The summer is heating up and so are our favorite social networks! Like the array of social media updates in June, July was another busy month featuring a variety of social media changes.
If you’re planning your fall social media event calendar, check out the recent #MarketingNerds podcast episode with Kelsey and me where we discuss live tweeting and event coverage on social media.
And, if you’re interested in learning more about optimizing your Facebook ads, be sure to check out SEJ’s next #SEJThinkTank webinar with Rocco Baldassarre, Founder of Zebra Advertising, who will be highlighting how you can take full advantage of everything Facebook has to offer businesses.
Without further ado, here are some of the key social media updates from July, broken down by network:
Facebook rolled out updates making video management easier and giving Page owners more control over their video content. Page admins have new distribution and customization options when uploading videos —like the option to make it a secret video, or set an expiration date.
Learn more: Facebook Makes Video Management Easier for Page Owners
Facebook’s carousel ad format, which lets advertisers showcase multiple images and links in one ad, extended to mobile ads as well. When comparing carousel ads to standard link ads, advertisers saw a 30-50% decrease in cost per acquisition and a 20-30% decrease in cost per click.
Learn more: How to Enhance Your Ad Performance with Facebook Carousel Ads
Facebook’s rolled out an update designed to give you more control over what you see in News Feed. Facebook’s News Feed Preferences now have three additional options for filtering through the content you see when you land on the website or open the app.
Learn more: Facebook to Give You More Control Over What You See in News Feed
Facebook is rolling out video ads amongst a small test group of publishers in a move designed to attract more content and ad revenue. As an incentive to get video creators to publish more video directly to Facebook, the company will be implementing revenue sharing in a way that puts the social network in direct competition with YouTube.
Learn more: Facebook to Roll Out Video Ads, A Threat to Google’s YouTube Ad Business
Facebook is rolling out two other significant video-related changes for both users and advertisers. Its news feed algorithm will be adjusted according to interactions with videos, and the company is going to change the way it charges advertisers for video views.
Learn more: Facebook Adjusts Algorithm for Videos, Changes How Views Are Counted for Advertisers
Google+
Google announced Google+ will no longer be a requirement to access Google services. This is an especially significant change for YouTube, where users have long complained about needing to create a new Google+ page if they wanted to create a new channel.
Learn more: Google Drops Google+ as a Requirement for Google Services
Instagram brought the search functionality of its mobile app to desktop. When on the Instagram homepage, users now have a search bar at the top, which allows them to search for location tags, hashtags, and other accounts all at once.
Learn more: Instagram Now Searchable On Desktop
There are now over 1 million unique publishers on LinkedIn’s blogging platform, a milestone the company celebrated with a post on its own blog.
Learn more: LinkedIn Crosses 1 Million Publishers On Its Blogging Platform
Buyable pins, a new Pinterest feature, are now available to United States iOS users on the iPhone and iPad app. With buyable pins you can buy items you find on Pinterest directly without having to leave social network.
Learn more: Pinterest’s Buyable Pins Now Available on iPhone and iPad
Victoria Taylor, who was heavily involved in the AMA process, was let go and her firing resulted in the entire AMA Subreddit (one of the largest and most popular Subreddits) being made private, which ultimately lead to the canceling or postponing of all scheduled AMAs.
Learn more: Reddit’s Revolt: Popular AMA and Other Subreddits Taken Private
Snapchat
Now you can view Snaps and Stories of any length with a single tap of your thumb. Previously, you had to be touching the screen for the entire length of the content in order for it to play through.
Learn more: View Snapchat Stories With A Single Tap, Instead of Holding
Earlier this year it was announced Google regained access to Twitter’s firehose of data, and would once again start indexing tweets in real-time. Stone Temple Consulting recently published a study showing Google has indexed only 3.4% of tweets, meaning 96% of all tweets are currently not indexed in Google.
Learn more: Google Indexing Only 3.4% of Tweets, Mostly From Influencers [STUDY]
Which of these updates will have the biggest impact on your social media strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
Featured Image: Image by Paulo Bobita
