 32% of respondents say they leverage AI in their creative process.
Influencers are the new celebrities
TLDR: SponsorUnited analyzed the 100 most-followed celebrities and influencers on social media and found that of the 825 million followers those 100 stars collectively gained in the past year, 70% of that follower growth was among influencers rather than traditional celebrities.
Support for a TikTok ban in the US has fallen to just 32% of Americans, according to Pew Research. That’s down from a high of 50% in March 2023.
