Here’s everything you need to know to stay ahead of the social media curve and dominate your strategy.

Quick Answer

LinkedIn’s fresh new updates include chat functionality, where brands can now have conversations with clients through their LinkedIn pages. Short-form video content also makes its way onto the platform with a dedicated video tab. Telegram Business also launches with business accounts. Owners can pay a monthly fee to customise their chats based on their branding. Facebook also updated its analytics, removing page-level engagement metrics such as Comments, Shares, and Other Positive Feedback.

On shopping habits, Singaporeans turn to social media as their go-to shopping channel, and Instagram excels in this category.

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Previously available only to select users in 2023, LinkedIn has announced a wider rollout of its chat functionality. This means all brands can now directly have two-way conversations with their clients through their LinkedIn page, enhancing engagement and lead generation.

…and there’s more! Short-form video content — on LinkedIn?

You may have to make big changes to your LinkedIn strategy — the platform is experimenting with a dedicated video tab where users can view short-form video content. Though most likely, this may be limited to career-related content.

This can be another way to boost engagement and discovery through content like product explainers, career development, or employee Day In The Life videos. 

This feature is still in its early testing phase, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Users can now turn their accounts into business accounts. Business owners can pay a monthly fee to display their opening hours and location, label chats by colour, customise start pages, and utilise common chat features such as chatbot support and quick replies. 

With this major move, Telegram is taking on Meta’s messaging giants, WhatsApp and Messenger. Some key differences? Its subscription-based model and set-up convenience are perfect for small businesses and solopreneurs who don’t have a dedicated Facebook page or business mobile number.

This is also part of the platform’s bigger push for profitability. With over 900 million users, the app's founder has announced they expect to turn a profit by 2025. One way they hope to achieve this is through subscriptions to Telegram Premium, a service offering extra features for a monthly fee.

Social media will be Singaporeans’ go-to shopping channel this year, as reported by Hubspot. As 85% of Singapore’s population is on social media, we can expect them to bypass third-party sites and brand websites, in favour of buying directly from brands’ social media.

Among these platforms, Instagram reigns supreme, offering the highest return on investment (ROI) for social commerce campaigns.

Other takeaways from the report include:

Pay attention to community. Marketers in Singapore believe fostering active online communities is key to success. This includes encouraging user-generated content and improving customer experience to build trust and brand loyalty

It’s time to have funny, short-form videos: Among the most popular formats used by marketers, short-form videos had the most ROI. Under this, the top content types are funny content, interactive content (polls/games), and relatable content, meaning brands have to lean into authentic, less-edited content to earn trust and credibility.

AI is the new game-changer. Social media marketers view AI as a game-changer, with many already using it to create content. Many use generative AI to repurpose content, write copy, and generate content ideas, allowing them to scale up content creation more quickly.

On 14 March and 19 April, Facebook removed several page-level engagement metrics from their API and their native reporting to remove metrics that are not widely used. Some notable ones that were deprecated were page-level Comments, Shares, and Other Positive Feedback. 

What does this mean and who does this affect? Simply put, marketers will no longer be able to access these metrics whether in the native platform or via third-party tools. While this will not affect the day-to-day of a regular Facebook user, it may affect how third-party tools compute for various KPIs at the Page-level. 

That’s all for now! Watch out for the next Social Buzz Report from Hashtag Interactive for more valuable social media news and updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can brands engage with clients on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn has rolled out chat functionality, allowing brands to conduct direct, two-way conversations with clients through their pages to improve engagement and lead generation.

2. What is Telegram Business?

Telegram Business allows owners to convert accounts into business profiles for a monthly fee. This feature provides tools like custom start pages, chat labeling, and quick replies to manage business interactions effectively.

3. Which social media platform is preferred for retail in Singapore?

Social media is the go-to shopping channel for Singaporeans, and Instagram currently reigns supreme for social commerce campaigns due to its high return on investment.

Key Takeaways

• LinkedIn Chat & Video Updates: LinkedIn has expanded its chat functionality, allowing all brands to conduct two-way conversations directly with clients. Additionally, the platform is testing a dedicated video tab for short-form content, which could require adjustments to current content strategies.
• Launch of Telegram Business: Telegram has introduced business accounts, allowing owners to pay a monthly fee for professional features like custom start pages, chat labeling, and quick replies. 
• Social Commerce in Singapore: Singaporeans increasingly favor social media as their primary shopping channel, often bypassing traditional brand websites. Instagram remains the top platform for social commerce, delivering the highest return on investment for marketers.
• Essential Marketing Strategies: Success in the Singaporean market relies on fostering active online communities and prioritizing authentic, less-edited short-form video content, such as funny or relatable clips. Furthermore, marketers are increasingly leveraging generative AI to scale content creation, repurpose existing material, and generate new ideas.
• Changes to Facebook Analytics: Facebook has deprecated several page-level engagement metrics, including Comments, Shares, and Other Positive Feedback, from its API and native reporting. While this change does not impact typical users, it may affect how third-party tools calculate KPIs at the page level.