Meta says it’s ending the suspension of Donald Trump’s accounts “with new guardrails” around content violations. The company’s Oversight Board said it had no role in the decision, and still wants more information about some of the policy details. But it agrees with Meta’s guardrails. As for Trump, his last Facebook post was on Jan. 6, 2021 (aka: the day of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building). Can’t wait to see what he posts next. 😳
In today’s newsletter:
How to create a solid social media content calendar
Instagram’s profile pic gets an avatar update
LinkedIn reports record engagement
And the cutest PSA for MFA I’ve ever seen
PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR
Social media managers — rejoice! 🙌 The platforms are finally starting to realize how important content calendars are to us, and are starting to help.
Twitter recently launched an interactive online marketing events calendar that allows you to choose dates by country. There are also a set of filters for categories, such as sports and entertainment.
In addition, TikTok recently released its Marketing Calendar for Small Businesses.
But in order for a content calendar to be truly valuable, businesses and organizations need to customize these calendars for their own use. Here’s how you can get started:
Keep scrolling to download a free social media calendar! ⬇️
1/4 How to get started
Canada Day. Black History Month. National Volunteer Week. There are hundreds — if not thousands — of important dates and holidays that communities around the world mark every year. And it can sometimes feel overwhelming when you think about how many dates there are to choose from.
Start by brainstorming and researching dates that include two types of content:
Important dates and holidays that have a broad appeal, but are linked to your brand
Important dates and holidays that are specific to your business or organization
2/4 For holidays, start broad and get more narrow
Major annual holidays — These are dates that are significant to a large segment of your online community, and tend to be celebratory in nature. For example, Canada Day and New Year’s Day. Start at the international or national level, and then go provincial. For example:
International: International Women’s Day
National: Canada Day
Provincial: Family Day
Dates and holidays directly connected to your brand — This is when you can get a bit more granular and look for dates/holidays might be a match with your specific brand. When looking for a match, consider holidays your audience(s) find valuable or meaningful. For example, if your target market is seniors, International Day or Older Persons, or National Grandparents Day may be a fit.
Dates and holidays that are honestly, just fun — We’re talking about National Ice Cream Day, or National Puppy Day (who doesn’t love a puppy pic, honestly).
3/4 Next, focus on dates important to your organization
Important milestones — These are events that are important to your business or organization. For example, the founding date of the company, a significant anniversary, or the birthday/day of death of a significant leader/founder.
Deadlines — I worked for a post-secondary institution for many years, and there were specific deadlines every year that we needed to post about; for example, the deadline to apply to university, or the deadline to accept an offer or apply to residence. If your business or organization is cyclical in nature, it can be very helpful to schedule deadlines in as reminders.
Annual events — You’ll want to start by listing any annual events that your business or organization hosts. You might assume that these are easy to remember because you’re organizing them. But having them in the calendar can be a great reminder as you prepare your posting schedule, especially when things get busy. You may also want to take note of any significant events hosted by community partners to show your commitment to your online community.
4/4 Where to find important dates and holidays
As mentioned above, you can now access Twitter’s Online Calendar and TikTok’s Marketing Calendar for Small Businesses.
Other sources:
FREE! Download and print this 2023 Social Media Calendar
SOCIAL SNACKS
1/2 Flipping out over your Instagram avatar
It seems like Meta wants us to get used to using an avatar (in preparation for life in the metaverse, I guess?). Because you can now add your avatar to your Instagram profile pic. So, if a user scrolls over the pic, they’ll be able to flip between your regular pic and the avatar. I’m not really sure who this is helpful for, but it seems like a fun feature to try.
2/2 LinkedIn reports record engagement
It’s hard to say whether Elon Musk and his Twitter chaos is pushing people to LinkedIn, but it could be a factor in some promising results that the company just announced as part of highlights from its Q2 earnings report. Here are some of the details that are probably making Microsoft execs a bit giddy:
Three members sign up every second
80% of those new members are from outside the U.S.
LinkedIn’s revenue increased 10% year over year in Q2
Newsletter creation was up 10X year-over-year
ICYMI
Twitter changed its font, and there may be a good reason for it [Mashable]
Messenger’s encrypted chats get themes, emojis reactions and more [The Verge]
Snapchat just bought the search app Vurb for $200 million [Inc.]
A CUTE PSA FOR MFA
Multi-factor authentication (MFA), also known as that somewhat pesky code that gets sent to your phone so you can securely log in, is important for cyber security. But never before have I seen such a technical-but-important security feature promoted in such a cute way. Good job, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. ❤️