Social Media Industry Round-Up #110: Downranking Sponsored Content On Instagram, New Shorts Ad Options & TikTok’s Latest AI Ad Generator

Every week, the team at The Social Shepherd puts together all the relevant industry updates in a round-up newsletter.

This way, we keep our team, clients and interested marketers up to date with what's going on in the social media industry :)

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Top 100 Products of 2024 

Google has published the Top Trending Products of 2024, based on web searches. 

This list can be used as inspiration for the gifting season, as it gives an insight into what consumers have shown interest in during these last 11 months. 

Some of the product trends Google has highlighted: 

• Retro-coded: Y2K classics. For example, Searches for Salomon sneakers raced higher than ever this year (we’ve seen a few spot-clean Salomons around the office) 
• Laidback Luxury: Effortless elegance and little details
• Home Upgraded: Comfort and style gifts that feel right at home 
• Ready, Set, Rest: Wellness, beauty, and the healthy glow of relaxation. Searches for skincare sets increased 100% this year 
• Nature Needs: Bringing the outdoors a little closer to home. Searches for indoor planters grew by 55% in 2024 

Downraking Sponsored Content 

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, has confirmed that the platform does not downrank content if it’s been labelled as ‘sponsored/ad’. 

This is an effort from Instagram to ensure that promotional posts are properly labelled and that there are no performance consequences. However, they’re only talking from the POV of the algorithm, and not how users react to sponsored content. 

Of course, we always recommend brands and creators to follow ASA guidelines, where any content that’s in collaboration with a brand/business (paid or gifted) should be labelled as ‘sponsored’.

On The Rise

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, announced that Threads achieved over 15 million sign-ups during November so far, following three weeks of over one million signups a day. 

This might be correlated with the US Election and the so-called ‘mass exodus’ of X users. However, no data has been shared to back this up so far. 

Mosseri has also confirmed that, when signing up to Threads, users will no longer automatically follow the same accounts they follow on Instagram, as they found out that users used the platform more this way.

It’s Tiiime 

Pinterest has launched new tools right in time for the gifting season, to help users with shopping searches: 

• Custom wishlists: Users can create personalised shoppable wishlists and share gift ideas. 
• Celebrity gift guides: For those who need inspiration, Pinterest has curated a thousand gift guides in collaboration with celebrities like Em the Nutritionist and Ayamé. 
• Quick save: Users can easily save pins from their wishlists into their own shoppable wishlists. 

This will encourage more users to create and share their wishlists on the platforms, and it’s an opportunity for advertisers to invest in Pinterest during the Christmas season, as it’s one of the main platforms users resort to for inspiration and ideas during the gifting season. 

For context, Pinterest's Q4 2023 revenue was $981 million, a 12% increase from the previous year. This was the platform's best-performing quarter for revenue ever and, for Q4 2024, they expect revenue to be in the range of $1,125 million to $1,145 million, representing 15-17% growth YoY.

New Shorts Ad Options 

Given the rise of Shorts usage, YouTube keeps working on improving the format, as well as developing new ways to monetise them. 

This week, YouTube announced a few additions to Shorts advertisements:  

• Sticker ads: A single image sticker will appear on screen and, when tapped, a product carousel will show up. 
• Animated image ads: Product images will pop up on screen, making it more engaging than statics. 
• Format buying controls: So advertisers can choose to run their ads exclusively on the Shorts feed, or traditional YouTube. 

Product Links on Posts 

TikTok has announced that creators will be able to add product links to their organic posts, increasing creators’ capabilities to prove their revenue/sales contribution. 

This is an incentive for creators as they can generate more commission from ads, and for advertisers as well, as they’ll be able to see which influencers generate the most revenue, as well as attribute revenue to organic channels.  

This update could be a game-changer, as Instagram might reconsider links in comments (please, we beg) if this test is successful for TikTok.

Symphony Creative Studio

TikTok has launched Symphony Creative Studio for all advertisers, allowing them to create TikTok-optimised AI-generated video ads. 

Advertisers will be able to create these videos by uploading a description of the products and uploading assets, or by simply sharing the product URL. They said these videos draw inspiration from TikTok's top-performing content, and advertisers will also be able to add a digital avatar to narrate the video script. 

We tested it ourselves and…there’s still a lot to improve. While it might* be helpful for brands with less creative resources or advertisers with lower budgets, to test a mix of creative assets, there’s still a long way to go for this to be a viable and viable way to create performance creative…