Social Media Updates for Sporting Businesses and Events: What You Need to Know
In the fast-paced world of social media, keeping up with the latest platform updates is crucial for sporting businesses and events. From enhanced engagement tools to new advertising formats, each platform is continuously evolving. Here’s a breakdown of recent changes across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) that can help your sports brand or event get ahead in digital marketing.
Facebook Updates
Worth Knowing
Meta has signed a new music licensing deal with Universal Music Group. This opens up more possibilities for incorporating music in your brand’s content across Facebook and Instagram.
Meta now lets you add up to 10 Facebook and Instagram accounts in the Business Suite, streamlining account management for brands with multiple profiles. If you want to know more, you can read about it here.
Meta is developing “Business AIs” to handle transactional engagement, helping automate customer interactions and support. If you want to discover more about Business AI, you can here.
New Features/Updates
Facebook is experimenting with a dedicated video feed, similar to what we see on Instagram and TikTok, perfect for video-heavy sporting content. Is this the right move for the platform? Join the debate here.
Facebook now allows pages to have two CTA buttons, making it easier for users to take action like buying tickets or signing up for events.
You can now edit Facebook Reels even after posting. This feature is helpful when making last-minute updates to event promotions or game highlights. Check out how you can do that here.
Instagram Updates
Worth Knowing
Overlay ads, available in two formats—single image and image carousel—are now active on Instagram Reels. These ads appear as banners at the bottom during Reels playback, offering a non-intrusive way to promote sports merchandise or events. You can learn how to implement these here.
New Features/Updates
Instagram is experimenting with vertical profile grids, which could change the way your profile looks. This is a great opportunity to showcase your fitness programs, sports events, or client testimonials in a more dynamic, mobile-friendly layout.
Being able to sort content by the number of shares helps you identify what resonates most with your audience. For sports and health brands, you can easily see which workouts, nutrition tips, or inspirational posts are being shared the most, allowing you to double down on high-performing content. Read more about how this impacts the Instagram feed.
Conversely, you now have the option to hide the share count on your Reels. If you’re experimenting with new content or promoting specific services, this feature can help reduce the pressure of immediate performance, allowing you to focus on the quality of engagement rather than just numbers.
The platform now supports 3-minute Reels and displays the trending status of the music used. These tools help you create compelling, long-form content, perfect for capturing entire plays, match recaps, or event highlights. Learn more about trending music here.
Instagram has extended the length of Reels to 3 minutes. This is perfect for sharing longer workout sessions, detailed health advice, or behind-the-scenes footage of your sporting events or health programs, giving your audience more valuable content.
You can now choose to display your Reels on both your main profile grid and the Reels grid, or just the Reels grid alone. This flexibility allows sports and health businesses to keep their profiles clean and focused while still using Reels to promote content like workout challenges or event highlights. Choosing which allows you to be more bespoke in your grid offering, learn more about it here.
Instagram has introduced a dedicated ‘Notes’ feed for Reels. This is a great way to leave quick tips, motivation quotes, or short updates related to health and fitness, giving your audience another reason to engage with your content
Instagram is working on a new ‘Pics Please’ sticker, which will encourage users to share their own photos. This can be a powerful tool for building community engagement, especially if you’re running a fitness challenge or health campaign where user-generated content can help spread the word. Learn more about harnessing this new tool here.
Instagram has increased the carousel limit from 10 to 20 photos or videos. Now you can pack even more content into a single post, whether it’s a detailed breakdown of a fitness regimen, a step-by-step healthy recipe, or a recap of a sporting event. Pick up the information about new carousels here.
Instagram now allows you to retrospectively add collaborators on older posts. This is perfect if you’ve partnered with other brands, fitness influencers, or health professionals. You can now easily share credit on past collaborations, amplifying your reach. Learn more about this update for your channel here.
Instagram is testing a new “Friend Map” feature, similar to Snapchat’s map feature. For businesses, this could open up location-based marketing, allowing local gyms, health clinics, and sports teams to promote events or services based on where followers are. Find out more about this new update here.
