Facebook-New-Features-Update

Facebook releases new features and tools regularly. Many of these releases go under the radar, especially minor tweaks that don’t affect businesses or marketers (or consumers) much. However, when you are using Facebook for business marketing it is important to track major updates closely so you aren’t left behind.

That’s why I’ve rounded up some of the most notable (and impactful) Facebook updates of the summer to help you make the most of the social network for your business.

1. Messenger API for Instagram

Let’s begin with one of the latest updates – the new all-new messenger API for Instagram. The API was launched on June 2, 2021, at the annual F8 Refresh conference. This update allows businesses to use the same engagement features available on Facebook to directly respond to Instagram messages.

This will come as a relief to IG marketers who’ve recently experienced an influx of private messages and story responses. Checking and responding to those messages will no longer be so much of a challenge. The APIs now allow you to more easily respond to messages from different third-party platforms, making it much more convenient.

2. Insights for Reels and Live videos

The majority of marketers think of Reels and Live videos as some of the best tools to come from Facebook recently. And, now, Facebook is making the two even more valuable by allowing marketers and creators to access native data for both. This means it is now easier to assess the performance of your Reels and Live videos. You can also more accurately assess their impact on your overall marketing strategies.

Metrics available for Reels campaigns include plays, account reach, likes, comments, saves, and shares. Meanwhile, for Live videos, you’ll get data on account reach, peak concurrent views, comments, and shares.

3. Live Audio Rooms for Facebook and Messenger

When Facebook announced in April that they would invest in social audio, including live audio rooms, they weren’t kidding around. The company recently unveiled Live Audio Rooms as a trial in the US. Initially, it will only be available on iOS, similar to Clubhouse. Initially, it will be rolled out to public figures and selected Facebook groups.

Users can log in, discover, and tune in to live rooms that interest them. They can also join live discussions with public figures and experts and even invite friends and followers. Conversations can have up to 50 speakers and an unlimited number of listeners.

4. Podcasts now on Facebook pages

On the same day that the company rolled out Live Rooms, Facebook also launched a live podcasts feature. The initial podcasts will include the Joe Budden podcast, Jac Vanek, Becca Tobin, and Keltie Knight. Nicaila Mathews Okome’s Side Hustle Pro is also available from July. They will continue to add more names in due course.

Like the Live Rooms feature, podcast fans can sign in, discover podcasts, and tune in. Users can listen while browsing Facebook via a mini-player or full-screen player. One can also tune in by selecting podcast creators on their Facebook Pages or in News Feed.

5. Shops in WhatsApp, other marketplaces

Finally, you’re likely aware of Facebook Shops, introduced around May 2020. At the time of the launch, the company defined Shops as “a mobile-first shopping experience that allows businesses to effortlessly create an online store on Facebook and Instagram for free.”

That definition is changing as Facebook introduces Shops on other marketplaces, including WhatsApp. Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement on June 22, 2021, via a Live Rooms session, further clarifying that Shops for Marketplace will be available immediately while Shops for WhatsApp will start soon.

Other Updates

In his June 22 speech, Zuckerberg also announced the launch of two other features, Shops Ads and Instagram visual searches. Shop Ads are available immediately, while AI-based visual search for Instagram will start in a few months. With all these developments, Facebook is proving to have a secure future in social media and continues to be an asset for business marketing.


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Recent-Social-Media-and-Facebook-Updates-Through-June-14th

Facebook

Find Home Service Professionals with Marketplace

More and more people are turning to Facebook to seek recommendations when it comes to home services. So much so, over the coming weeks, Facebook Marketplace will be an “all-in-one hub for people to complete their next home project.”

Within Marketplace, users will be able to see professionals’ ratings, reviews, credentials, and location. Users describe the project they need help with and send their request to multiple professionals at once.

Bottomline

For service professionals, this is a great new feature on Facebook that you should take advantage of. It provides a way for prospective customers to find you through Facebook, review your ratings, credentials, and location, and then contact you on Facebook to request your service. This is another way Facebook is expanding the use of the platform to be a service like Angie’s List or another online directory of specific business services.

Watch for opportunities for your business to get listed if this fits your service category!

Removing Trending News from Facebook

Facebook is removing Trending news box that was on the desktop interface. People have found it to be less and less useful since it came out in 2014, and it was not being accessed often. Facebook will be adding a new “Breaking News” label to news in the News Feed.  As well, a new feature called, “Today In”, which will share local news from specific local news sources, and News videos in Watch will be added to make news more mobile, local, and video-friendly for users.

