Kettle boiled? Check.
Ready to learn? Check.
Biscuits at the ready? Check.
That’s how you know you’re back for another Tea & Trends.
We’re bringing together some of the most impactful trends and updates in digital each month so you don’t have to, putting a focus on one of our sector specialties: pubs and restaurants.
Of course, these trends and tips could apply to any brand, really, so stay open-minded and creative! Oh, and don’t miss out on last month’s Tea & Trends
Now let’s get into it before your brew goes cold. Here’s everything you need to know from July 2022…
1. CoTweets in testing: Ready to write tweets together?
“CoTweets” are now being tested by select accounts in Canada, Korea, and the US. This feature allows users to co-author tweets, with both users appearing as the people who wrote the tweet together – although it’s likely that only one person actively writes the tweet.
Twitter are seeing how this performs in these countries before seeing whether it should be rolled out globally. A spokesperson for Twitter shared, “We’re continuing to explore new ways for people to collaborate on Twitter. We’re testing CoTweets for a limited time to learn how people and brands may use this feature to grow and reach new audiences, and strengthen their collaborations with other accounts.”
How to make these work for your pub or restaurant:
If you have multiple pubs or restaurants in a chain, or perhaps even team members who feel comfortable being the faces of your brand on Twitter, this feature could be used to show off your approachable culture or even build awareness for multiple locations within one tweet.
For example, @pub1 & @pub2 tweeted:
“Sun’s out, buns out… Who’s coming round for burgers in our beer garden?”
2. Meta tries to entice creators with “Stars” on more formats.
Facebook Stars, now simply called, “Stars,” have been around for a while, but Meta is now making them available across more formats on both Meta and Instagram, including Facebook Live and Reels. This is to encourage more creators to use their platform to reach their audience—especially in live format—such as those often seen on platforms like Twitch.
These Stars are purchased with real-world money and can be sent to your favourite creators as a way of supporting their channel or content. Each Star amounts to 1p.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
If you have someone who feels comfortable in front of the camera and is willing to show behind the scenes of your pub or restaurant, they could create on-demand content, as voted for by your audience, and supported via Stars.
This may only bring in a small additional stream of revenue, but it’s a fun incentive for your team to jump on a Live, build awareness of your brand, and could bump up everyone’s tips at the end of the day.
3. Will all videos on Instagram become Reels?
First noticed in April 2022, Instagram has been sharing Reels ‘Templates’ for users to quickly create video content in a certain style or format. Over time, it has been rolling these templates out to more users, and has even been adding more templates recently.
Instagram REELS announced a new feature! “Use as template” allows user to replace the clips with your own and it will match the time stamps of the template reel. Let me know what you think of this feature. Does this make you want to create more reels? pic.twitter.com/rLMJAX89jG
— Jo Millie (@JosephineMedia) March 26, 2022
But that’s not all… They’ve also been turning all videos into Reels for select users, attempting to make Reels the only video format available on the platform. This seems like the natural progression with a platform that’s trying to keep up with the runaway success of TikTok, where Reels-esque video content is the only format available.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
If you’re all over TikTok, just bring that same energy over to Instagram, where similar video formats are likely to be pushed harder by the platform. If not, that’s fine, too – but you need to be aware that in the near future, square video footage may disappear from Instagram in favour of the portrait-only Reels.
4. TikTok tests dedicated Shopping Feed in Indonesia.
A new ‘Shop’ tab is being tested in Indonesia, where it can be seen that the shop is being given as much priority in the nav bar as the “Following” and “For You” feeds, hinting at the future important of eCommerce for the platform.
The cart in the top right also indicates that you may be able to drop items into your basket as your scroll… We might be about to enter a new era of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.
This evolutions aims to improve the platform’s creator monetisation potential, which currently lags behind YouTube and Instagram and may see creators reverting back to these platforms in the long-run.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
Nothing to do just yet, unless you’re lucky enough to be running a pub in Indonesia?!
Just keep an eye on this one, and get ready to sell anything you already sell on a new platform – e.g., beers, kegs, coasters, pub merch, and so on!
5. Twitter rolls out “unmention” feature – remove yourself from the conversation!
Sometimes you want to see yourself out.
Take control of your mentions and leave a conversation with Unmentioning, now rolling out to everyone on all devices. pic.twitter.com/Be8BlotElX
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 11, 2022
This one goes out to the introverts in the crowd… Twitter is rolling out the ability to “unmention” yourself, meaning that you can remove yourself from any conversation including your Twitter handle.
If you’ve been tagged in a conversation you never wanted to be in, or just need the constant notifications to end, you can remove yourself. Your username will be untagged, you won’t get any more notifications, and no-one can tag you back into the thread. Result.
Dates to keep in mind for August marketing!
5th: Premier League starts
Until 7th: Commonwealth Games
9th: Afternoon Tea Week begins!
13th: National Prosecco Day
26th: National Dog Day
26-28th: Belgian Grand Prix
29th: Bank Holiday
Planning your August 2022 marketing: What should you focus on now?
Effective marketing is all about planning ahead, so where should your mind be as we head into July? Well, here’s what we’re starting to think about now:
- Commonwealth Games: There’s one week left of the Commonwealth Games, and is there anything better than watching people at the top of their game while getting into a beer and some pub grub? Doubt it. Make sure people know where to find you.
- New starts: September is a month of new starts, whether it’s the start of a new school year, or young adults moving away to university for the first time. Aim to get families in for a celebratory meal with a few posts that pull at their heart-strings.
- Christmas?!: This one isn’t going anywhere. All the big pub and restaurants brands are into Phase 2 of Christmas promotion, pulling in those early bookers with multiple festive menus and reasons to visit. Don’t get left behind…
Finish your brew…
That’s all for this month, but we’ll be back again at the end of August for another Tea & Trends, keeping you at the forefront of digital, from brand websites to social media innovation and everything in-between.