What’s new in social media: October 2017

Online technology is constantly changing and evolving, especially when it comes to social media. In an effort to help keep you up to speed, we will be providing regular updates on changes that impact small business social media accounts the most. Here is the top 10 that could shift your social media strategy as a business.

1. LinkedIn is adding geofilter options for events and conferences. Attendees are able to add dedicated event frames to videos created while at functions, which look similar to conference badges. The frames are assigned geographically, so they’re easy for attendees to find; plus, it’s a fun way to promote your event or attendance at a function and engage with your audience.

2. Instagram now has a polling feature within stories. Just as you can add a location sticker, you can add a poll question with two options for responses. A great and fun tool to utilize if you are debating between a decision with two options that could impact your customers.

3. Pinterest is now allowing brands of all sizes to run search ads within the Ad Manager portion of the site. The search targeting via keyword and shopping functions were originally launched in January for select brands, but have now been opened up to all brands.

4. Facebook is testing a major change that would virtually force brands to promote posts to have them appear on news feeds. At this stage, they are looking at moving non-promoted posts out of the news feed in trial stages, which could greatly impact the engagement levels for brands utilizing Facebook as their primary social media network.

5. Canva, which is a photo-editing platform, now allows you to create GIFs instead of just PDFs and PNGs.

6. Instagram is partnering with Shopify to expand shopping opportunities on the app. While it is currently in the testing phase, brands and retailers will be able to directly purchase products from Instagram accounts helping to simplify the purchasing process and make it more convenient for customers.

7. YouTube is making it easier for brands to reach their target audience with four new ad tech tools. From ways to funnel users through video ads, customizing content, the ability to define target audiences related to YouTube searches, and more.

8. Facebook now allows Facebook Groups to have insights. If you have a group over 100 members, insights will be available. This is a benefit if you business (or a portion of it) does not necessarily make sense as a business page, such as a foundation.

9. Instagram has redesigned the call-to-action function bar to mirror ads, which may allow for more ads to be shown in the feed. The main change is that the colouring of the call-to-action will match the image of the ad, meant to enable the ad to stand out as the key visual.

10. Facebook has opened the option for Facebook Stories to be utilized by brands instead of just individuals. This is a serious opportunity for brands to share, add more personality, and increase engagement with your audience.

Stay tuned for more updates to come!

If you have any questions or are looking for support, please feel free to comment below, send an email or give us a call: 604.474.3631.