It’s the million (or more) dollar question: What kind of content will perform best on social media platforms this summer? DMN’s Kayla Matthews has a handy roundup of trends to follow. One of them is social causes, along the lines of Adidas’ recent campaign to promote gender pay equality. On the flipside of the coin, Matthews writes, keeping things lighthearted in users’ feed is key. Hey, it’s summer, right? “Summer equals fun, so expect to see fun posts from brands in the summer of 2018,” she writes.
But maybe you don’t want to see certain posts this summer? Instagram has got you. The powerhouse photo sharing platform is introducing a new mute feature. Hallelujah! “Whether you're muting someone who irks you — or slyly muting an ex after a break up — the tool aims to be a less aggressive option than unfollowing another user,” writes CNN’s Kaya Yurieff. “The account holders will not know they are muted.” Expect to see the feature rolled out in the coming weeks for all users. But don’t mute us! Our Instagram account rules.
One thing that’ll definitely get a brand muted on Instagram is poor design. Don’t worry – even if you’re not a skilled graphic designer, there are a wealth of design tools that can help you put together snappy and appealing visuals of all sorts. But wait, it gets better: many of these tools are free! Zapier has gathered together a few of the best. Snappa looks especially cool, making it extremely easy to overlay text over an image. Meme glory, here we come.
You can follow all the summer social media trends you want. You can put together amazing visuals. But if you can’t beat the algorithm, your influencer content will sink without a trace. Forbes has five tips on how to maintain a brand’s presence on feeds without relying on ads. One excellent idea is to sponsor influencers’ live broadcasts – did you know that 82 percent of audiences saying they prefer live video from a brand over social media posts?