Bottomline

I don’t think this will impact businesses too much.  It’s meant to compete with Twitter and keep people on Facebook. Will it? Time will tell. One thing to watch is whether your business can give perspective or commentary on news that has rolled out.  It might be a way for your business to add value and showcase expertise by sharing and giving your spin on news items that roll out.

New Tools for Nonprofit Fundraisers

Facebook is adding “new features to help make fundraisers even more impactful and accessible.” Nonprofits, brands, and public figures can start fundraisers to support nonprofit causes on their Page. You can also “add up to three others to be organizers of your fundraiser to help you manage it and rally more supporters to reach your fundraising goal.”

Bottomline

Businesses, nonprofits, and personal pages can use fundraisers as a way to raise a lot of money for causes that are important to them because of their wide base of followers and fans.

It also gives businesses and brands a way to give back right on and through Facebook.  Also, by adding organizers to your fundraiser you are expanding your fundraisers reach. Therefore, rally even more support for your cause, as well as add more admin support. This new feature is a great way to make more people aware of a non-profit and a cause, and then a byproduct is that it also adds some user engagement to your page.

Instagram

Existing Instagram Organic Posts can now be Turned into Ads

Facebook is rolling out a new feature that allows advertisers to turn organic Instagram posts into ads within the Facebook Ads Manager tool. While the option to “promote or boost organic posts has been available on Instagram, the ability to turn organic posts into Ads within Ads Manager has not. The feature is currently being rolled out to “all global advertisers” within the next few weeks.

Bottomline

At first, it will be available for Brand Awareness, Post Engagement, Reach, and Video Views objectives. However, you will only be able to create an ad from single video and single photo feed posts for now. Not supported (yet) will be Carousel, Stories, Branded Content, and Instagram Shopping posts. This is just the first step at turning existing organic posts into ads, and it will continually impact businesses positively on Instagram in the future.

Instagram Algorithm Details Shared

Instagram has come clean and outlined how their algorithm works that determine what content a user sees in their feed!  Recently Instagram allowed a set group of journalists access to their team for a discussion and review of how their algorithm works.  The basics:

Three main factors determine what you see in your Instagram feed:

  1. Interest: How much Instagram predicts you’ll care about a post, with a higher ranking for what matters to you, determined by past behavior on similar content and potentially machine vision analyzing the actual content of the post.
  2. Recency: How recently the post was shared, with prioritization for timely posts over weeks-old ones.
  3. Relationship: How close you are to the person who shared it, with a higher ranking for people you’ve interacted with a lot in the past on Instagram, such as by commenting on their posts or being tagged together in photos.

Bottomline

Instagram (as contrasted to Facebook) does not favor video over photos universally.  It's based on engagement by followers. The Feed does not favor users who use Stories or Live more. Nor do you get hit for posting too frequently. So the key is quality, rich, engaging content that followers want to engage with (comment on or like). Business Profiles give you the best metrics to understand this so be sure for business use to switch your profile to a Business Profile.

That’s a wrap on some recent updates in the social realm!  Any thoughts or questions? Be sure to sign-up for my email list. You'll to get these updates via email 2x a month. Keep up with the latest changes and updates!

Facebook Updates

We’ve seen some major social media updates this year and it’s only February! Here are a few key ones to keep you up-to-date and on track with your social media marketing...

Facebook Updates

Facebook Makes Major Changes to the Newsfeed Algorithm

This is the BIG one!

In an effort to make sure people have “meaningful interactions”, Facebook is limiting the number of posts from business pages in the newsfeed. They will also add more posts from friends and family in the newsfeed, particularly ones that promote positive engagement.

Bottomline

This is a big shakeup.

But I don’t think it’s as bad as it sounds. We only had a 1-10% post reach for business pages before the change typically per post. Facebook has been pushing businesses to paid ads for quite awhile and now it’s official. If you want your business page to have significant reach, you’ll need to pay for it or create engaging content that will take thought and strategy.  It’s possible, it just will take more careful work and testing.

Upcoming Facebook Community Boost Events

In it's commitment to small business users, Facebook announced 5 dates for their Community Boost Events between now and June all over the country.

Bottomline

I’ve attended one of these local city events.  These are amazing events to attend if you’re a small business using Facebook to build your business or it you want to build your job skills in social media marketing. These free events are a wealth of information to help you be successful.  Watch for cities near you hosting, and be sure to sign-up as the events typically sell out.

