Social Media and Influencer News Roundup

May might have been a long month of bank holidays and royal baby fever, but the world of social media and influencer marketing never sits still. Here are all the important news and updates you might have missed over the last month…

Social Media News:

Facebook is prepping advertisers for the “clear history” tool

In the not to distant future, Facebook users will be able to get their Thanos on by erasing all their data that Facebook tracks outside of the network with a simple snap of their fingers (and click of a button). This will have a direct impact on ads, as less data = less relevancy. The move is designed to give users more transparency and control after months of backlash against the platform and its data use. At the moment it is unclear how much impact this could have as we do not know how widely the tool will be used, but it is something advertisers should keep note of when measuring campaign results after it is launched.

LinkedIn is making advertising activity more transparent

Following in the steps of Facebook, LinkedIn will be introducing an Ads tab on brand pages that will allow users to view all sponsored content that advertisers have implemented with the past six months. From a marketing perspective, however, this will make it a lot easier to spy on competitor activity, so that’s nice.

Snapchat is in talks to license music to allow users to embed songs in posts

Feeling the pressure from TikTok (and presumably Instagram Stories), Snap is in talks with the likes of Sony and Universal to license song catalogues for the app. If successful, expect the platform to make a shift towards music-related content in the coming months.

The bank of Facebook is coming

Facebook is looking to enter the crypto-currency game, with plans to launch next year. The BBC reported that Mark Zuckerberg has been in talks with the governor of the Bank of England to discuss the opportunities and potential risks of the social-based digital payments system. The crucial question is, will people trust Facebook with their money?

Influencer News:

Instagram is giving influencers the power to sell directly from their page

One of the more exciting announcements at Facebook’s annual F8 conference was the roll out of a checkout function for creators and influencers. This will allow followers to shop directly from their favourite influencer’s feeds without having to leave the app. From a marketing perspective, it offers opportunities to see an instant ROI from influencer partnerships. The function is still in Beta and only available to a few selected Instagram partners, but we’re really excited to see this roll out on a wider basis in the near future.

Influencers are posting 150% more sponsored content than a year ago

A key insight from the Socialbakers Influencer Trends report is the dramatic increase in sponsored content on Instagram. Although this may be in part due to stricter guidelines requiring more transparency for paid activity, it does demonstrate the wider adoption of influencer marketing with brands increasingly seeing the value of including it in their yearly marketing budgets.