It’s been a whirlwind of changes here recently for Facebook and Instagram! I’ll cover the major social media updates for these channels in this update.
Facebook ChangesChanges to Facebook Group Types
Facebook is simplifying the types of groups by retiring 13 that now fit under three new groups; general, jobs, and health support. There will be no effects on the current group’s tools or pages, Groups that previously had no group type will be updated to general. The three new groups will have all the tools that the previous 13 had. With this update, the default group type will be general; however, the admin may change the group type in the settings.
Why It Matters
Facebook’s Group types allow people access to different tools based on the purpose of their group. Whether they are using it for Buying and Selling or Video Games and eventually when Jobs and Health roll out, each group type is there to enhance the experience for you and your members. This is not a big deal but you’ll want to ensure you check your type and update it accordingly.
Another Update to Facebook’s Algorithm
Didn’t Facebook just update their algorithm?
Well, yes they did, but the last algorithm update was slightly different than this most recent one. The last algorithm update was to minimize clickbait and other ads to sites with a highly disproportionate amount of traffic. The newest Facebook algorithm update hopes to promote a more worthwhile and close friend content.
Why It Matters
This new update is not to keep people on Facebook longer but to give them more quality content from closer friends while they are on. It is important for businesses to be aware of the changes to Facebook’s algorithm as it can affect where their posts will rank in their followers News Feeds. We need to see if Facebook Page reach goes down.
Just like Facebook, Instagram has been on a roll with changes. Some big, some not so much, but it’s important to keep up with them to see how they impact what you do for your business profile on Instagram.
Facebook just published a new guide for Instagram creators (link above!). This guide has seven main points. Where the first four points are more or less common knowledge for Instagram creators, the last three are great ways to improve your marketing strategy.
Why It Matters
These first four points are:
Keep it realPost frequently and get creativeGet closer to your fansBe a Storyteller
While most creators have heard some version of this before, it is always good to keep it fresh in your mind and consider the ways your strategy for these points change as Instagram evolves.
For example, it is recommended to post at least once a week on your Instagrams News Feed, Stories, IGTV, and do a Live video to stay in contact with your followers. Another suggestion from the guide was to use the question sticker and the @ mention sticker to interact with your followers to make them feel like they are with you.
The last three points are:
Upload longer StoriesBranded Content 1, 2, 3’sSteps to promote your IGTV content
It is recommended to upload longer stories as a way to create more unique content for your brand since stories are becoming more and more heavily used over the News Feed.
The guide also provided suggestions for branded content. They came up with three rules to follow: be transparent, be relevant, and be authentic. These points are important to keep in mind as influencers are becoming more popular because users don’t want to be sold to making it essential for businesses to make sure the influencers fit their marketing goals and style that it is a natural fit.
Lastly, the guide provides a step by step marketing strategy for how to promote your IGTV content. This six-step strategy helps you promote before and after to ensure lots of coverage for your IGTV video. Click here to see the whole six-step process.
There have been many new updates on Instagram lately including donation stickers in stories, quiz stickers in stories, new camera and navigation bar, book appointments, story video sequence new limit, IGTV layout changes, removing like counts as a test in Canada (oh my!) and more!
Why It Matters
Three of the updates that I want to mention a little bit about are booking appointments, new story sequence limit, and removing like counts. There is a booking appointment button rolling out that will allow businesses to book directly with you on Instagram. This new feature could be really beneficial for some businesses.
It is also crucial to be aware of the new limit for a video sequence in Stories. Now you can’t go over 1 minute or 4 segments, so make sure your videos don’t go over! Lastly, Instagram is in the process of testing in Canada the removal of like counts. This is to have people less focused on like counts, which is very interesting and could be disturbing to many influencers and brands that rely on information like this. This could be an interesting change but I think seeing a bit more of the data will help decide whether this will be a positive update or not.
That’s a wrap on the social media updates for this round! We’ll see you in three weeks.
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