Instagram Updates

Carousel Ad’s coming to Instagram Stories

The interesting thing about Carousel Ad’s being added to Instagram Stories is that now Instagram stories can now include 3 different types of media!

Bottomline

Now businesses can be more creative with their ads in Instagram Stories and can tell better “stories” with the ability to use multiple types of media.

Instagram Type Mode for Stories

Similar to Facebook text posts with colorful graphic backgrounds and special fonts, but only for Instagram Stories. These colorful and expressive posts allow another means to communicate and share more in the Stories area.

Bottomline

These are a quick and easy way to grab attention in Instagram Stories. These should help businesses post quickly when time is an issue, and to creatively communicate quick snippets.  Look for Stories to continue to grow in use and more ways for marketers to potentially reach their followers.

2018 has been fast and furious for social media changes!  Any questions or thoughts on the latest changes?

Are we connected on social?  Find me on Facebook at https:fb.com/mikegdigital, Instagram at @mikegingerich and on Twitter at @Mike_Gingerich.

Facebook Updates November 16th

With the holiday season upon us, sales are critical to meet year-end projections. Several of the innovations I mention this week are specifically to help brands make their customer experience journey more fluid and seamless. Let’s take a look.

Facebook

Instagram Polls Moving to Facebook

Facebook is taking another successful Instagram feature and bringing it to Facebook, the 2 question poll feature. These have been a popular feature for Instagram and Facebook hopes to replicate this success.

Bottomline

There are countless uses for polls ... new desserts for the menu, new product features, new styles and outfits for retail fashion.

Facebook Messenger Brings Live Chat and Bots to Websites

As customers become more and more multi-device driven the quest to have a single customer chat area that can be used irregardless of the device the customer is on. But even better yet, have a chat that can go from a desktop to a phone in milliseconds. And the chat has to be accessible and usable in a work environment where multiple users can easily access and see what’s happening in the chat. In comes Facebook Messenger with live chats.

Facebook now has a plugin that allows their live chat feature to be used on a website. This has been an option for WordPress websites for quite a while. https://wordpress.org/plugins/fb-messenger-live-chat/ But instead of a 3rd party developer that relies on the Facebook API for Messenger/Chat access Facebook has built the plugin which will seamlessly and effortlessly integrate a site with Messenger/Live Chat. This feature is in beta testing right now.

Bottomline

This is an awesome tool for airlines. Need to change flight time or your flight is postponed? A customer can go from speaking with customer service on their desktop at home to jumping in a car and continuing the conversation on their phone.

I would think that there are many applications this could be used for with retail sales. What industry would you use this for?

Facebook Buys tbh, the Anonymous App for Teens

In an effort to win the hearts of the teen market Facebook has bought the tbh app. This app lets middle and high school students swap compliments by participating in anonymous polls/quizzes. Tbh was launched in September and already has 5 million users.

Bottomline

Right now the app has not be commercialized, but imagine bands and pop stars crowdsourcing song lyrics. Or brands crowdsourcing new product features. This could be big for businesses that focus on the teen market.

Facebook Launches Collaborative Stories for Groups and Events

To boost the use of Facebook Stories Facebook groups and events are now able to contribute to a Facebook story. Now a story can be told from several different story angles. These stories will be found at the top of the newsfeed. Stories can be used as a private hashtag so lots of people can add content but only those involved with the story can see it.

Bottomline

Start a story for a Wedding or other event and let the guests add their own unique perspective. This gives events and attractions an amazing resource for user-generated content.

Facebook Targets Ad to People Based on Store Visits, Purchases and Phone Calls

Retargeting ads rock! They’re a great way for your business to stay in front of people who are interested in your products and services but haven’t purchased yet.

Now brands can create custom audiences from anyone that Facebook has tracked as visiting a brand's location within 30 days. Facebook’s Offline Conversions API, which is plugged into the store’s point-of-sale system, can send customer info to Facebook which then can be used in a Facebook Ad campaign.

Bottomline

With the customer experience spanning in-store visits, mobile website visits, and desktop website contacts this gives a brand an edge. During this holiday season, people will be looking for the perfect gift, but your brand is more likely to be the perfect choice the more that buyers see you whether in person or via websites and messaging.

Thanks for joining me this week! I’ll be back with more social media network updates next Thursday.

Social Media and Facebook Updates for week ending 615

Social Media platforms do not remain static. They shift and evolve and as a marketer, it's important to keep up. Here are recent changes I cover from Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook social media updates that have happened in the past two weeks!

Stay abreast, sign-up for my weekly email updates!

