70K Characters or Less

We’ll say it: Last week was a lot. If your brand noticed a drop in followers, you weren’t alone. The social media platform announced this week it suspended over 70,000 accounts that violated its T&Cs.  

Twitter regularly challenges accounts to confirm information like email and phone number, to prevent spam or inflated follower numbers. But bots and questionable accounts always slip through the cracks. The extra steps Twitter took over the past week provide an opportunity for the platform to not only control how people use it but potentially position itself at the forefront of platforms putting their foot (or wing) down on malicious social media behavior.

So if your brand’s account lost a few followers, don’t worry — it was Twitter doing heavy housekeeping. Still, it serves as a reminder that it’s good practice to check who’s following your brand’s account every once in a while and do your own clean up when necessary. Last week’s events and subsequent social media backlash will hopefully cause all platforms to create more concrete strategies to avoid any significant necessary account cleanups in the future. 

TL;DR: Twitter suspends over 70k accounts to combat harmful social media practices.    

Recap and Refresh

As marketers, it’s easy to get caught up in the weeds on social media — obsessing over punctuation, emoji placement, and using just enough alliteration to make posts pop.  Sometimes, we stray from the big picture best practices on our favorite platforms. So to start the year off with a renewed focus on nailing the fundamentals, we’re sharing three need-to-know basics to keep your posts in tip-top shape. 

Though we may not be able to crack the code behind Facebook’s engagement algorithm, one thing’s for sure: Posts that tug at one’s heartstrings or inspire readers tend to garner the highest levels of engagement. When it comes to the platform of choice for C-suite execs, LinkedIn  prioritizes posts with hashtags — just keep them to a max of three. Last but not least, don’t overthink your Twitter content. To pack a punch, just follow the three Cs when writing content: Keep it concise, clear, and (our favorite) conversational. 

Social media is ever-changing, but these practices are long-lasting. Keep them top of mind while filling out your content calendar, and you’re on your way to creating a social strategy that will resonate with your audience.

TL;DR: For devising social media strategies on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, make sure to keep the platforms’ best practices top of mind.

Swipe, Swipe, Swipe It Up

Say goodbye to Instagram influencers and hello to LinkedInfluencers. The professional networking platform has taken its Stories experiment to a new (Insta-worthy) level with the addition of swipe up links. Now users with at least 5,000 connections or followers and all company pages can send their story viewers swiping. 

The addition of swipe up links makes stories a far more valuable asset to your LinkedIn strategy. Brands can easily share links to new content, media articles, videos, sign-up forms, and more through stories — without needing to rely on any “link in bio” language. And for your C-suite influencers, erm, thought leaders, story links add a new avenue for sharing and engagement. 

If your brand has been slow on the LinkedIn story uptake, we don’t blame you. But we feel confident this new feature will make stories a staple in your marketing and thought leadership programs — just leave the swipe ups for hair gummies and fit teas on Instagram. 

TL;DR: LinkedIn added a “swipe up” link capability to stories, giving brands a new incentive for trying the recently released feature.

ICYMI