Jul 12, 2022

Based in New York, Taylor is a digital strategist and creator bringing marketing expertise in creative production and agency advertising for global brands. She likes her coffee strong and adjectives stronger.

instagram-livestream
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Evening, creators,

I had a thought today. Being a ‘creative’ doesn’t mean what it used to mean. And that’s not a bad thing. The idea that a ‘creative’ is reserved for the likes of ad agencies and commercial-level campaigns feels like a bygone of a pre-pandemic, web 2.0 era.

The shift into the next era of the internet will require (almost) everyone to be ‘creative.’ Or at least some version of it. 

Small businesses building digital brands are creatives. Public speakers looking to reach more people online are creatives. In a world where the type of creative work we do isn’t siloed to one category — like copywriting, art directing, designing, or editing — being a ‘creative’ now requires a level of problem-solving that brings together all the categories.

’Til then, I bid you a happy end to your 7/11! With a Slurpee in hand, let’s get into the important stuff creators to know this week.

In this edition:

  • Instagram rolls out Live Producer
  • Twitter tests “CoTweets” which lets two people tweet together
  • TikTok launches free marketing series for small business owners
  • Top 6 tips for building your personal brand on social
  • How to use Facebook’s ad library for creative inspiration
  • Elon Musk just ignited a legal war with Twitter (and what it means for creators)
  • Keeping tabs on Twitter Notes
  • Our web3 project, The Battle Bunnies, starts minting THIS WEEK!

the socialverse

The latest social media stories and updates we’re keeping a pulse on.

Instagram (finally) gives us a way to livestream with third-party software

Big deal for Live creators! Up until now, you could only go live on Instagram using your phone.

The new Instagram Live Producer (only available on Instagram.com) allows for multi-camera streams with graphics using third party software on a desktop. The feature supports streaming from OBS, Streamlabs, StreamYard, and more.

READ MORE


Twitter tests “CoTweets,” which lets users co-author tweets

Twitter is testing CoTweets for a limited time to learn how people will use the feature — but only select accounts currently have access. For those who do, the feature appears in Twitter composer via pop-up, prompting to “tweet together with CoTweets.”

Here’s what it looks like:

I see this playing out similar to how Instagram collaboration posts work. It ensures the messaging is consistent from both authors (which is key if you’re launching a campaign together) and gives added visibility to both authors.

There are definitely use cases for this function — from legitimizing partnerships to getting more eyeballs on a tweet — if it rolls out to all users.

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TikTok launches free marketing how-to series for small business owners

TikTok is calling it the “Follow Me” experience, and it’s a free email series that offers coaching from TikTok pros, resources, giveaways, and other learning opportunities for small businesses looking to grow on TikTok.

Pro tip: Learning directly from the source (like TikTok or Meta) is one of the best ways to up your growth game, especially since social platforms are able to continually update information and share unique insights about how the algorithm works.

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the secret sauce

Tips, tools, and how-to’s for thriving digitally.

6 ways to build your personal brand on social media

A concise, relevant list, courtesy of Personal Branding Blog.

Keep these top of mind as you’re growing, especially in today’s social media ecosystem (which values authenticity, consistency, and best practices above all else).

  1. Keep your branding consistent
  2. Increase your content variety
  3. Analyze influencers (and learn from their approach)
  4. Leverage your social analytics
  5. Never stop engaging with your followers or viewers
  6. Participate in online discussion forums

READ MORE


Need creative ad inspo? Don’t forget about Facebook Ad Library

Sometimes the thing we’re looking for is right in front of us. If you’re running Meta ads (Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook) and running short on inspiration, pop on over to the ad library.

  • Type in your competition
  • If they’re running ads, they’ll show up
  • Filter it by the type of ad — or view them all

Happy sleuthing, you creative genius!

what we’re keeping a pulse on

Topics & trends to keep you in the loop.

Twitter is calling Elon Musk’s bluff — but it likely won’t mean anything for creators

ICYMI: Elon Musk is done with Twitter — but Twitter isn’t letting him off easy. Musk’s legal team filed an official bid to terminate his $44B deal to buy the company last week, but Twitter board member Bret Taylor tweeted that Twitter is “committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement.” All of which is to say, there are two potential outcomes:

  • Outcome 1: The legal battles ensue and, after lengthy and expensive reparations are made, Musk gets out of the deal.
  • Outcome 2: Musk gets stuck with the deal and, by some fluke in the universe, becomes the Twitter boss. This is the least likely scenario, and the one that would have the most implications for content creators on Twitter. We’ll cross that bridge when (if) we get there.

For now, you can file away the great Musk Twitter Trials as a “big picture” lesson learned on corporate bluffing.

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Keep an eye out: Twitter’s long-form ‘Notes’

Twitter recently announced it’s testing a new built-in “Notes” feature to allow for long-form written content beyond the 280-character word limit for tweets. The idea is that these “Notes” can be tweeted out like you would an article, but would open to a window with all the text on one page (like a blog post, or like the Twitter Blue feed reader option).

What to expect from Twitter Notes when it gets a wider roll-out:

  • A rich-text editor that allows users to bold, italicise and format text
  • Featured image or “thumbnail”
  • The visible part of the Note is limited to 100 characters
  • Body section up to 2,500 words

READ MORE


Our web3 project starts minting this week! Yes, there are NFTs — but there’s a whole lot more

Around here, we’ve been talking about web3 and the world of digital collectibles — but we’ve been even busier building in it. We’ll drop a lot more info on what The Battle Bunnies is all about from our POV soon. But for now, here’s what you need to know:

  • The Battle Bunnies is the world’s first storytelling NFT franchise brought to life through a series of collectible NFTs (non-fungible tokens)
  • Created by legendary tattoo artists Frank & Christa La Natra in creative partnership with Food Fight Studios (that’s us!)
  • Series 1 of the 5,000 NFT collection launches next week (following the sellout of our Genesis collection back in March)
  • Learn more about the project in GitBook or join our Discord to get all the first-hand details
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Taylor Peterson

Based in New York, Taylor is a digital strategist and creator bringing marketing expertise in creative production and agency advertising for global brands. She likes her coffee strong and adjectives stronger.