Inclusive Marketing News Roundup #13: Instagram’s New Algorithm Prioritises Original Content

Welcome to this week’s roundup of the latest news in the marketing world with a touch of inclusion and diversity! In this week’s inclusive marketing news round up, we tell you about the latest Instagram update that prioritises emerging and original content, we explain how you can get up to $5k from posting on Threads, and go through some of our favourite marketing campaigns, including Specsavers and IKEA.

If you want to be like these brands, and be known for your amazing inclusive work, or you want to start your inclusion journey, contact us today.

British Teen Becomes First Person with Down Syndrome to Complete a Marathon

Lloyd Martin, 19, set a Guinness World Record as the youngest person in his category to finish a marathon, completing the London Marathon a few weeks ago in 6:46:10. His athletic background and training with his mum, an experienced marathoner, helped him achieve his milestone. 

Even though it was his first time running 26.2 miles, Lloyd has done more than 30 parkruns, and he’s also an accomplished gymnast and soccer player who has competed with Special Olympics in Britain, earning a gold medal in the gymnastics vault event at the British Disability Championships last October.

Lloyd poses for a photo with his medal for completing the London Marathon.

Source: runnersworld.com

Meta Offers $5K Bonus for Influencers to Post on Threads

Meta is offering financial incentives to high profile creators to post on its Threads app, with potential payouts up to $5,000 if they get more than 10,000 views for a single post. The programme is invite-only and part of Meta’s efforts to boost engagement and attract more users to Threads.

After gaining 20 million users since February, and reaching 150 million monthly active users, it makes sense that Meta is putting a lot of effort into keeping the growth momentum on its latest social media platform.

A screen from the Threads app showing that the user can earn up to $5,000 for posting on Threads.

Source: socialmediatoday.com

Brighton Boxing Club Makes Sport Accessible

Brighton and Hove Boxing Gym’s adaptive boxing programme, led by Kieran Green with support from the WBC, is gaining popularity. With participants like Johnny from Kent, finding it a great stress reliever, while Victoria advocates for similar programs elsewhere to challenge stereotypes.

The programme offers safe and fun boxing sessions for Disabled people, like wheelchair users and those with Parkinson’s. Green is excited about the future, and aims to expand it regionally, hoping it becomes a Paralympic sport.

Two manual wheelchair users in a boxing ring, competing in an adaptive boxing match against each other.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Updates for Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Meta has updated its Ray-Ban smart glasses, with its main new feature being multimodal AI that offers real-time information and hands-free translations. The glasses will also be getting new styles, and live video calling connectivity via Meta’s messaging apps, in fact, users in the US and Canada can now make video calls via WhatsApp and Messenger.

These upgrades are not only great news from an accessibility perspective, but they also reflect the evolving trend of wearables and AR devices, positioning Meta’s glasses as part of the tech wearables future.

Product photograph of the new Meta Smart Glasses in a star pattern.

Source: socialmediatoday.com

Boy And His Dog Appear in Beano Special Edition

A young boy named Alex, from Sutton Coldfield, and his guide dog, Chance, are featuring in a special Beano edition about visual impairments. Their story aims to educate and raise awareness in a fun way.

Seven-year-old Alex contracted meningitis at three weeks old, which led to him being diagnosed with bilateral optic atrophy at the age of four, which means his optic nerve has been damaged. This has led to both vision problems and a developmental delay with his speech.

The famous comic’s edition is a collaboration with charity, Guide Dogs, and is called Beano Presents – A Buddy for Life. This collaboration hopes to inspire empathy and understanding for people with visual impairments.

Illustration showing Alex, a boy with his guide dog, surrounded by Beano characters to show the collaboration between Beano and Guide Dogs.

Source: birminghammail.co.uk

Instagram Updates Feed Algorithm to Prioritise Original and Emerging Creators

Instagram has announced a major algorithm update, designed to help ensure that original content gets more traction, as opposed to those who repost someone else’s work, while also giving smaller accounts more opportunity.

The update consists of four key elements:

  1. Removing aggregator accounts from recommendations
  2. Adding labels to reposted content
  3. Replacing reposts with original content in recommendations
  4. Smaller creators will get more distribution
Screenshots from Instagram showing changes to the algorithm and what content people are shown.

Source: socialmediatoday.com

Campaign Spotlight: Specsavers

Specsavers staged a stunt in Edinburgh where their van was placed on a rising bollard, aligning with their ’Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ campaign. As always, we love the brand’s humorous approach to marketing, whilst also highlighting the importance of proper eyewear.

The rear of a Specsavers van rests on top of a rising bollard in an Edinburgh high street at night.

Source: marketing-beat.co.uk

Campaign Spotlight: IKEA

IKEA’s new campaign with INGO shows everyday items broken by pets by highlighting the affordability of its products. It reassures customers that replacements are affordable and promotes a new collection for pets. A very smart campaign from IKEA with the best cast 🐶

A Dalmatian looks too happy with itself after knocking over and breaking a vase. The IKEA campaign assures us though that it is very affordable and can be replaced.

Source: lbbonline.com

Conclusion

Make sure to come back to check our bi-weekly news recap with the latest inclusive updates in the marketing and social media worlds. And follow us on social media for more inclusive content!

That’s all for this week, but don’t forget to follow us on LinkedInInstagram and TikTok for more news and exciting content.

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