Twitter

Twitter Now Filters DMs From People You Don't Know

Now your Twitter direct message inbox is more like text messages on your phone.  Messages from people you know and follow will go into your inbox. Messages from people you don't follow will go into the requests area.

Bottomline

It’s a nice addition to make Twitter’s interface for user-friendly.  It’s taken them far too long to get to this but it’s a nice move to help us.

Facebook

Add a post, not just photos to Facebook albums

Now you can add videos, check-ins and text posts to albums. Show off your favorite collection in a "featured" album. Or follow your friend's album to get notified when they're updated. Create a collaborative album and easily add contributors.

Bottomline

Run an event? Add an Album for the event and let your volunteers post pics and text testimonials from the attendees. This way you'll have a wealth of info for next years event.  It’s a valuable way to capture and retain more types of content per album.  Another move by Facebook to make things “sticky” so we keep coming back!

As a side note … Facebook Messenger emoji’s have been used 2 Billion times in their first 2 months in the app! Now that’s a success!

Facebook’s AI now assists in Spanish

Facebook Messenger’s artificial intelligence assistant “M” will make recommendations in Spanish if it detects Spanish as the user's language of choice. This new feature scans the words and intent of a message, then give suggestions for Messenger’s many features, like emoji's or payment buttons. This feature is available for US users with their language set to Spanish and in Mexico.

Bottomline

Since most of the world doesn't use English as their native language Facebook added a translation capability to their news feed. Spanish is the language with the second most native speakers after Chinese so it's only natural that Facebook would add Spanish capabilities.  It’s just another big bonus from Facebook to “make the world a more connected place” and it shows they are not sitting still but helping marketers….remember when they help marketers they help themselves though as well because we are the ones that create ads and use AI!

Instagram

Instagram Connects to Facebook Messenger

This button will redirect users to Facebook Messenger to interact with potential customers. This lets account holders to use Messenger Bots to improve the customer experience.

Bottomline

This is BIG!

Since most people have a Facebook Messenger mobile app it's now seamless and easy to interact with potential customers whether they're on Facebook or Instagram. Facebook Messenger also accepts payments between friends and for gaming and eCommerce. It just a small jump to selling from Instagram.  This is a huge cross-platform leap, enabling seamless movement from one social media network, Instagram, to Facebook’s Messenger.  This is the start of more to come!

Hide your Instagram photos indefinitely with the archive feature

Now everyone can hide photos on Instagram thanks to the new archive feature. The photo has to be published, at least for 1 second and then you can archive it.

Bottomline

Hide photos that didn't get much traction or hide photos of the ex. Use this feature as a way to store photos for the future.

Google

Google’s smart keyboard app, Gboard adds phrase suggestions and draw-an-emoji

While this isn't a social media network update per say, Gboard does make posting to your social media network a little bit easier.

Bottomline

It's just cool! And makes texting and posting from your smartphone quicker and easier. It's my all time favorite keyboard with the ability to swipe to spell a word and built in gifs.

That’s a bit of the key news and tidbits that have happened recently.

Stay tuned and stay in the know...sign-up here!

It’s time to give you the latest updates in social media for Facebook and beyond!  We’ve been on a roll this year with some pretty significant shifts and this period was no less eventful!

Facebook

Group payments in Facebook Messenger

You’ve been able to receive a payment from a single person for the past couple of years. But now Facebook has made payments through the messenger app more like using Venmo.

Venmo is popular with Millennials splitting dinner checks and the rent. Now Facebook users don’t have to leave the Messenger app. They can make a date with a group of friend, arrive at the destination and split the bill all from one app. Convenient!

Bottomline

If you’re a restaurant, you may want to give a large party this payment option … you’ll get the payers Facebook account/email info for future use.

M, Your Personal Content Assistant is now in Facebook Messenger

Want a cool sticker or gif to really express your emotions in Facebook Messenger? Now M will give you suggestions. This is the beginning of bots in chat or Chatbots.  Here are a few of the options she’ll suggest to you within Messenger.

https://www.facebook.com/facebook/videos/10155681693016729/

Bottomline

Now communicating with a client one to one on Facebook Messenger can be easy and productive! With these AI suggestions, adding features is just a click away. More visuals equal more engagement with your clients.

Facebook Tools Against Misinformation

Facebook is taking a stand against fake news. They’re employing 3 initiatives to help curb the spread of false news.

First, because most of the time false news is financially motivated, they’re disrupting economic incentives.