Instagram rolled out new sorting options for DMs, including filters for unread, verified, businesses, and more. This is a game-changer for managing conversations with sponsors, fans, and athletes. Learn more about improved DMs here.
Instagram is now showing Story Highlights between regular feed posts. This can make your most engaging content more discoverable, helping you extend the life of your top-performing stories, like client testimonials or important health tips. Want to see more about stories? You can here.
Instagram is testing a new “Profile Card,” a simplified way to share your profile compared to the old QR code or sticker method. This is a more streamlined way for health and sports businesses to connect with clients or event attendees, especially when networking at events or conferences.
TikTok Updates
TikTok continues to expand its presence across Europe, showing consistent growth. For sports and health businesses, this means a rapidly growing audience that can be tapped into for marketing and engagement, especially if you’re targeting younger demographics.
A recent study highlights that about half of TikTok users under 30 are turning to the platform to stay updated on politics and current events. This presents a valuable opportunity for you to share relevant news, fitness trends, and industry updates, positioning your business as a thought leader in the space. Learn more about the demographics of users here.
- Holiday Shopping Guide and Trends Report for 2024
TikTok has released its 2024 holiday shopping guide, aimed at helping marketers plan campaigns for the festive season.
- It’s also published the latest “What’s Next?” shopping trends report
Learn more about “What’s Next?” here.
Both resources are excellent tools for sports and health businesses looking to maximize their holiday marketing efforts. From fitness gear to health supplements, aligning your campaigns with trending shopping behaviours can boost your holiday sales.
TikTok’s new App Centre is designed to connect businesses with useful tools, helping brands streamline their operations and marketing efforts on the platform. For you, this could include tools for managing campaigns, analysing data, or improving user engagement.
Key Features and Updates for Businesses
- First Comment Label: TikTok now labels the ‘First comment’ on videos, which can be a unique opportunity for your brand to stand out in conversations or respond quickly to potential customers.
- Reposts Tab on Desktop: TikTok has added a Reposts tab to profiles on desktop, making it easier for businesses to track content reposts and gauge what resonates with their audience.
- Partnership with Eventbrite: TikTok has partnered with Eventbrite, simplifying event promotion and ticket sales on the platform. This means that you can now seamlessly promote events like fitness classes, webinars, or workshops, while driving ticket sales directly through TikTok. This could be a game changer for event sign up.
LinkedIn Updates
New Features/Updates
LinkedIn has launched in-feed video carousels, a feature that lets users scroll through video content. Use this to showcase multiple aspects of your sporting event or offer detailed athlete introductions. See more about LinkedIn Carousels here.
LinkedIn’s improved search now makes it easier to find posts, even without hashtags. This makes content discovery smoother, allowing your event updates or sponsorship posts to reach the right audience. Want to know how this will impact you, read on here.
- Sponsored Newsletters Expansion
LinkedIn is expanding its sponsored newsletters to include those created by other users, allowing brands to tap into thought leadership and industry news within the sporting world.
X (Twitter) Updates
Worth Knowing
- User Decline in Europe
X is experiencing a decline in user numbers in Europe. This could present an opportunity for sporting brands to invest in niche, targeted campaigns for dedicated followers but it might be worth considering moving across to another platform like TikTok if you’re ideal audience are also leaving X.
X recently faced a backlash for placing ads for major brands next to controversial content. Ensure your campaigns are carefully monitored to avoid similar issues. Learn more about these ad placements here.
New Features/Updates
X is working on a new video conferencing tool that could potentially be used for fan Q&A sessions, virtual meet-and-greets with athletes, or live streaming post-game discussions.
For Verified Organisations, X is developing advanced business insights, helping sports brands analyse their audience demographics and engagement more effectively. What business insights are they providing? Learn more here.
Staying ahead of social media trends is critical for any sporting business or event looking to succeed in today’s competitive environment. From optimising Reels on Instagram to utilising new video features on LinkedIn, these updates provide a plethora of opportunities for better audience engagement and more effective digital marketing strategies.
Be sure to explore how each of these new features can benefit your brand’s online presence and help you reach your event goals.