In the ever-changing world of social media, The Social Sparq Plug is your one-stop-shop for all things digital marketing. Each week, our online marketing team meets to discuss the latest trends and updates happening on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube, Pinterest and beyond.

We’ve aggregated the best creative and noteworthy news and campaigns from the past week. Here’s the hot take from the minds of our online marketers!

Social Media Updates You Need To Know This Week

Twitter is making it easier to report attempts to mislead voters which includes the spread of disinformation about how to vote or register to vote, voting requirements and the date of an election. A new “report an issue” menu appears when users report a tweet. From there, users can provide an explanation of the violation at hand.

Next, Snapchat announced a new ad buying platform called “Snap select” which allows brands to purchase ads without an auction. It gives the brands a fixed rate and guarantees on audience size so that advertisers can plan effective campaigns.

3 Creative “Sparqs” To Get Your Imagination Flowing

Okay we poppin’ champagne like we…are just casually perusing the street? That’s right.

French champagne brand Moet & Chandon released a vending machine that dispenses a personal serving size of their bubbly. While we’ve seen chic insta-worthy dispensers before much like the Sprinkles Cupcakes’s ATM, this one doubles as a video/photo booth allowing you to share experiences at the time of purchase. Talk about an everyday celebration.

The Avenger’s: Endgame release social media brand partnerships were out in full force, but none compared to the awareness campaign implemented by Google. By Google searching the word Thanos, users could click on the Infinity Gauntlet icon to cause it to snap. Once it does, your Google Search result page played a little animation that turns half of all the search results to dust. This quirky campaign removes spoilers, deceased characters, and is a hidden reference. At the end of Avengers: Infinity War where Mad Titan, Thanos snaps his fingers and eliminating half of all living beings. See for yourself.

Is the Instagram Aesthetic Over?

This week we debated over an enticing article claiming that the end was near for the sought-after influencer feed curated by millions of influencers with artfully arranged flat lays and millennial pink. The online marketing team determined the claim had a lot to do with influencer and consumer age. Younger social media influencers and consumers care less about the feed aesthetic and more about the authenticity of the content. “For my generation, people are more willing to be who they are and not make up a fake identity,” Resse Blutshein, a 22-year old influencer said. “We are trying to show a real person doing cool things as a real person, not trying to create a persona that isn’t actually you.”

What’s a Power Middle?

Power middle refers to the influencers who have graduated from being a micro-influencer but are not yet considered a social media celebrity (typically between 10-250k followers). Power middle influencers generally have better engagement rates than mega influencers and often get more partnerships because of it.

Join us on Mondays to hear what brands are ‘sparqing’ our creativity, how algorithms have changed, and the bullet points on what you need to change in your marketing strategy to get your clients the best return on their investment. For last week’s Sparq Social Plug head here.