Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Updates through April 26

Change is the name of the game in social media! To be an adept social media marketer you MUST keep up with the constant changes that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the other social media networks make.

In this review, we cover some of the latest and most important updates from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that rolled out in the past 2 weeks.

Facebook Video Best Practices
Best practices and updates on video and monetization

Facebook has been moving towards giving preference to video for some time now. However, this is THE FIRST TIME they actually shared a specific guide to help! They have outlined best practices for shows and videos to engage a loyal audience.

Here are a few of their headlines and be sure to click through for the full details:

Build audiences on Facebook surfaces where people seek out content
Set and fulfill the creative expectations of viewers
Establish a release cadence
Create an active experience

Bottomline

We keep encouraging businesses to be aware that to win on Facebook you need to use some video. And, now, Facebook gives you a roadmap for how to do this! That’s H-U-G-E! Pay attention to this.

Key point: Engaging, consistent content that is connected (like episodes in a TV season). Things should build on each other and reference past videos.

Instagram Nametags and Focus
Instagram Nametags, its clone of Snapchat QR codes

Instagram nametags will allow quick access to your Instagram account. By using the Instagram Stories camera, users will be able to scan a special image that you create and which has your account username in the center. When scanned, it will take the user to your Instagram profile.

Bottomline

This is another welcomed Snapchat copycat idea! It means that businesses can more easily promote their Instagram account visually in the ever-more-popular Stories area. They can promote their nametag on other social media platforms as well, and even have it printed out on posters and merchandise.

All people have to do is scan the nametag to follow you. It’s a win for businesses on Instagram. We’ll watch for the full roll-out of this tool and recommend specific ways you can use it to grow your Instagram following.

Time spent on Instagram continues to grow as this social network moves forward with strong momentum.

Introducing Focus for Instagram

Focus is a new feature in the Instagram camera. You will notice that when you take a selfie or a picture of a person, the person stays in focus while the background is softly blurred out. It’s a nice effect.

Bottomline

This tool will allow you to focus on a person in an image and in a video. It will be another tool that you can use to create unique stories for your business. It’s just another advancement and powerful tool in your pocket to help you provide high-quality content and a great experience to your community.

Twitter Rules for SM Managers
What Do the New Twitter Rules Mean for Social Media Managers

The new Twitter rules are in place to help keep Twitter free from spam by preventing you from posting to multiple accounts, multiple similar tweets, multiple tweets to a trending topic, and simultaneously perform actions such as Likes, Retweets, or follow multiple accounts. This takes away an efficiency many people used to share the same tweet to multiple accounts but it was needed. Why? Spammers.

You’ll see this change in any Twitter tool you use.

Bottomline

Two big changes are that you can no longer select multiple twitter accounts to post to and you can’t use the drag-and-drop copy feature to copy posts to another Twitter Queue. Plan for a bit more time in scheduling your tweets!

That’s a wrap this week on important updates for you in the social media marketing space! Any thoughts on these changes and updates to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Let me know!

Want to get alerted to these updates via email in your inbox? Sign-up for my email list (2 emails a week) and I’ll also give you my free guide to Facebook Live success!

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