Second, Facebook is building new products to help reduce the spread of false news

When people encounter false news they are implementing measures that will help people make more informed decisions about the news.

Finally, there will be a new tool on the top of a mobile newsfeed that will help people recognize false news when they see it. People who click on the tool will see more info and resources at Facebook help. These resources will cover how to check the URL of the website the news is from, investigating the source of the news and how to look for other reports on the topic.

Free Version of Facebook Workplace

This is Facebook’s competitor for Slack to be used by businesses. The free version will be called Workplace Standard and will not have the analytics capability of the paid version of Workplace Premium. All in all Workplace Premium is really affordable at $3 per person for the first 1000 users, $2 up to 10,000 and $1 per person after that.

Bottomline

This Slack competitor by Facebook allows your employees to collaborate online with live Facebook Live Video sessions. Slack doesn’t have this capability at the present.

It’s a competitor to the fading Google Hangouts as well and an interesting concept.

Instagram

New Desktop Capabilities

Now with the Windows10 Instagram app, you can send photo and video as direct messages from your desktop!

You still can’t upload posts to your profile though. Hopefully, that’s coming soon!

Bottomline

This new addition should be helpful with customer service for businesses.  It’s a “next step” in Instagram “growing up” into a full-service social network with broad business use.

New Disappearing Direct Messages

Instagram has disappearing content in Stories but they went further and have now added it to Direct Messages. This is convenient for users and another way businesses can engage in the “here and gone” preferences of a younger demographic.

Bottomline

It’s a direct attack on SnapChat and is really a user game-changer.  It also is another move forward in Instagram creating its own messaging platform, Direct.

LinkedIn

Introducing Lead Generation Forms for LinkedIn

If you’re in a B2B business then LinkedIn Ads could be your ad sweet spot. Now LinkedIn to make these ads even more enticing for advertisers has introduced Lead Generation forms.

These types of forms are popular on Facebook and Twitter so I’ve been wondering when LinkedIn would follow their lead.

Bottomline

These new forms will make it easy for advertisers to collect leads, measure the ROI of the ad and also manage the leads you’ve gotten with the form.

If you’re B2B this may be an excellent option for limited budgets.

Whew!  Is your head spinning?  The changes keep coming.  I’ll try to keep you updated!

Facebook and YouTube- Social Media Updates for week ending 47

Facebook

All Facebook Profiles and Pages Can Now Livestream 360-Degree Video

Facebook is adding updates to Livestream faster than you can say, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Now anyone with the right camera can stream 360 videos to their Facebook page or profile.

Bottomline

If you run events or are an outdoor adventure brand, this would work for you. These videos are interesting and engaging. #hashtag the video with the location and you’re sure to pick up some new likes.

Facebook Testing New Option to Allow Pages to Post in Groups

This is the update we’ve all been waiting for … your page will be able to post to your group!

Facebook and youtube updates

Bottomline

This will be an amazing tool for brands if Facebook mainstreams this option. Now your group will associate your brand with the brand page, not a person. Even if your page admins change your readers will not lose any trust in the brand because there’s no break in who they see as a page admin.

The only issue is if a Group allows a Page to join a Group. Then you could have a spam fest.

Facebook Tests a Second News Feed Represented by a Rocket Icon

This is only on the Facebook mobile app. This new news feed includes posts, articles, photos and videos from sources you haven’t followed.

Bottomline

It's an easy way to explore content you haven't connected with before. Facebook wants to make it easier for you to follow news and topics not just people, brands, and businesses.

Facebook Profile Pic May Now Appear as a Circle

This is a beta test for Android users. In newsfeeds and on the timeline your profile pic may appear as a circle.

Bottomline

You may need to change our your logo if it doesn’t fit the circle format.

YouTube

Removing 30 Second Unskippable Ads in 2018

To improve the user experience for both the watcher and the producer, YouTube is completely removing 30-second unskippable ads in 2018.

Unskippable ads less than 30 seconds will remain. I don’t know about you but I find all unskippable ads annoying.

Bottomline

There still will be an ad at the beginning of your YouTube video, it just won’t be 30 seconds. So go ahead and make 29-second ads to your heart’s content.

As always, you’ve got to stay up on the latest to take advantage of new opportunities in social media!  What stands out to you the most?

Facebook and Instagram updates for March 31st

Facebook Updates

Go Live from your computer

Now Facebook lets desktop users broadcast live video from their computers. Just click “Live Video” from the top of your business page or personal profile newsfeed or timeline and broadcast! Broadcast to your page, a Facebook group you belong to or a Facebook event.
Use OpenBroadcaster Software, Wirecast or XSplit in conjunction with Facebook live and broadcast your computer screen, insert graphics, change cameras or use professional equipment!

