Users constantly adopt new behaviors, preferences and technologies. Social networks play catch up, adding new features and making changes to the user experience.
This creates new opportunities and challenges for PR and marketing pros. Because the updates roll out so quickly (and sometimes without much fanfare), it’s easy to miss the latest changes.
Here’s a roundup of this week’s social media news and updates that may impact how you conduct social PR or marketing:
Saving on Facebook – Ever wish you could keep a list of the noteworthy things on your newsfeed? Well, now you can. Facebook’s latest update allows users to save items like links, places, movies, TV and music that appear on their newsfeeds. Users can later access the saved list under the “More” tab on mobile or the side bar on the web.
For users, this means there’s a way to keep track of favorite posts. For companies, it means the lifespan of a post just got longer.
Shatner: Facebook Mentions won’t live long and prosper – The Facebook Mentions app, launched just last week, has already received a less than enthusiastic review from Twitter phenom William Shatner. To him, the app, which allows public figures with fan pages to easily access their fans’ posts and host Q&A sessions seems “ill-conceived,” and he will “continue to use [his] regular Facebook app.”
So maybe Captain Kirk isn’t a Mentions fan, but does that mean communicators should snuff it, too?
Mobile ad revenue soars – Facebook reported that 62 percent of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from mobile advertisements. The social network is projected to account for nearly a fifth of the $17.7 billion U.S. mobile ad market this year, cutting into Google’s share.
Facebook as search engine – Facebook handles 1 billion searches daily, but if Mark Zuckerberg has his way that number will grow. Zuckerberg said the social network will continue to put money and resources into search. “There’s just so much content that’s unique to the Facebook ecosystem,” Search Engine Land quotes Zuckerberg as saying. “We can answer questions for you that really no other service can.”
Buy button? – Perhaps following Twitter’s experiment, Facebook has begun testing a button that will allow customers to buy products without navigating away from Facebook.
Hillary at Twitter – Celebrities regularly are guest hosts on radio shows, answering fan questions or promoting upcoming releases. But now they’re guest hosts on Twitter? Hillary Clinton visited the Twitter headquarters Monday and hosted a live-streamed Q&A where viewers could tweet using #AskHillary to have their inquiries answered on air. Is this the next craze in publicity campaigning?
Tweets hold influence – A Nielsen study shows that 87 percent of Twitter users choose what movie to see based on tweets. Twitter might not hold that much influence in your industry, but this shows that people have come to rely on Twitter for purchasing decisions.
Direct Sponsored Content – Want to deliver more personalized content to a more targeted audience? LinkedIn has a feature for you. The new type of advertisement allows marketers to post sponsored content to their homepage and not just their company page. The content also appears only in the feeds of LinkedIn users who fit the campaigns targeting criteria.
LinkedIn to acquire Bizo – This week, LinkedIn announced it has entered an agreement to acquire Bizo, a B2B marketing firm that offers targeting and analytics to source and track new leads. This new addition, along with last week’s acquisition of Newsle, gives LinkedIn a strong argument as the most effective tool for brands to engage and build networks with professionals.
Google+
Lady Gaga now allowed – It’s taken a few years, but Google+ has finally relented on its real-name policy. Users no longer have to use their real name or “established pseudonym” to sign up and use the network. The policy had long drawn criticism from privacy advocates.
Want advice to go with these updates? Get your free Social Media PR and Marketing Cheat Sheets!
Pinterest gets s-PIN-cific – In its latest push to prioritize content discovery, Pinterest has unveiled more specific subcategories for searches. When pinners search for “DIY,” they will be prompted to follow more distinctive categories such as “woodworking,” “sewing” and “gadgets.”
Marketers, it’s time to step up your SEO Pinterest game.
Snapchat
Snapchat introduces geofilters – The new geofilter feature on Snapchat offers users new filters when they visit certain hotspots in New York City and Los Angeles. So why does this matter to businesses? Geofilters are also available for facilities and event venues. This hot new promo tool is a potential revenue source for businesses and Snapchat alike.
Are there any other social media updates or pieces of news that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image: webtreats (Creative Commons)
