5 Big Changes in Social Media Since January 2013
The fabulous world of social media has undergone numerous changes during the recent past.
Each platform, in its quest to provide the ultimate user experience and to set itself apart as the preferred choice, has evolved continuously. While the channels battle it out, we as users have been exposed to a variety of forms of information exchange, connections and engagement. This phenomenon has resulted in a complete change in our behavioural patterns as consumers forcing digital marketers to continuously re-think their strategies to stay atop the myriad of changes that occur.
Based on our observances during the past few weeks, our team has put together 5 of the biggest changes that shook the world of social media, to help you identify ways and means of capitalising on these changes to serve your customers better.
Google+
Google’s dynamic social wing introduced new changes to enhance the experience of its users, the most prominent one being the exceptionally large cover photo. This provides marketers with (much needed) additional space to better showcase their product/service and also makes it easier to highlight any new information, promotions etc. Refer the image below to see how we have utilised the additional space to show emphasis on our service offerings and branding.
Furthermore, an overhaul of local reviews and “about” tabs are the other noteworthy changes. The new “about” tabs enable quick and easy editing of the information and each heading can be easily identified separately. This feature makes it possible for customers to understand your business better, at a glance, making it critical for you to ensure all fields properly filled.
Plans are already underway to introduce these changes to Google’s mobile apps too. And, did you know that these changes by Google+ were rolled out a day prior to Facebook announcing upgrades to their news feed?
“The most personalised newspaper” is how Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, describes the forthcoming change on Facebook’s news feed. This new look enhances Facebook’s focus on imagery, crucial for driving engagement.
This new feature will provide a larger outlook of all the stories with texts to overlay with the image. Furthermore, updates on new friends, check-ins, liking pages and events will all take a brand new twist which would create a better user experience and takes away the cluttered nature of the current news feed.
Another feature that is to be added is the “multiple news feeds” which will enable users to filter out the type of posts which they want to view and will be categorised according to photos, music, close friends, followers, groups etc. Check out this video (Source: Facebook) to gauge how the new news feed is going to look like and the thoughts behind the re-design.
With these changes coming into effect soon, businesses should focus on posting more visual content and keeping the text short so that the image gets the most attention.
Twitter Vine
Launched late January 2013, the Twitter Vine app allows users to shoot short videos for 6 seconds or less and post it on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook – a never before seen value-addition for Twitter.
What’s awesome about this App is that it allows for multiple scenes to be compiled into a short, 6 second video. You can Tweet the clip with hashtags as well!
Twitter Vine interestingly has a 17+ rating system to prevent pre-teens from posting pornography related material after controversy during its early stages of launch. Check out this short clip to see Twitter Vine in action.
Video courtesy Carvill Creative @CarvillCreative
Marketers can use Twitter Vine to introduce teasers before a new product/campaign launch or an event, or even funny videos to showcase “behind the scenes” look at your organisation.
Pinterest has seen exponential growth since its time of launch and has risen to become one of the fastest growing social media platforms around. Understanding the many benefits it offers businesses, and the fact that many are using Pinterest as an integral part of their onlinemarketing strategy, the company has made measurement easier with the launch of Pinterest Analytics. Furthermore, major changes were also done to its designs and features.
Click on the above image for an infographic which contains the complete round up of the latest changes. (Source: Mashable)
Thanks to Pinterest Analytics, you can now identify which of your content resonates best with your audience, resulting in the highest levels of engagement and re-thinking of your company’s content marketing strategy.
TweetDeck
Many of you would be familiar with TweetDeck, a tool which helps you manage your social media profiles in one platform. Earlier this month, Twitter announced they will be shutting down TweetDeck for iPhone, Android and AIR-based desktop app which had multi-columns while also putting to a halt its integration with Facebook. As a result, it was announced that more attention would be given towards building applications for web browsers and to come up with a new chrome app.
If your marketing team is using TweetDeck as a social media management tool, now might be the time to re-think your tactic and consider other options such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite and then look at re-visiting TweetDeck once the changes have been made.
There you go, the biggest 5 changes that have occurred in the social media sphere during the past few weeks. As you know, the digital world is constantly evolving and you need to keep your eye on the ball to ensure your business is not caught unaware when massive changes do take place. Keep your eyes peeled for our bi-monthly newsletter, for all the latest from the world of digital marketing.
About Logan Nathan
Social.Local.Mobile Marketing Strategist/Consultant | Speaker | Trainer
The CEO of solomoIT, Logan has been an avid & passionate social media user since the advent of Facebook. As a Social Media Business Consultant he brings to the table over 30 years of experience in MNCs and SMBs, together with running solomoIT (formerly ICTIP) for the past eight years. Connect with Logan here.
