2015 has been a bumper year already for updates to some of the biggest players in the social media game. This means that, although we’re only a few months into the New Year, we felt it would be a good idea to make you aware of the best of the bunch of new social media trends. We also want to give you a few tips on how they can be used to aid your businesses social media campaigns. So, without further ado, here are our top 5 updates to social media in 2015.
1. Facebook’s Call To Action Button
In a time of real uncertainty for some businesses about their relationship with the social media giant, Facebook have released a new feature that is actually quite useful. Next to the ‘Liked’ section on any Facebook page you manage you can now add a call to action button to encourage a certain action from you fans. At the moment you have 7 options:
- Book Now
- Contact Us
- Use App
- Play Game
- Shop Now
- Sign Up
- Watch Video
Each button is very self explanatory and allows you to guide fans in the direction of content you want them to see or engage with. It doesn’t make up for them reducing organic post reach though!
2. Facebook’s New Product Ads
If you’re already paying, or willing to pay, Facebook just got better for you too. Whereas Facebook ads used to allow you to target individual products you can now advertise multiple products (even a whole catalogue) using the platform’s effective Custom Audience mechanics. This is great news for companies that sell via an ecommerce platform but not so much for those who don’t. Find out more about your new options here.
3. Twitter’s ‘While You Were Away’ Functionality
Few of the changes to social media in 2015 are as a drastic as this. Twitter’s addition of a ‘while you were away’ section is one of the biggest alterations to their newsfeed system for a long while. Now, when you visit your Twitter homepage after a period of absenteeism, you are served past Tweets from accounts that you follow. What you see is based upon engagement and other metrics. For businesses this is great news. If your content is good enough to get high levels of engagement it could now be served to fans that wouldn’t otherwise see it. Simply put, this could increase your contents exposure on one of the largest social media platforms in the world.
This is a huge shift for Twitter who used to push the immediacy of their newsfeed as something that sets them apart from other networks. This could signal an evolution towards a more Facebook-esque style of social networking in the future. Find out more.
4. Pinterest’s Home Feed Promoted Pins
More good news for those of you that are interested in taking advantage of paid promotion. Although it is only currently being trialled in the US, Pinterest have announced the inclusion of promoted pins in user’s home feeds. This is yet another social media trend that allows businesses and marketers to place high quality, relevant content in front of the right people. When this feature will be finalised and available in the UK is yet to be announced but this is definitely one to watch if you’re a very visual brand, or have particularly good looking products and advertising.
5. LinkedIn’s Enabling of ‘Publishing’ In New Markets
Publishing on LinkedIn has been available in the US and UK for a while now, but it has recently been opened to more locations around the globe. Why does this matter to you? Well, as a person or an individual representing a business, you now have the ability to communicate with experts around the globe based on their communicated expertise. This will allow you to build professional and business relationships that may not have been open to you previously. This also means there’s no time like the present to get out there and start writing yourself! Who knows what a simple conversation could start?
Making The Most of New Social Media Trends
All of these updates are useful in their own way and present real opportunity for business owners to improve their online marketing efforts. Whether you’re looking to get more eyes on your latest products or are looking to build that next killer professional relationship, social media platforms are making it easier and easier for you to do so. However, selling via social is still a bit of an art form. For more information on how we do it check out our Sales V3 and Social Media post.
However, for your business to really get the most out of social media, you need expert insight. That’s where we come in. We run social media campaigns for all sizes, types and focuses of business and know exactly how to get the most out of all the big networks. Find out more about our social media marketing services now or give us a call on 01252 622722 to have a chat with one of our friendly boffins.
