Social media has had explosive growth in the last few years; we’ve gone from teens using MySpace to 1.8 billion Facebook users worldwide. It seems that almost everyone is using it to communicate now, especially businesses – there are more than 60 MILLION active business pages! Our favorite social apps have had some recent updates and we want to make sure you know what’s new so you don’t miss out on all they offer. Most of the updates we’ll review point to increasing popularity in photo and video sharing. We’ll tell you what the changes are and what it means for business.
What’s new: Facebook has changed the way we see Business pages; the most recently shared photos and videos are positioned at the top of the page, with all posts situated below them. They’re also encouraging more video sharing by creating videos for users to share on their Timeline for holidays, birthdays, “friend-iversaries” and other celebrations. The videos are personalized and contain photos shared by each user, highlighting shared memories and major life events.
Why do we care?: Facebook’s growth has been nothing short of extraordinary over the years, especially since some were uncertain about its fate after Myspace began to fade. Some people thought Facebook might follow in the footsteps of MySpace, but it surprised us all and went the opposite way. Their rearrangement of Business pages and video increase has proven the importance of visual media on social channels. Posts without photo or video can get lost on Facebook feeds, because text doesn’t stand out to app users anymore. Hubspot released a list of visual marketing stats that demonstrate this importance. They note, “Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images.” 94%! Is that enough to get you to start sharing more visual content? The content can contain much more than photos and video as well. You can share charts, infographics, and similar images to increase the likelihood of someone seeing and engaging with your post.
What’s new: You can now save photos and videos on Instagram and view them later. Only you are able to see the ones you save and it’s a convenient way to keep tabs of things you’ll want to look at later. Instagram also gave users the ability to post live videos on their Instagram Stories at the beginning of August. We can already see businesses taking advantages of this feature.
Why do we care?: Instagram is one of the most popular social apps. It’s part of the Holy Trinity of social media, if you will. It’s given users what they asked for repeatedly and is also doing a great job of competing with Facebook and Snapchat. These three apps all have similar features and aren’t know so much by their staples anymore. They all contain a little bit of each other in each app and doing the opposite of what platforms like Myspace and Twitter did. They’re adapting and making changes to give social media users what they want. This approach demonstrates the importance of satisfying your customers to keep them around. You don’t want to drive business away because you want to do something that isn’t popular. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn’t. Instagram was smart and did just that. They added video, which Facebook and Snapchat have had for quite some time. They also added the capability for users to send photos to others through the app directly. People can talk about photos on Instagram and share things easily without having to screenshot the image and text it to someone – the old and inconvenient method!
SNAPCHAT
What’s new: Snapchat gives their app users a smile on their birthday with each snap box containing a bow on it before it’s opened. Each snap looks like a present and they’ll also get a birthday cake next to their name! Users can also make their own stickers to put on their snaps now. Making a Snapsterpiece has never been more fun with stickers, filters, and Bitmoji’s! If you have a Bitmoji, connect it to your Snapchat and your other friends who have done the same will show up with yours when you snap them. Both of your Bitmoji’s become partners in crime on your Snapchat screen. It’s quite entertaining, if you ask us!
Why do we care?: Social media isn’t just about saying “hi” to distant relatives and sharing pictures of your tasty lunch plate anymore. People are sharing more photos, videos, and now have the ability to get more creative when they do so. It’s gotten people more involved (and more creative) in the way they share their information across social platforms and connect with one another. Snapchat is prominent and able to compete because their app focuses on photo and video. Though they’ve given users the ability to chat and use text on the app, we think they’ll stay relevant for quite some time, as they are another company granting the wishes of their users and competing with their contenders.
What’s new: It’s a small change, but it’s important nonetheless. Pinterest introduced Showcase for Business, which allows businesses to show off a couple of their best boards at the top of their Pinterest page. It displays in a slideshow format and let’s your customers get a preview of all the things you have to offer.
Why do we care?: Pinterest has always been known for pictures and they introduced videos a while ago, which play when you scroll up or down on your phone. These updates, once again, highlight the importance of photo and video. Why wouldn’t companies adapt to increase the amount of visual content they display on their websites, apps, and social channels? Every smartphone comes with a camera now. Users are sharing more visual content and want the same from businesses.
APPLE SOFTWARE UPDATE
What’s new: We all know Apple is constantly changing and offers a new software update more than most companies, but we’re paying attention to one small feature that relates to visual content: the increase of emoji’s after update 10.2.
Why do we care?: Even our text messages and the way we speak to people are becoming more visual. Emoji’s are a fun addition to any text and help decipher tone, which can be easily misinterpreted with the lack of face-to-face communication. This illustrates yet another increase in visual content. If emoji’s are important to your consumer, it’s probably worth using them as a business to communicate and connect with them. ?
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