State of Social Media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
In the wake of the F8 Developers Conference, I am even more inspired to share a “State of the State” report as to where Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are heading in 2019!
Facebook has 2.38B monthly active users and is growing by the day! There are endless communities gathering on Facebook and many different target demographics. You can easily find your people and speak to them through a variety of different channels of effective marketing.
Image: PCMag
New Redesign
Announced at F8, Facebook debuted a fresh redesign of their platform with further focus on privacy and intimacy. The new design named FB5 is faster, cleaner and focused on communities. It’s also visually much lighter.
Facebook Groups
One of the most effective of these channels is Facebook Groups. Earlier on in 2019, Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter about Facebook’s future focus ensuring privacy and focusing more on intimate conversations. In a 2018 Forbes article, it was shared that Facebook Group membership increased by 40% with 1.4 billion people – more than half of Facebook’s users – using Groups each month.
Within this whopping total, 200 million of these users considered themselves to be part of “meaningful Groups” making these groups an integral part of their daily lives. In the new Facebook redesign (rolling out now), Groups will be at the heart of it all with the new Groups Tab, and are considered another way we can connect on a deeper level with the interests and people we care about most.
As business owners and nonprofit leaders, we can utilize Facebook Groups to create VIP groups for our stellar clients/donors, free or paid communities to share our knowledge in our niche, as well as join other groups to provide value to more people and showcase our value.
The Future is Private
Since writing his letter on privacy earlier this year, Mark reiterated his sentiments at the F8 Conference, disclosing that Facebook is seeking out solutions to have more one-on-one conversations in an easier, more secure manner and focusing more on Messenger by also debuting a desktop version of the Messenger App.
Image: TechCrunch
All About Video
Facebook no longer seeks out square video formatting and has transitioned to their new ideal video dimensions of 1280×720. The platform has also released that its algorithm favors videos 3 minutes or more in length.
Behind the scenes, Facebook is also placing heavy emphasis on Facebook Watch, its very own video-on-demand service with unique shows and access to all users who want to upload longer content or series.
Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users and is responsible for 25% of Facebook’s ad revenue – no joke! More and more individuals are flocking to the creative, free-thinking platform to express themselves and the passion for what they do.
Ideal Dimensions – The current ideal video and photo dimensions are 1×1 or 4×3.
Be Authentic – More and more influencers and brands are taking the authentic approach to their Instagram marketing, losing their need to show “perfection” or offer up the most gorgeous, perfected “9 grid”. Instagram is headed in the direction where it is more key to share meaningful captions and content vs. the most beautiful graphics or filtered photos.
Instagram has shared their “Branded Content 1,2,3’s” as
- Be Transparent
- Be Relevant
- Be Authentic
Instagram is encouraging users to build trust with their audience by tagging businesses they partner with, working with brands whose products you genuinely promote and enjoy, and ensuring that your creative looks natural and resonates most with your organic audience.
IGTV
Create longer form vertical videos on IGTV by simply recording video on your cell phone’s camera and uploading it to your IGTV channel, or converting your more intentional, high quality promotional videos into vertical format for the ultimate viewing experience.
These videos should be approx. 2-3 minutes in length and maintain a consistent theme so your audience knows what to expect from you. Instagram also has some fantastic tips on how to promote your IGTV videos ahead of time (and after the fact).
Promote your IGTV Video
Facebook provides an informative six-step guide on how to make sure your IGTV content is seen!
- Three days before: Share behind-the-scenes content from your upcoming video on Stories.
- Two days before: Post a countdown sticker to your Stories.
- During upload: Post a preview of your IGTV video in the Feed.
- 1-10 minutes after: Use the IGTV share sticker in your Stories.
- 1-10 minutes after: Post the permalink to your IGTV video across Facebook and other social apps.
- 1 day after: Go Live to discuss reactions to your IGTV video.
Image: Facebook.com
Donation Stickers
Just released! This new sticker means you are now able to select your own (or another) nonprofit and encourage your followers to donate within the Story experience. Great for galas, fundraisers and overall campaigns in your organization.
Image: Facebook – Social Good
Creator Mode in Stories
The new “Creator” mode in Stories allows you to go straight into a poll or sticker instead of selecting a video or photo first.
Live Video
It may seem intimidating, but “going live” is one of the best ways to engage your audience and attract views. When you go live, your followers receive a notification of this – a great way to get more people onto your overall feed.
IG Live With
Instead of simply going live by yourself, you can guest another user, allowing you to have a split screen experience with that other user. Both sets of followers are notified, helping to boost followers for both participating parties.
Image: Instagram Press
Shopping from Creators
There’s a new shopping channel in “Explore”! Now when you follow your favorite creators, you’ll be able to shop directly from their posts as opposed to only shopping through the brands you know and love. This way, brands become discovered more often and users find new favorites.
Image: TechCrunch
With an overall 321 million active monthly users, Twitter is a hoppin’ space for news, dialogue and culture. A recent study by the Pew Research Center discovered that Twitter users skew younger and more Democratic than the general public. The most active tweeters – just 10% of U.S. adults – send 80% of all tweets on the platform. In addition, Pew says that only 22% of American adults today use Twitter, and their median age is 40 compared with the median age of all U.S. adults, which is 47.
New “Smart” Camera
Debuting at SXSW, Twitter’s new “smart” camera feature is rolling out to its users. Aiming to follow through on the company’s promise to promote “healthy conversation”, the platform is implementing features that will help enhance photo and video content on the app, making pictures, videos and livestreams look different when captured live, encouraging users to utilize the cameras found in their smartphones, adding features similar to those on its competitors’ apps (both Instagram and Snapchat). The camera is now even more accessible within the Twitter app – you can get there by swiping left from the timeline!
Subscribe to Conversations
Twitter is currently testing out a button that says “Subscribe to Conversation”, to be located in the top right corner of an expanded tweet view. The platform is now attempting to make itself easier to use and less prone to abuse, so creating healthier and more structured conversations is among the top goals of Twitter. This subscribe feature is another way they are working to make Twitter more conversational.
Image: TechCrunch
I am very excited for these innovative changes on the “Big 3” and can’t wait to bring you more updates on features as they are unveiled! Stay connected to me for the latest tips and tricks on Facebook @positiveequation and Twitter and Instagram at @positivequation.
If you love what you’ve read, don’t miss my upcoming FREE webinar on May 23rd: Launch Your First Grassroots Micro-Influencer Campaign! Sign up here!
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