SMM Weekly Digest on 18-22 of March 2024

TikTok Enhances Campaign Options with Influencer Voices

TikTok is set to enrich its “Sounds for Business” audio library by incorporating additional clips from popular influencers, according to Andrew Hutchinson, Content and Social Media Manager. This initiative aims to offer advertisers a wider array of free-to-use audio options within the app, enhancing the appeal and effectiveness of their campaigns. TikTok’s move, introducing 18 custom voiceover audio templates recorded by prominent creators, signifies a strategic push towards leveraging recognizable voices to boost engagement and foster trend-centric content creation.

X Unveils Grok LLM to Premium+ Users

Andrew Hutchinson reports on X’s (formerly Twitter) latest development, the release of its Grok AI chatbot’s internal code base and weighting data. This release, aimed at X Premium+ users, offers sarcastic and edgy responses, reflecting the platform’s dynamic content stream. Elon Musk’s direction for X emphasizes transparency and third-party exploration of its AI systems, in an effort to minimize bias and foster innovation. This move also illustrates Musk’s critique of competing AI technologies and his advocacy for a non-biased digital dialogue environment.

Instagram Expands Carousel Post Capacity

In a bid to offer more creative flexibility, Instagram is testing an expansion of its carousel post feature, allowing users to include up to 15 images in a single post, reports Andrew Hutchinson. This enhancement caters to brands and creators seeking to provide comprehensive narratives or product showcases without overloading their audience. Instagram’s experiment reflects a careful balance between enriching content presentation and maintaining user engagement, suggesting a strategic approach to incremental feature updates.

Snapchat Experiments with Message Retention Options

Snapchat is exploring new grounds with an update that might redefine its core messaging experience, Hutchinson details. The platform is testing a “Never delete” option for messages, diverging from its traditional 24-hour auto-delete rule. This test aims to give users more control over their conversations, acknowledging the platform’s evolution as a primary messaging tool for many. Despite preserving ephemerality as a design principle, Snapchat’s adaptation seeks to balance user feedback with its unique value proposition in the competitive social media landscape.