Social media can mean many things to many people, but it’s without a doubt an important tool for your business. It’s inexpensive, engaging, and can be fun if done in the right way. Staying up to date on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms allows you the opportunity to build a relationship and connect with your target audience.
These channels are always releasing updates and making improvements to their features and usability. If you’re not keeping up, you could be missing something that would be beneficial for your business. Here, we’ll detail some of the most recent updates on various social media channels.
Instagram – Taking Away Likes?
Earlier this year, rumors were spreading that Instagram would be taking “likes” away. It turned out to be accurate but is currently only being tested in Canada. It’s not quite as big of a sweep as you might think; likes still exist, but your followers won’t be able to see how many your post has in total. Instead, they will only see a list of what users liked the post.
Account owners will still be able to see the total number of likes on their end, and thus keep measuring the success of their content that way. However, this removal of likes also pushes business owners to look at other essential data, such as engagement via comments, impressions, and reach.
Facebook – Combining Messaging Tools
Facebook currently has a suite of messaging apps, including Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, all that require a separate download. Currently, to have a conversation with another user, that chat would have to take place in its respective app. Facebook could be changing this, though.
The plan would be to merge the messaging services, allowing Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger users to communicate seamlessly, without having to switch apps. The feature would be opt-in and would hopefully add convenience to a user’s experience. This would be helpful for businesses that frequently receive inquiries from customers on social media, as you can reach them more quickly and have less of a chance of missing a message from one central communication hub.
Twitter and LinkedIn – Media Additions
This update from Twitter may seem quaint and unrelated to your business, but any change that lets your audience show more reaction to your content is a good thing. Users can now add a photo, video or GIF to a retweet, whereas before, retweeting only contained text. With this update, your viewers can engage more with your post and have a bit of fun with it. This is going to liven up everyone’s Twitter feed and make your posts more eye-catching, as visuals grab more attention than direct copy would.
In the same vein, LinkedIn rolled out new reactions (an emoji response tool) similar to Facebook, including like, celebrate, love, insightful, and curious. Users can now also tag others in their photos. Communication and engagement from your connections or followers now become more expressive, specific, and constructive. And, as explained by LinkedIn, the photo tagging feature “makes your community a little tighter when you let people know who is who.” Customers respond well to seeing the person behind the service they’re receiving, so using this tool for team photos can add to an authentic and personable image for your brand.
With the everchanging nature of social media, it can be challenging to keep up. Taking some time each week to look into the new features each platform is rolling out can help you understand what your business can utilize to stay current. If you need some resources (other than right here!), Hubspot, Falcon, and Social Media Today are good places to start.
If you have any questions about strengthening your marketing strategies with social media, we are ready to help.