Bottomline

For marketing your business, this is gold! Your desktop camera is steady, so no more wobbly broadcasts.  Facebook live a “how to” via screen share or even your next product launch live.
What’s next? … think Facebook TV. This is definitely the first step to live shows on Facebook.

Facebook just launched it’s very own Snapchat!

Facebook & Instagram Updates for March 31

This update rolled out Tuesday and includes a redesigned in-app camera, a new feed of stories at the top of the News Feed and a private messaging feature called Direct. These 3 features are big changes to the core Facebook.

As people change from text to photos and video as their preferred content type, Facebook had to change the way they allow people to interact with one another. Now you can decorate your posts with text, drawings, stickers and animated filters.

Share your story directly with friends or post on in your timeline. Your post will appear in a horizontally-scrolling feed of stories that’s now at the top of the Facebook app.

Facebook & Instagram Updates for March 31

Bottomline

Facebook stories are gone after 24 hours, so you have to be fast to take advantage of them. Movies like Power Rangers, Wonder Woman, and Guardians of the Galaxy are getting a boost of pre-opening excitement by creating masks for users. And artists are creating visual effects for users.

Use Facebook stories for product launches and trade shows, go backstage at one-of-a-kind events or take viewers behind the scenes at your business or party.

Live Location in Messenger

This is a super helpful app when you’re coordinating friends and family for dinner or a show. Just share your location and they can find you. Share with a group or just one person. The location and map is only visible for 60 minutes. You can see an estimate of how long it will take you to reach the location. Stop sharing at any time.

Bottomline

No more missed meetings because you went to the wrong Starbucks. Share your location on a map in real time and talk to your friend or colleague in Messenger. You have complete control of when and how much people see.

Instagram Updates

Save Instagram Live Video to your phone

Just like it sounds, now you can save your Instagram Live Video to your phone. This doesn’t save the comments, just the video.

Bottomline

Now you can use your successful videos in other places like blog posts and YouTube. Create content once and use multiple times.

Wow! Lots happening! Stay tuned to keep up.

keeping-up-with-the-latest-social-media-updates-315

Major social media networks just rolled out several updates that you should know about as a business owner. These recent changes affect the way you do online marketing, all for the better:

Facebook

Businesses with physical stores can take advantage of the new features in Facebook’s dynamic ads. These ads are designed to direct in-store traffic. Retailers can upload their latest inventory to Facebook and wait for the targeting feature to do its job. which is to detect a viewer’s location and present the corresponding inventory of a store within the area. This is meant to encourage the viewer to visit the neighborhood store instead of just browsing online.

Instagram

Instagram finally releases its “save as draft” feature to all users, allowing everyone to make, edit, and save draft posts with the intention of publishing them later instead of right away. Scheduling posts is still not an option, but it does allow users to prepare posts ahead of time.

Instagram ads now have bigger CTA buttons and CTA prompts to increase engagement. The CTA section also contains additional details which are made visible to users who show interest in an ad by zooming it out or playing it (if it’s a video). Speaking of videos, users are now redirected to a destination URL if they choose to unmute a clip.

Pinterest

Pinterest launched the Promote button, a new feature that enables owners of business accounts to promote regular pins in less than 10 seconds. On top of this, they will pay for an ad only when a visitor clicks it, helping them increase brand awareness within their target market without having to spend a lot.

Snapchat

As a way to represent the company’s expansion into wearable tech and beyond, Snapchat just rebranded to Snap Inc. It also released Spectacles – sunglasses that allow users to film short videos from a first-person perspective and upload them directly to the app. Priced at $129.99, Spectacles will be on sale in several hip colors this late fall.

Twitter

Many brands use Twitter to engage directly with followers. So it’s good that accounts can now indicate that they provide customer service whenever people search for them, find them through direct messages, or mention them in a Tweet. Availability hours are more visible.

Twitter still hasn’t expanded their 140-character limit, but they’re no longer including attachments in the count. This means users can post polls, upload photos, and videos, and retweet quotes without eating up the already-limited space. Sharing is much easier now.

YouTube

The recent introduction of Insights to YouTube Creator Studio will allow users to get customized and real-time updates whenever something big happens on their channel. Like a jump in views or a spike in engagement. This means creators will know what gets fans interested and exactly when to engage with them.

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