On this week’s Social in Six, we’re sharing the latest on TikTok’s answer to virtual influencers: Digital Avatars, and an expansion of its Out of Phone ad placement. We discuss Instagram’s exciting addition to Reels regarding audio and an update to its Collab Posts, plus X’s decision to introduce downvotes and Pinterest’s new AI image editing tool. Got a question or suggestion for the Social Minds podcast? Get in touch at socialminds@socialchain.com ..read more

If you saw Jeremy Allen White’s Calvin Klein ad, count yourself lucky. It was shared without ALT text, so blind and partially sighted people couldn’t join the fun. That was until RNIB schooled us all. Behind every sassy, creative, and inventive post from the Royal National Institute of Blind People is an important message: People with sight loss exist. Social media content manager and previous copywriter for Specsavers’ agency, Helen Dutson, and RNIB’s social media officer Holly Duke, who’s registered blind are on a mission to show social media that accessible content is achievable, necessary ..read more

This week on Social in Six, we’re joined by SocialChain senior strategist Gareth to break down the top stories circulating in social right now. On the agenda are two updates from Instagram – the first being a test for text overlays and different image ratios in Carousels, and the second being unskippable in-feed video ads. We also discuss TikTok replacing its Creator Centre with new TikTok Studio, X launching new analytics (with a catch), and LinkedIn implementing yet another AI ad tool. Finally we unpack findings from a new Pinterest report, which offers some key insights into getting attenti ..read more

A good social strategy should be a lot of things. But the best ones are built around, and for, the fans. Go behind the curtain of a campaign that dominated the FYP page in 2023: SharkNinja’s fan-first approach promoting the Ninja Creami on TikTok. And discover how you too can build campaigns that outlast you. Hear from SharkNinja director of social media & influencers, and SocialChain’s head of influencer Amelia Wollaston, and senior strategist Gareth Harrison. Got a question or a suggestion for the SocialMinds podcast? Get in touch at socialminds@socialchain.com ..read more

Measuring social’s effectiveness can be a minefield. We all want to create more effective outcomes for our brands through social, but social media’s KPIs often seem disconnected to marketing effectiveness principles. That’s what we aim to clarify through this panel discussion – with Ric Hayes, SocialChain group strategy director; Hannah Kimuyu, Brave Bison MD of performance; and Angie French, founder of ALF Consulting. In this, they simplify what it means to know how hard your ads are working – and show you exactly where to start. Got a question or a suggestion for the SocialMinds podcast? Get ..read more

In this instalment of Social in Six, we’re joined by SocialChain strategist Kieran Hughes to break down the latest social updates. This time that includes collaboration posts from TikTok, an algorithm change from Instagram, and several new premium ad types from TikTok. We also talk about Meta and TikTok’s new crackdown on AI generated content, Instagram’s plan to grow Threads’ userbase further, and what Adam Mosseri had to say on Reels best practice. Got a question or suggestion for the Social Minds podcast? Get in touch at socialminds@socialchain.com ..read more

This week on Social in Six, we’re talking about Instagram’s latest move into collaborative social, with Blend, TikTok’s push into shopping ads and search, and YouTube’s focus on creator-led shopping. Elsewhere, Facebook’s rules for video uploads have changed, while Reddit and LinkedIn both have exciting updates to their ads offering, branching into generative AI, live events, and Connected TV or CTV.  Got a question or suggestion for the Social Minds podcast? Get in touch at socialminds@socialchain.com ..read more

This episode is proudly sponsored by Riverside.fm. Click here to try it for yourself, and use the code socialminds to get 15% off any available plan. What we learned this episode: saying people don’t care about product-focused posts isn’t true. What today’s guest says, is they don’t care by default. Doesn’t mean you can’t make them. That guest is John Thornton, senior creative at Surreal and ex-SMM & copywriter at Innocent Drinks. Surreal’s product posts and ads make people care - as do Innocent’s. So in this episode, we’re on a mission to find out how the hell John does it. Why ..read more

SocialMinds Live is back, and we’re heading to London! Listen to this quick update to get the lowdown, and be among the first to register your interest to hear Oatly, SharkNinja, American Express and more, in the flesh. To find out more, visit https://www.socialchain.com/event ..read more

This episode is proudly sponsored by Riverside.fm. Click here to try it for yourself, and use the code socialminds to get 15% off any available plan. Today’s Social in Six covers several strategy-changing updates – including a new LinkedIn algorithm that doesn’t care when you published your post, only what you’re talking about; a direct Instagram competitor app from TikTok called TikTok Photos (?); and a TikTok AI tool that automatically identifies products and generates native Shop links.  We also have to talk about Instagram’s Creator Marketplace getting a global rollout, all the new ad ..read more