Latest News in Social Media and Digital World

Week of March 25, 20222 

As you are very much aware, Social Media and the digital world is constantly changing, from algorithms to features to trends that were cool yesterday and not today, let me gather everything that has happened this week for you so you don’t have to spend any more time on social media than you have to and get back to your business of creating and growing.

Instagram

If you aren’t following Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)on Instagram, you are missing out on important information regarding the platform. He is the head of Instagram and any new updates or features that are being rolled out, he is at the front of it. In addition, on weekends, he hosts Q&A’s, so all your burning questions can be answered. 

So what are the changes that are taking place?

Chronological Order for Instagram

I know, I know. This is the ONE feature we have been asking for and it’s finally BACK BABY! For those who are new-ish to Instagram, when it first rolled out, posts were shown in chronological order. After a while, IG decided whose content to put first on the user’s feed, which was pretty awful for small business owners. Now, according to Mosseri, users will have two feeds that can toggle back and forth from. The first feed will be the much anticipated chronological which will be referred to as “Following” and the second feed will be a collection of your “Favorites” which will include your pictures and videos at the top of your feed from accounts you care about most. 

Look for the pop-under “Instagram” logo at the top left. 

My tips on how to take advantage of this

Make sure you are checking to see what time your users are the most active. Once you have figured that out, engage 10-15 minutes before that time, post your reel or on your feed, and engage for another 10 minutes after that.  When chronological feeds were favored, this was the time that small business owners could really take advantage of the reach. 

• Make sure you are posting videos and reels
• Post to your stories
• Use relevant hashtags within your niche
• Respond to comments left on your feed
• Use ALT text

Elementor

If you’ve built your website using Elementor, one of the top website building tools for WordPress, you may want to hold off on updating to the latest version of the plug-in. There have been reports that updating to any version after 3.6 can crash your site if other plug-ins are also running. So make sure that you don’t update until they fix the issue or your other plug-ins have released updates that remedy the incompatibility.

Meta

As many of you know, I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook (AKA Meta), but many business owners still find it useful, depending on their demographic. 

Here are a few newsworthy points you should not miss:

• Soon you will be able to run 3D ads, thanks for Meta signing a deal with an e-commerce technology firm name Vntana.
• Meta Publishes New ‘State of Small Business Report’ states that 1 in 5 businesses have closed in 2021. 
• Meta teams up with NatWest Bank to support female entrepreneurs in the UK. 
• Zuckerburg says Instagram will also become an NFT Marketplace. Stay tuned for more updates on this news.

Google News

Before I jump into Google News, I need to put on my “digital consultant” hat and make sure you are taking full advantage of Google for your business.

Google is an amazing resource for business owners, but many of us don’t take advantage of it as much as we should. One tool Google provides that I use all the time is Google Console, which you can download for your website or blog to track your traffic and audience. It’s FREE you guys!

With Google Console, you can see exactly where your traffic is coming from, which means you can tailor your content to best suit your readers and target audience. You can keep track of your bounce rate, so you know when people are staying on your site, and when they’re not. You can monitor analytics so you can see how well your site is doing in general and how you’re progressing over time. And you can get a great sense of who’s actually reading your content.

This free tool is invaluable, and it’s totally worth downloading right now if you haven’t done so already! 

Now, for the latest news that can affect your business:

• Google announced Wednesday that it is making improvements on how it decides which product reviews to show in the Search results. Read all about it on Google and its changes HERE.
• Google and Spotify reach a deal! A pilot program with Spotify will bypass Google Play billing on Android, letting Spotify and potential others use their own payment platform instead. If you are an app developer, this is HUGE news.
• Supporting refugees? Google My Business just added emergency help attributes for businesses in the accommodation category. If that’s you, go to your profile now and look for them under “Attributes.”

TikTok

Now is the time to take advantage of TikTok. The fastest-growing demographic on TikTok are people between the ages of 35-55. It’s no longer just a dancing or lip-syncing app (although they are fun). This is a space where you can really tap into what people are thinking and asking. Don’t be left out of the conversation. 

• Political candidates are using TikTok to secure younger voters.
• TikTok has become Cannes Film Festival’s Official Partner.
• If you are on TikTok, you have probably already seen it, but now you can upload up to 10-minute videos.
• TikTok has released Stories (think Snapchat or IG stories). With Stories, you can post content without having to commit to the permanence of your profile. So if you want to post something fun but aren’t sure how you feel about posting it for good, or if you’re just not ready for a permanent post, you can use Stories as a way to get your feet wet.