Social media platforms are constantly announcing updates, introducing new features, and changing their algorithms. But while some of these changes have made us rethink our strategy, the one thing that has remained constant is that our ultimate goal is still to engage our audience.
Here’s what we know about the top 5 social media platforms:
- Facebook: 2.07 billion monthly active users
- Instagram: 800 million monthly active users
- Twitter: 330 million monthly active users
- LinkedIn: 500 million members
- Pinterest: 200 million monthly active users
With 2.5 billion social media users, it is still the best way to reach your target audience regardless of the size of your business or the nature of your industry. The fact remains that anyone you’re trying to sell to is most likely a social media user to some extent.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned; experimentation on social media can help us discover what works and what doesn’t for our brand. Let’s take a look at 8 new things to try on social media:
1. Instagram Stories Highlights
Instagram Stories are a huge success. Today, they’re an integral part of any social media marketing strategy if you want to reach consumers with fresh twist on content that has a 24-hour lifespan. Because of its success, Instagram rolled out a new feature that allows users to show off their best content in the form of Stories Highlights.
Stories Highlights appear right below your Instagram bio, making it the perfect place to promote content you want audiences to see first.
2. Twitter’s 280-Character Limit
If there was ever a time to get experimental on social media, let it be on Twitter. Ever since they rolled out their new 280-character limit globally, it has given marketers the opportunity to test out longer Twitter content. On the one hand, a 280-character limit means the chance to do more storytelling; on the other, will our target audience take the time to read longer messages?
Social media tools such as Fedica will help you analyze how your tweets are performing. You can measure reach and impact. With tweets engagement sentiment analysis, you can identify if longer tweets are winning over your audience or if they prefer clever brevity.
3. LinkedIn Video
LinkedIn has rolled out its native video feature. In the past, you could only share video on LinkedIn by using a link from a YouTube video. This is great because native videos have always performed better than ones that are linked from outside sources. Now that your LinkedIn videos have better visibility, you can use your videos to showcase your expertise and build your personal brand.
4. Pinterest Lens
Pinterest’s experimental technology Lens allows you to use your smartphone camera in your Pinterest app to perform a “visual search” and discover ideas from objects you’ve seen in the real world. See a pair of shoes or jacket that you like? Just snap a photo and let Pinterest help you find something similar. You can even take an ingredient like avocado and Lens will present you with recipes.
Currently, it works best with home décor, clothing and accessories, and food. Who knows how the Lens environment will grow as more businesses start to use Pinterest for their marketing?
As a marketer, Pinterest Lens presents you with the opportunity to get your products seen. Is someone takes a photo of a product that is similar to something you offer; your images will pop up as a suggestion.
5. Twitter’s Promote Mode
For brands who want an automated, always-on background advertising solution, Promote Mode is the way to go. For a flat monthly fee of $99, you can grow your influence by automatically amplifying your message. This mobile-first solution automates promotion of your Tweets to a large, interested audience.
It’s pretty simple; you have to tweet as you normally would. Twitter selects the first 10 tweets that meet their quality requirement to promote to a selected audience. Because this is a fairly new feature, see how well Twitter is choosing the 10 tweets that pass their “quality filter.” With Fedica, you can also see just how well this feature works for you on your Fedica All-in-one analysis and publishing platform.
6. Facebook Watch
Facebook Watch has big dreams; its goal is to dominate as the biggest video platform. Currently, that title belongs to YouTube where 5 billion videos are watched each day.
The Watch tab on Facebook has been rolled out to people in the U.S. to see how the community engages with the shows. Just like YouTube, marketers will have the opportunity to run mid-roll ads during Watch shows. In fact, Facebook is already testing pre-roll ads. This would be a great time to think about your Facebook video content strategy.
7. Twitter’s Direct Message Cards
Promote your brand’s chatbot via Twitter Direct Messages with their Direct Message Cards. This ad format allows you to share captivating images and videos with customizable buttons such as CTAs. This means your direct messages will be more creative and personalized than ever.
To ensure you’re sending your followers personalized messages, use Fedica to learn what your followers interests are. Listen to your audience. With Intelligent Publishing, you’ll get the highlights of your audience conversations and sentiment.
8. Instagram’s Paid Partnership
Influencer marketing is highly effective on platforms like Instagram. For some time now, influencers have been using the platform to partner with brands and marketing their products and services. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has since taken new measures to enforce stricter guidelines to prevent influencers and businesses from violating sponsored posts requirements. You’ll now see if an Instagram post is a branded content and a paid promotion.
This new level of transparency is great for Instagram users and brands who want to earn their followers trust and gain their loyalty. After all, to most consumers, there’s a big difference between an influencer who genuinely loves a product and wants to rave about it vs. one that was paid to advertise on their profile.
Social media platforms are continually rolling out new features and enforcing guidelines to ensure the experience remains exciting yet fair for everyone. This is an excellent time for you try something new and see which deserves a place in your social media strategy.