There is nothing more frustrating than realizing the social media platform you have just mastered has changed things up on you, yet AGAIN. These changes, even if seemingly insignificant, could have a massive impact on the overall success of the platform as your marketing tool.  

If you find yourself continuously frustrated with these updates and you have to constantly ask yourself, “How do I keep up?” and, “Is this relevant to me?” Well then, sit back and relax, and read up below; because The Agency has your back!  

We do the nitty-gritty research to figure out what social media changes have occurred in the last seven days and how your business can benefit from them. Here is a recap of last week’s social media updates:

 

1. New Geofilters via Snapchat

If you’ve created a geofilter for your business before, you’ve most likely realized the power it can have for your brand. A simple filter gives your customer the power to share with friends that they’re enjoying your product or service in real time. Now, it’s now gotten even simpler to submit a creative and shareable business Snapchat filter.

If you’re an avid user of the templates feature on Snapchat, you’re aware the only templates available were weddings, birthdays, and celebrations. This made it difficult to design a template that fit perfectly with your brand. Fear no more because the app recently added: Prom, Business, Food & Bars, Love, and Graduation, which makes it easier to create more brand specific filters.

For those who have not seen a Geofilter, we have included an example of a local Geofilter as reference:

Takeaway for your business: A geofilter’s “fence reach”, aka area the filter will be available, is 20,000-5,000,000 sq. feet, which means a properly placed Geofilter can potentially reach everyone on Snapchat within that area.

Now, with the ability to customize geofilters even more, you can make them a killer promotional resource for events, sales, or the launch of a new product. With Snapchat geofilters, each person using your filter promotes your business to their audience, expanding your reach and brand awareness exponentially.

Here at The Agency we are big fans of utilizing geofilters; they are relatively inexpensive and not a lot of businesses are using them yet. We have had a lot of success creating geofilters in heavily populated areas on special occasions (ie. St. Patrick’s day).

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2. Activity Feature via YouTube IOS App

YouTube is the second most popular search engine right after Google, so it’s time that they step up their user game! Well ask, and you(tube) shall receive. The YouTube IOS app has just created an “Activity Feature” tab where users can catch up on all the notifications and recent videos you may have missed in one place.

 

Takeaway for your business: For businesses that rely heavily on YouTube to promote their videos, this change is a great way to see and control your notifications more easily and help manage your business more effectively.

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3. Video Metric Changes via Facebook

Everyone who has Facebook can openly admit to watching videos every now and then on their downtime (some of us spend more time than we’re willing to admit). With over 100 million hours of videos being watched every day, businesses and marketers know how important it is to upload and track their video performance, as it can lead to new sales.

 

Facebook has made five new changes to video metrics, making it easier for marketers to measure how their videos are performing. Search Engine Journal has provided the graphic below detailing the 5 changes.

Takeaway for your business:  The most important takeaway from this is if you have not yet started to utilize video on Facebook, start now! Facebook is constantly ranking videos as more and more important so get out there and start recording!

 

These new features will create a better way to interpret analytics, tailor your content to your target audience, and our favorite thing, more views!

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4. Live via Youtube Mobile App

It seems like every day some platform is tweaking the way they use the live feature on their sites, and this week’s culprit is YouTube. Originally, the video site had created some intense guidelines to going live, stating that a channel must have 10,000 followers in order to go live via the mobile app. Now YouTube has announced that any channel with 1,000 subscribers or more will be able to go live on mobile!

 

Takeaway for your business:  This is going to make it easier for smaller channels to gain some followers with live feeds. These feeds are new and may feel awkward at first, but having that face-to-face live interaction with subscribers is vital for building trust!

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5. Business Chat via iMessage

Does everything Apple touches turn to gold? Well, businesses should hope so! In the next update expected to come out in the Fall, Apple has announced that businesses will be able to communicate directly with their customers via iMessage.

 

Apple states that companies will now be able to “have personalized conversations and even make purchases with Apple Pay.” This new update will let customers schedule appointments using calendars, preview lists of products for them to choose from, reserve tables, review your business logistics straight from their device, and most importantly, speak directly to a representative of the company.  

 

Takeaway for your business: In an age of all things digital, consumers are craving human interaction immediately, and without leaving their homes. It is essential for businesses to utilize this new update in order to have high customer satisfaction.

 

With this update, any user of IOS 11 will be able to chat with a support member of businesses they find using Siri, Maps, Safari, and Spotlight search.

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Social Media Spotlight of the Week:

Our spotlight social media tool this week is… Google Trends!  A tool that has been around for a few years, but is now more useful than ever. Engaging and connecting with your followers can be huge for your brand’s growth, and Google Trends will help you do that.

By compiling what people are talking about and engaging with at any given moment, day, week, or month, Google Trends assists you in creating content that people really want to see.

 

This is a tool that every business can benefit from. With archives going all the way back to 2004, you can compare the progress of industry averages then to now. The possibilities are unending with Google Trends.

 

We will present you with a challenge for the week: use this tool to create content and see what impact it has on the reach of your posts.