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4 Social Media Platform Updates That Will Change the Game in 2017

Inbound Marketing Strategy

It seems as though we begin each year with some major updates to social platforms that have a direct effect on marketing strategy. The big buzz word in 2017 is video and some of the updates that I am outlining below push the development of video marketing trends further. Another major trend for the new year updates is revamping current platforms to try to keep up with the innovation and hype of new apps and new features that launch each year.

Instagram "Live Stories" Launch in Europe

With live video available on virtually every social platform out there today, Instagram launched their version in 2016 to US markets. After seeing success with the first launch, Instagram decided to open up the feature to Europe in 2017. On January 17th, Instagram users in the UK were able to stream their "live stories' from anywhere with good data or internet connection. The opportunity for inbound marketing strategy is to utilize another platform when promoting webinars, live meeting, or any other live event. Being able to get the attention of users from Facebook LIVE, Snapchat, Periscope, and now Instagram from all over the world is great for your engagement and promotion strategy

Snapchat "Sequenced Messaging" for Ads

The king of live video has been Snapchat for years. In June of 2016 Snapchat made their biggest monetization pitch by offering ad space between stories of the users that you follow and on sponsored feeds. The next update to the advertising side of Snapchat is happening right now with "sequenced messaging". Advertisers can now bundle their ads to created longer ads by creating multiple ads the will play consecutively. This opportunity is available for ads that will be shown in the discover section of Snapchat. Inbound marketers should be very excited about this from an amplification perspective. You can take a 30-second Facebook Advertising spot and repurpose it into three 10-second consecutive videos with sequenced messages on Snapchat.

LinkedIn Platform Redesign

Live video and social amplification updates are big things to get excited about but, they're not the only stories that have marketers excited right now. Full platform updates are changing the way you can face your customers and professional network online. LinkedIn has just completed their largest redesign since the inception of the site. The core element of this is that messaging is a major focus with a new look and layout of the platform. LinkedIn has implemented a real-time messaging application into the site to allow you to stay in touch with potential business opportunities from anywhere on the site. From an inbound marketing perspective, the update to insights in the biggest benefit. You are now able to see who’s viewing and engaging with the content you post. These insights include information such as the company name, as well as job title and location of the people who are interested in your updates.This information is invaluable when creating persona-based content for inbound marketing strategy.

Google + Platform Redesign

Another social giant that has completed a site redesign is Google+. With Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter overshadowing Google+ for the last several years, it was time to make some changes to make their platform more effective. By adding a feature that automatically hides low-quality comments, google has accomplished that. This streamlines the monitoring process for marketers. Having visibility into only the most appreciated comments at first glance gives you insight into what is resonating with your network the most. These comments can lead to new content topic ideas for your inbound marketing strategy based on frequently asked questions or frequently noted concerns within the comments.  

 

2017 looks to be an exciting year going forward with some important and effective updates already happening within the world of social media. From increasing amplification opportunities to new ways to engage with old platforms that we have been using for years, these updates will help change the way that we interact with these social channels moving forward. These are just a few examples of how to leverage different platforms for your social strategy. Read more from our success stories.