What you need to know about recent changes in small business social media
From updates to Facebook’s algorithm to longer tweets, the social media landscape has changed a bit in recent months. Here are some top changes to keep in mind when planning your small business social media for the rest of 2018:
Meaningful Interactions on Facebook
One of the biggest recent changes involves Facebook’s algorithm update. With the change, the company shifted to focus on what it calls “meaningful interactions.” In short, that means content more likely to spark a conversation.
For many users, posts from friends and family fall into that category more often. However, that doesn’t mean brand pages should give up on Facebook. Buffer Social breaks down the new Facebook algorithm priorities, including:
- Commenting. Conversation-generating content boosts a post’s reach. The more comments the better, but beware of using “engagement bait” to solicit comments. The algorithm accounts for that.
- Sharing. The more users share a post, the more likely it is to be featured in your feed.
- Reactions. Likes, laughs and even that annoying angry face help signal to Facebook that your post is engaging readers.
Buffer Social counsels brands to focus on meaningful content that generates conversation:
“Instead of creating content, for your brand, that people interact with, we need to start creating content, for the people, that will spark enough emotion to generate a comment or share.”
So, think of the new Facebook model as an extension of the content marketing advice we’ve been giving you all along: Quality content builds engagement and focuses on your buyer.
In addition, keep in mind that Facebook Live is a great way to capture attention and generate conversation. Those live videos can work long-term for you on Facebook as well, unlike some other platforms.
Talkative Twitter
Twitter lives and breathes on concise messages. So, it made some people wary when the platform increased its maximum tweet length from 140 characters to 280.
A few months into the change, the company reports that the average tweet length hasn’t increased by much. However, it has helped retain and engage more users. The extra character count gives users a little breathing room and makes them less likely to abandon a tweet, we think. Those extra characters also seem to leave more room for mentions and retweets, which is great news for brands on the platform.
Speaking of retweets, the company also recently changed how it reports those when a tweet is shared in news stories or on other websites:
“Now, instead of showing how many times a tweet has been retweeted, the company is displaying a new metric that includes a combination of replies and retweets that shows how many ‘people are talking about this.’” (Slate)
According to Slate, this subtle shift could help decrease the role of bots on Twitter by downplaying the importance of retweets.
Instagram Features
Instagram has expanded its usability with the addition of new features in the past year, including polls and e-commerce.
According to The Drum:
“Capitalising on this, the number of US businesses that are using Instagram to promote their product has risen to 70.7%, almost doubling that of 48.8% from the previous year! And all with good reason – at least 30% of Instagram users have purchased a product they first discovered on Instagram.”
That article goes on to say that 65 percent of top Instagram posts feature products, so this platform seems to be hitting several positive marks for brands.
Snapchat Augmented Reality
Snapchat continues to evolve to meet its users desire for on-demand information. It has added some augmented reality (AR) features, first tested in an AR art exhibition last October. In addition, it now offers “Context Cards,” which allow users to interact with a brand’s post to view more details, such as restaurant menus or to connect with Uber.
Pinterest Curating
Pinterest recently updated its platform to allow users to reorganize pins and archive boards. That’s good news for consumers and marketers alike: Now everyone has more control over their Pinterest pages. Brands now also have the option to create a “Showcase” section of their top boards.
In addition, brands can now connect buyers with their Pinterest pages using Pincodes (similar to QR codes) to increase engagement on the platform. New visual search tools on the platform now mean that users don’t need the right keywords to find what they’re after: They just need a photo.
Social media remains an important tool in any integrated marketing strategy. To learn more about how Campfire Digital can help you with integrated marketing, social media and more, contact us today.