Social media is ever-evolving, and significant changes often come without much warning. If you don’t log in on a regular basis or are not active in social media management, you’ll likely find familiar processes rearranged. Luckily for you, we’ve been keeping up with the developments on all the major platforms over the last few months. Here’s what you need to know about the top four.
Still number one. It wasn’t too long ago that popular outlets were pondering Facebook’s demise, predicting users would jump ship to fresher platforms. In May the company reported 1.28 billion daily active users, most coming from outside the U.S. and Canada, so it’s safe to say that they’ll be dominating the conversation for the foreseeable future. No brand can ignore the paid social media advertising opportunities here, and the skill with which marketers engage their audience will determine success.
Reactions overtake likes. According to Search Engine Journal, you’re missing the mark by ignoring Reactions. These new emotions (Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry) give users a nuanced way to engage with the content in their feed that a simple “like” doesn’t do. They also signal to Facebook the content they want to see more. When designing the feed algorithm, Facebook prioritizes the user experience, and users want less promotional content. This means no matter how many likes you’ve worked to accrue if your audience doesn’t engage with your content they don’t see it. Let these new emotions guide future content plans.
Improved analytics update. We know that good data is the basis of digital marketing victory, helping us optimize our campaigns and increase click rates. At F8, Facebook’s 2-day conference in April, Zuckerberg announced analytic reports will now include engagement and reactions. AdEspresso reported that advertisers can now see a direct line from product posted on their Page to website views or in-app purchases. Custom dashboards will display key metrics on one screen for a clutter-free report. Rejoice for improved measurement tools!
Instagram is continuing to expand at a record pace. In March the platform announced it has 1 million active advertisers and over 8 million businesses are reaching their audience with a business profile. These are not only fashion boutiques and food blogs. Even B2Bs like Mailchimp and Kaspersky Lab are finding creative ways to entertain and add value. If your business is not active on Instagram, it’s time to ask yourself why not.
Clickable ads are coming to Stories. The “link in bio” caption may soon be a thing of the past. Adage reported that the Internet’s favorite photo sharing app is now selling direct response ads that will appear within the Stories feed. Until now businesses have been using Stories, Facebook’s Snapchat clone, for live-streaming and capturing behind-the-scenes footage that engages their audience. According to Marketing Land, advertisers can now use the feature to fulfill objectives such as driving website traffic, e-commerce purchases or video views.
e-Commerce becomes a little easier. Since the fall Instagram has been testing Shopping Tags, a feature which will allow brands to tag products in their posts with pricing information. Visitors can tap images they like and visit a website when they’re ready to buy. Mega-brands like kate spade new york and Warby Parker are already using the feature. According to their blog, “thousands of businesses that sell apparel, jewelry or beauty products” will soon have access. The insights of these posts will be gold for many a retailer as they create content that sells.
New DM warning. Be it celebrities, politicians, or CMOs, direct messaging fails have been creating PR nightmares since Twitter’s beginning. In an attempt to combat its culture for career-ending posts, the service will now display a warning to mobile users who begin a reply with “DM.” “You’re tweeting this,” it alerts “anything you send from the Tweet compose field will now be sent like any other tweet.” Let’s hope the warning saves a few would-be victims in the future.
More transparency for user data. In the service’s May update, users can now see what information Twitter stores and topics advertisers think they may be interested. Users can edit interests that are misaligned or topics they don’t want to see advertised. You can check to see if you have this ability on mobile by navigating in the app to Settings and privacy > Account > Your Twitter data. Check this right now and know that your followers will do the same.
The new to reply. “Give us an edit feature,” said almost every user familiar with Twitter. Instead of honoring this request, Dorsey & Co. repeatedly give their users updates that they didn’t ask for and often dislike. The big news after the platform’s March update is that replies no longer count against the usual 140-character limit. On a platform where space is at a premium, this should be a gift from the Twitter gods. But as Mashable reported, trolls wasted no time adding as many users as possible to a reply, annoying everyone in the process.
Youtube
A new ad threshold for Youtube. According to Search Engine Journal, Google is working overtime to ensure ads are not displaying alongside controversial videos. The company will now block ads on channels with fewer than 10,000 total views. The company lost millions in revenue earlier this spring when top brands including AT&T and Verizon discovered their ads next to videos promoting terrorism.
That’s all for now, but there’s breaking social media news around every corner. What are some updates you’ve been following? Are there any platform features you’d like to see by year’s end? Send us your suggestions at blog@amahouston.org.