For the past three months or so I’ve been sitting on this idea of culminating and sharing my thoughts, ideas, and experiences with all things digital and social media. I’ve decided to kick off a weekly show briefing the social media landscape and digital trends including major platform updates and nuances; tips and tricks; and a pick of the week regarding a successful account, post, or piece of content that will hopefully lead to inspiration and ideas for many of you.
Tune in every Friday to stay up to date with all things relating to your feed!
Let’s get started.
Week 1: January 23-27
Snapchat
Twitter’s making it easier to feature (and watched) live videos with its change from the “Moments” page to the “Explore” tab. In addition to this emphasis on video, this new tab will also make it easier to find trends, searches, and Moments.
In an attempt to win over Snapchat’s audience, Facebook is attempting to integrate Facebook Stories into its app, located at the top of its news feed.
Look familiar?
That’s because Facebook-owned Instagram added the feature last year with the same exact circular button in an attempt to win competition from Snapchat, who first introduced the feature back in 2013. In my opinion, this feature is unnecessary since these exact capabilities are already available on Snapchat and Instagram. Facebook should simply continue to do what it does best, allowing friends, family, and businesses to connect through the news feed in their online community.
Instagram has yet again made a stab at Snapchat by adding two new features to the photo sharing app. They added an ads platform in between stories, something that Snapchat users are already familiar with. Instagram tested this feature by running its own ads of directions for using Instagram stories as well as some other traits of the app.
Instagram is also continuing to up its analytics game to help improve your use of the app from a professional standpoint. The analytics platform can be found on the mobile app, allowing you to find certain statistics on your followers’ engagement such as your retention rate, the percentage of people watching your last story in comparison to your first.
You might be wondering how to get access to these analytics or why they’re even important.
This feature is found under Instagram tools, but the catch is that you must have your business’s Facebook page linked to its Instagram page. This setup will allow you to have a contact bar on your profile page, enabling your audience to reach out to your business. If that’s all set, you can find and click on a graphs icon to start discovering the metrics of your posts and stories. This data will help you to discover what’s working or not, whether it be stills, videos, or your individual storytelling tactics. Knowing your retention rate can then help you determine who’s interested in which parts your story and at which point people begin to drop off, allowing you to adjust your content to gain the most views possible.
Account of the Week
Lastly, I’m going to start with a local with an Instagram account from Alexandria, VA. Check out “@visitalxva” on Instagram for your weekly dose of successful content.
This account curates user-generated content and features local hotspots such as restaurants, small businesses, and promotions. Their Instagram stories have become almost like a walking tour-taking you into shops, galleries, and bars while giving you a behind the scenes look and introducing you to those in charge and what they have to offer. This type of feature can be helpful not only in the tourism market, but in all small businesses, college campuses and cities when looking for ways to show people different aspects of your organization.
Leave a comment on what you want to learn next on the Official Social Media Recap Show! Tweet us at @fyncreative and let us know any thoughts. Make sure to tune in next Friday to catch up on next week’s share of all things digital and social media!