This Month in Social: May 2016

The world of social media is constantly changing – and with so many platforms and algorithms out there, it’s hard to keep up. That’s why we provide our clients and followers with This Month in Social – where we highlight the biggest changes in social media and how we prepare to tackle them.

Instagram Brand Profiles On the Horizon

Instagram is beginning to test brand profiles which will offer a few additional features: contact button and category listing. Upon clicking the contact button, a new menu opens to reveal options to either ‘Get Directions’ or ‘Email’ the business.

What this means for businesses: Brands will now be able to offer users an immediate means of contact as well as better categorize their pages. This update could play a big part in how brands are found in Instagram search and how content is filtered. Currently, this update is only available to a small test pool of brands – but should it roll out fully, we’ll be interested to see how it may affect Instagram engagement.

Twitter Introduces a Better Way to Connect

Twitter has rolled out a new feature designed to help users find relevant accounts to follow – the Connect tab. While finding users to connect with has always been available – it was often after jumping through a few hoops. This tab now helps streamline the process, by offering a “Because you follow” section, recommendations, and finding friends through your phone’s contact list.

What this means for businesses: New users often find it difficult to build their network, brands included. By introducing a tab dedicated to customized recommendations – perhaps…

Facebook Developing Camera App

According to the Wall Street Journal, developers are planning to launch a new app specifically designed for taking and posting videos on Facebook.

What this means for businesses: Facebook live is clearly here to stay, but now it’ll get a whole lot easier. This new app is expected to make live-streaming on Facebook more hassle-free from mobile devices. So for businesses looking to share more behind the scenes updates, the ability to do so is now within reach.

Snapchat Enters the Ecommerce Space

Snapchat has unveiled swipe-and-buy ads in Cosmopolitan’s Discover channel. That’s right, Snapchat has joined the ecommerce game. Currently running 10 second ads for Target and Lancome, users can “swipe up” to view the retailer’s mobile site with options to buy without ever leaving the Snapchat application.

What this means for businesses: Yet another social media platform opening its doors to advertising possibilities. However with ads still disappearing within 10 seconds, some brands may be skeptical of its marketing viability – time will soon tell.

Instagram Adds Videos to Carousel Ad Format

Videos, already featured in Facebook Carousel ads, are now making their way to Instagram. Advertisers can now feature up to five videos in a Carousel ad format.

What this means for businesses: This is just another format for testing video ads. Plus, with the photo sharing app recently increasing video time to 60 seconds, brands can take advantage of this new timeframe to tell richer stories on Instagram.

Have any questions regarding the above changes and updates? Reach out to one of Ferocious Media’s Social Media Analysts today!

To learn more about our Social Media Marketing Campaigns as well as other services that we offer, explore our website or contact us today!