News for your Newsfeed
Picture this. Your boss walks up to you and asks, "Why is my Facebook post all pink and weird-looking? I need you to fix it!" Do you know what to do, or would you have to stall and do a quick Google search to figure out how to help her?
Be prepared! Here are a few of the latest updates to our favorite channels that you'll need sooner than you think.
Instagram is crushing Snapchat... for now
Instagram is doing really well right now, compared to one of their biggest competitors: Snapchat. In 2017 alone, Instagram has added nearly as many daily active users to Stories as Snapchat added to its whole platform in 2016. Instagram is also blatantly copying some of Snapchat’s most used features for its Stories platform, like geo-filters and selfie stickers.
Why you should care: Instagram is changing, and changing fast. Stories was just launched this year, but is already intensely popular. Using Stories provides your company a way to, you guessed it, tell a great story, without the painstaking "everything must look perfect" process you go through with your typical Instagram post. If your company loves graphics and video, try it out!
Snapchat isn’t down for the count quite yet
A common complaint in the world of social advertising is that you can’t truly measure ROI on your efforts. Snapchat wants to change this with its ‘Snap to Store’ measurement for Snapchat ads. Brands will be able to track the number of people who have used Snapchat at their business’ physical locations. Then, Snapchat will cross-check whether that user has seen your Snapchat ads, allowing you to figure out (to a degree) whether your latest surge in business was from that Snap ad or not.
Why you should care: Are you a retailer advertising to a younger demographic? Consider trying ads like these so you can get a better sense of if your investment in social advertising is paid off. At the very least, take this news story as an indication that Snapchat is here to stay as it attempts to capture more of that ad money.
Everything looks different on Facebook
It’s not just you. Whether it’s Stories (yep, Facebook copied that too; read about it here), or its colorful new status updates, things are changing fast. In the past few days, they've even added a new tool to help you spot fake news.
Why you should care: You know that sound of frustration your friends make when anything changes on their favorite social media channel? Now you can be there with an answer explaining exactly what that shiny new feature is and why it's cool (or lame; it happens!).
Facebook Live could soon look like your favorite news channel
Facebook Live has started testing split screen-two person broadcasts. Although this new feature is currently limited to personal profiles, it could bring exciting changes to your company page! It works like this: Users go live from their personal pages, and then can invite one other user to be on the broadcast once they start watching.
Why you should care: This is a simple enough idea, but could make live broadcasts way more interesting. This feature could allow you to talk to selected members of your audience live, or interview an expert in your field who lives across the globe.
Let’s be honest.
Did you skim this entire email and not click on any of the links? It is Friday, after all. If you want to learn just one thing about social media today, check out this infographic covering the top 8 social media trends. With all your new VR and social influencer knowledge, you’ll sound like the smartest person at the meeting
Finally, just for fun a 16-year-old is on set to break a Twitter record for the most retweets to win a year of free chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. Yes you read that right. Use this sassy campaign as inspiration for a creative way to challenge your audience... or just for a few laughs.