Selling on social media just got easier 🛍

Hi there, 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers and brands had to quickly shift to online shopping. According to Facebook, an estimated 85% of people worldwide now shop online.

Whether you’ve jumped on that bandwagon or not, many will say that exploring online shopping through social media might the difference between businesses that make it and those that don't. That’s definitely what Facebook thinks too, which is why they’re rolling out a dedicated shopping tab, and expanding Shops and Instagram Checkout to all US businesses.

In addition to this news from Facebook, you’ll also read more about how travel brands are using Pinterest to inspire travel again, TikTok’s user counts, and Twitter’s experiment with adding “Quotes” count to tweets.

Ready to dive in? Let’s do it! 👇

• Facebook is bringing Facebook News to more countries
• Pinterest tops 400 million monthly active users—with Gen Z, men and Millennials driving growth
• Twitter experiments with adding a ‘Quotes’ count to tweets
• Instagram Guides may soon allow creators to recommended places, products and more
• What’s trending: Experts decode Gen Z
• Facebook updates Messenger Rooms as Zoom sits at top of the App Store
• Reddit reports 18% drop in hateful comments after a recent change in their enforcement approach
• 15 Instagram Reels statistics you need to know
• TikTok shares their official user counts as discussions continue on takeover bids
• TikTok faces restrictions in UK and launches new 'Not Going Anywhere' merchandise

Instagram Checkout is available to all eligible businesses and creators in the US

Shopping on Instagram just got easier. Instagram Checkout, which lets you buy and sell products directly within the app, is now available to all eligible businesses and creators in the US. To use the service, businesses must have a shop in the app and use Facebook Commerce Manager or e-commerce platforms Shopify and BigCommerce.

From now through the end of the year, selling fees are being waived in an effort to help businesses reduce costs during the pandemic.

Takeaway: In an effort to embrace the rapid shift to online shopping that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook wants to make shopping easier for everyone by expanding its Shop features. 

How travel brands are using Pinterest to inspire travel again

According to Pinterest, interest in travel is increasing as more people are looking forward to future travel opportunities and more travelers are passing through U.S. airports. To appeal to customers that are looking to travel in the near future, many brands are using Pinterest to inspire travel again. These brands are shifting away from deals and promotions, choosing to focus instead on current health and safety recommendations, virtual travel experiences, and dream vacations—so they’ll be top of mind when things go back to normal. 

Takeaway: Since an interest in travel has resurged, Pinterest has released some tips that brands can use to connect with travelers, such as personalizing your brand’s messages based on people’s passions and sharing current health and safety recommendations. 

A faster way for Instagram fans to get to your website

There’s nothing worse than a page that’s slow to load when you’re trying to help customers into your online store. That’s why we’ve made a couple of technical tweaks to Shop Grid landing pages so that they load up in a snap.

That’s all for this week!

Wishing you a relaxing weekend and a productive next week. If you have a suggestion for this newsletter, I’m all ears! You can DM me on Twitter or reply to this email. 

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