Social media is a constantly changing landscape. So, here are some big social media updates you need to know about.
Why You Need To Know About Social Media Updates
On social media you not only have to create great content, but you have to know how to strategically post it. Where and when you post can have as big of an impact on your digital branding success as what you post.
Even within the last few months, many major social media platforms have made changes to their platforms that could affect how your content is seen.
So, let’s take a look at some recent big changes to the world of social media.
1. Google+ Is Gone
As of April 2019, Google+ has been ended by Google. All profiles and pages have been deleted. The company says they chose to do this largely due to low usage.
It is not unheard of for social media networks to close up shop. For example, Twitter chose to end the massively popular social media app Vine in 2017.
As Google+ was never popular, this likely has not interfered with social media marketers much. However, it is important to take note of.
Just because a network is new or popular today, does not mean that it will be around forever. Therefore, you must be ready to adapt to all kinds of social media updates.
2. TikTok Ads Are In-Play
This massively popular video-sharing app has over 500 million users globally. It is very popular amongst those under 24.
This year, TikTok incorporated advertising into its platform. They now offer features like:
- Interest-based targeting
- Custom audience and pixel tracking
- Age, gender, location, network, and operating system targeting
Advertising is set to explode on TikTok.
3. Facebook Adds Transparency to Custom Ads
Facebook is the most used social media platform on earth, and one of the platforms that appeal to a wide variety of age demographics. Despite its various scandals, it remains widely popular. So, here are some big social media updates you should know if you use Facebook as a part of your digital marketing.
Facebook is embracing more transparency when it comes to their ads. In order to do this, Facebook has decided to let users know more about why they get targeted by specific ads.
Users have the option to view “Why am I seeing this?” and get a more in-depth explanation of why they are seeing certain ads. They can view information such as:
- The name of the business that uploaded their information to Facebook
- Potential involvement from agencies
- Facebook Marketing Partners or other partners
- Any additional sharing of custom audiences that may have taken place
You can now also get a look at active ads that a page is running in Ad library. This lets you see what your competitors have going on in the realm of Facebook Advertising.
SEE ALSO: 10 Tips to Improve Your Facebook Ad Conversions
4. Facebook News Feed Algorithm Updates
Mark Zuckerberg has an interesting goal for Facebook Newsfeed. He wants to make it more like a “living room.” In order to accomplish this, Facebook updated its newsfeed algorithm to prioritize close friends.
Facebook closely analyzes how close you are with people, going far deeper than your interactions, to try and determine what posts you care about most. This is what they had to say about the update to their algorithm:
“We look at the patterns that emerge from the results, some of which include being tagged in the same photos, continuously reacting and commenting on the same posts and checking-in at the same places — and then use these patterns to inform our algorithm.”
The algorithm shift will also try to only show users updates from the pages and groups it thinks they will genuinely care about. This will largely be based on what users interact with on the platform.
5. Facebook Announces Cryptocurrency
In June 2019 Facebook announced Calibra, their launch into the world of finance.
They say their controversial cryptocurrency, Libra, will enable users to transfer funds at low or no cost. Calibra also has made sure to note that they are a separate entity from Facebook, which means that Facebook won’t have automatic access to your financial data if you use Libra.
However, Facebook launches significant challenges in launching Libra, and whether they will be able to join the financial world or not is still uncertain.
6. Instagram Introduces A New Way To Work With Influencers
Instagram has introduced a new feature where brands can promote sponsored posts from Influencers. Now brands can turn a sponsored post from an influencer they are working with into an add with a notation that indicates that its a paid partnership.
Using this feature will require some setup with both the brand and the influencer. As Instagram is one of the social media platforms best known for its influencers and influencer marketing power, this is an exciting update.
So, do you want to break into influencer marketing? Check out our Cheat Sheet For Working With Social Media Influencers.
7. Twitter Limits The Amount Of Accounts Users Can Follow
Many social media platforms struggle with spammers. In order to combat this, Twitter has limited the number of accounts that users can follow in a single day. Users used to be able to follow 1,000 accounts a day, and the limit has been changed to 400. While this is bad news for spammers, it likely will not affect most social media marketers.
8. LinkedIn Improves Ad Targeting
LinkedIn has improved ad targeting and also given their ads a new look. You can now better inform your ad campaigns using:
- Lookalike audiences
- Interest targeting
- Audience templates
9. LinkedIn Updates Their Algorithm
As of 2019, LinkedIn has changed what posts it will emphasize. It emphasizes posts that inspire dialogues on the site rather than ones that trigger viral sharing. It will also prioritize people and topics that it thinks users care about the most.
SEE ALSO: 3 Ways To Be A LinkedIn Rockstar
10. Pinterest Offers New Customer Experience Features
Pinterest has added a number of new features to help sellers reach and convert more people. These include:
- The shop a brand feature
- Personalized shopping recommendations
- The ability for brands to upload their full catalog to the platform
Final Thoughts On Social Media Updates
In the world of social media, things are changing all the time. So, it is important for any digital brand to stay on top of these changes, so they can have the most effective social media marketing strategy.
Which social media updates do you think will have the biggest effect on your brand? Comment below…
