Are you ready?
A few reminders as we head into fall
Social media companies were busy last week announcing how they were going to comply with the European Union’s new ground-breaking Digital Services Act, which aims to improve transparency and accountability. A total of 19 companies (including Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn & YouTube) must comply or face big fines. Here’s a video explaining some of the changes. And if you want to learn more about the DSA, The Globe and Mail has a great explainer.
In today’s newsletter:
Are You Ready: A few reminders as we head into fall
Social Snack: Instagram tests showing comment and share counts
10 Years: Happy anniversary to Canva!
Have a great Labour Day long weekend! The Social Platypus will return to your inbox on Monday, Sept. 11th.
Are you ready?
I saw Halloween candy at the grocery store this weekend…and I’m not upset about it. In fact, I’ve already saved several spooky and festive baking ideas on TikTok (let me know if you’d like me to share!). And I’m loving the fall dancing memes, like this one, and this one.
But whether we like it or not, we’re headed into the last four months of the year, and that’s a great time to do some social media planning and housekeeping. Here are some tips…
1/4 Prepare for important dates
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: On Sept. 30th in Canada, we remember the painful history of residential schools in Canada, including the many children who never returned home, and the ongoing negative impacts of the residential school system. Do not wait until the last minute to plan how to mark this date. And if you plan to wear an orange “Every Child Matters” T-shirt, make sure to purchase these from an authorized Indigenous retailer.
The Holidays: The holiday season is still several months away. But according to Pinterest, if you haven’t started planning how to promote your products and services, you might be falling behind. That’s because consumers start their research in June, and shift into decision making and buying in September. So make sure to start planning now for Christmas (and Thanksgiving if you’re in the U.S.). Non-profits: start planning your holiday appeals now!
Important dates related to your organization: Review your content calendar for big dates that you want to spend extra time creating content and a campaign for. For example, one of my clients is a hospice, and it’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Oct. 14th. My client is co-hosting an event on that day, and I’m already working on the text and graphics.
2/4 Speaking of events…
Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like I haven’t seen this many fall events since before the COVID lockdown. And that means if you’re also planning an event, you might have some competition. Start promotion as early as possible, and double check for other events happening in your area (or on a special date) so you aren’t forcing people to choose or double book.
3/4 Review your strategy
Do you remember what you had hoped to accomplish in 2023? If not, now is a great time to review your goals and objectives to see where you had planned to be, and either keep moving forward with your plans, or take this opportunity to pivot. It’s also a good time to review the strategies and tactics that you planned to implement to help you get you to those goals, and see if you missed any of them. Or perhaps they might help spark some new ideas!
4/4 Go easy on yourself
I talk to marketers and social media managers all the time who say, “I know I should be doing more.” It’s time to put away that guilt. We are all doing the best we can with the time and resources that we have. And unless Instagram or Facebook is paying your salary, you shouldn’t feel bad if you can’t commit as much time and energy as you had hoped. Just do your best. ❤️
🧁 SOCIAL SNACK 🧁
Instagram tests showing comment and share counts
Remember when Instagram decided to allow us to hide like counts? (so that we didn’t feel so much pressure to post). Well, we might not be able to always see likes, but we may soon be able to see the number of people who commented or shared a post, according to Social Media Today. A picture of what it would potentially look like was shared by Nick Alessi.
My thoughts…
Comments: Right now, you have to look under the abbreviated caption to see whether anyone has replied. So, I actually think a comment count would be a better way to quickly see if there are any comments on a post — for those of us interested in reading the reactions, or replying to comments.
Shares: Likes and comments are great, but shares tell you when people find something really valuable, because they are willing to bring it to their own online community. Social media consultant Rachel Karten recently shared her “shareability test” in a LinkedIn post. It’s a great list (and, of course, I shared it 😊).
ICYMI
Threads on the web is here [The Verge]
YouTube is testing a new search feature powered by humming [Mashable]
LinkedIn rolls out new features to enhance newsletters [Search Engine Journal]
TikTok unveils first-ever U.S. songs of the summer [TikTok Blog]
X officially launches the first stage of job listings for verified organizations [Social Media Today]
Happy 10th Anniversary to Canva! 👩💻 🥳
If you use Canva, you know how useful it can be for creating social media posts, presentations, cards, clothing…pretty much anything with a design element. When I joined Canva in 2017, it had a community of 7.5 million. Today, there are 135 million people who use Canva every day!
When it comes to social media, I find it most useful for creating templated (and branded) designs for my clients so we don’t have to keep recreating the wheel every time we want to post something. Here are five others ways to use Canva for social media.
*fyi: this is not a sponsored post
