Social Media Updates From May
Every month brings a tidal wave of new information, trends, social media updates, and changes through our screens. We filtered through the unnecessary stuff like the Yanny vs. Laurel debate, superhero movie spoilers, and Drake drama to bring you the stuff you actually need to know about.
May was a big month for business accounts looking to do better business on social media. You could definitely say digital marketing has never been more accessible for branded accounts (holla!). On Instagram, it’s getting easier and easier to do business in-app, and Facebook’s new Marketplace is promoting service providers who are ranked well, based on their Facebook reviews.
Interested? Here are all the social media updates you need to know about from the month of May.
Social Media Updates | Instagram
Instagram features changed a lot this month (but let’s be honest, doesn’t that happen every month?). Instagram’s director of product management and business, Vishal Shah, said 80 percent of consumers are following business accounts on Instagram, and 200 million users visit business profiles daily on Instagram. The new features, he said, are working to turn Instagram “from a place where business is discovered to a place where business is done.” There are so many new things being integrated, from an emoji bar to in-app payment features that will be huge for brands doing business on the ’gram. Here’s a quick summary of all the new additions to everyone’s favorite app:- The Mute Feature - At long last, Instagram has announced a new feature that will allow you to remove posts and stories from specific accounts from your feed without unfollowing them. No more awkward conversations or guilty unfollows — finally!
- In-app payment - This feature will allow users to store their payment information in their personal Instagram profile, which will allow for shopping directly from Instagram. With shoppable tags already implemented, it’s even easier to snag the sunglasses someone is wearing in a post when they are tagged.
- This month, Instagram also tested the integration of a reservation app called Resy, which allows users to book appointments at restaurants and salons. Instagram mentioned that users can expect direct payments for additional items like movie tickets.
- Call-to-action buttons - To help promote business on Instagram, CTA buttons are being added to select accounts. This will help encourage action from users as they interact with businesses. Scheduling a massage straight from the Instagram app? Yes, please.
- Updated inbox for business accounts - Now, customer messages sent to business accounts will all be found in the main DM inbox, instead of first going to a pending folder that needs to be approved to be read. In the coming weeks, Instagram will be testing “quick reply” features to allow admins on business accounts to easily respond to incoming messages.
- Usage Insights Feature - This new feature will show users how much time they are spending on Instagram. (Ignorance is bliss… we don’t plan on checking ours anytime soon). From an advertising standpoint, this could potentially lead to a reduction in usage, and therefore, a reduction in impressions, if people start trying to “disconnect” a little more.
- The Emoji Bar - Instagram has integrated a new commenting interface with a bar of suggested emojis that you can easily click to add as a comment. Eventually, the bar will feature an “@” symbol so you can tag a friend for faster content sharing. ????
Social Media Updates | Facebook
The biggest change on Facebook was definitely the GDPR update, but there are some other things that we should cover, too. In May, Facebook announced updates to Facebook Live and Stories. Team Facebook says these new features will begin rolling out in India, before hitting the rest of world “shortly thereafter.” Could you be more vague, Mark?- Facebook Marketplace - This new feature will allow users to search for home service professionals, browse through offers, see suggested services, and directly contact service providers they are interested in. Marketplace listings will include ratings, reviews, credentials, and locations for service providers. Since it all happens in-app, you can find your perfect photographer, befriend them, and discuss the details of the job all from Facebook.
- Live Crossposting - Facebook Live is now allowing all pages globally to publish live content as one broadcast on multiple pages at once. So, if your friend or your branded page is sharing a live broadcast, you can join and share it to all of your Facebook followers, too. This will be a cool feature for growing audiences, as you can take someone’s broadcast and make it available to an entirely different audience.
- Facebook Stories - Facebook took a cue from Instagram and is now adding the ability for users to save photos and videos directly to their accounts in the Facebook cloud, share voice messages with friends, and archive their favorite Facebook Stories.
