It’s starting to feel like fall on the East Coast here in the US! As such, it’s time for social networks to do their “fall push” and there is a wave of new features and social media updates this month! Here are some of the top social media updates you should know.
At the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam last week, Facebook announced some new video features including Facebook Live rehearsals, replay trimming, and simulcast Live broadcasting. In addition, Facebook’s adding Watch party scheduling, replays, and tags so multiple brands can see insights. Facebook’s Creator Studio is also adding new metrics to help you track returning viewers and gives videos a score based on performance.
Live video continues to show great results with driving engagement. These new tools will make it easier for creators to trim the beginning or end of their video, practice before going live to a large audience, and stream your Live video to more than one streaming service.
Facebook is also adding a new feature to the Watch Party where you can schedule your video and people can opt-in to get notified when it begins. This is another way Live video and community can drive high engagement.
Finally, Facebook’s Creator Studio is increasing the metrics they tract on your videos by tracking returning viewers and rating your videos based on performance to help you as a creator know what content, style of video, and more of what your audience likes best.
You will soon be able to schedule Instagram and IGTV posts in Facebook’s Creator Studio for up to 6 months in advance! This will be great for planning to have the ability to map out and schedule 6 months of known content for Instagram and IGTV videos!
As 2020 gets closer, we can see that video is still going to be a major component in marketing as video features keep expanding. More features like drafting and editing are said to be coming to the creator studio for your Instagram posts which will be helpful for all marketers. Do you see these platforms maturing and adjusting for business?
Facebook is expanding its poll, playable, and augmented reality ads to make them more interactive for the audience. In addition, Facebook is also testing in-app checkout ads along with running Instagram ads for organic shopping posts to have the shopping experience all in the platform.
These new ads are to help you gain more engagement and traction with your ads and then simplifying the buying process so the customer doesn’t even have to leave Facebook to purchase your product. Not every kind of ad will work for your business, but some of these new features may be a good thing to test for your brand.
Are you a freelancer? Small business? Or maybe you just want to find an expert in a specific service? LinkedIn now has a feature that allows freelancers and small businesses to list the services they provide and be found in search results. In addition to this, they included a new feature that allows you to create a new post on LinkedIn to ‘Find an Expert’ after filling out relevant fields for what you're looking for.
LinkedIn is simplifying the process for finding relevant and quality leads for freelancers and professionals that offer the service you are looking for. This is similar to Facebook’s ‘Ask for Recommendations,’ however; LinkedIn is focusing on helping freelancers find work opportunities.
Pinterest released new stats on their visual search, along with updates to Lens with the ability to save images you take instead of as templates and they're adding more shoppable pins. These are relatively small updates but lead the way for Pinterest to keep expanding their e-commerce efforts.
The main reason Pinterest’s Visual Search is so important is because Pinterest reported that
“80% of Pinners start with visual search when shopping vs. 58% of non-Pinners.” People tend to put more focus on visual information rather than textual. They also reported, “61% of consumers say visual search elevates their experience while in-store browsing” showing how Lens provides users with a unique shopping experience that is changing the way we shop for products. Keeping up to date with Pinterest's engagement metrics can help keep track of audience preferences for new and innovative ways of expanding e-commerce shopping.
That’s a wrap on the most recent updates social media marketers should be aware of! I’ll be back in a few weeks with the next round of new social media updates!
