Social Media Roundup: What’s New in the Wonderful World of Social Media

I’ll admit it: of all of our monthly themes for marketing this year, September is my favorite. Sharing the newest trends in social media with others is FUN for me! And today, I get to do just that with this blog post.

Social Media Channel: Pinterest

What’s New: Buyable Pins

I think it is safe to say that most of us have been in this situation: you are browsing Pinterest, and you come across the coolest thing! Now, wouldn’t it be nice if you could buy it right there? Now you can! Well, some of you can.

In June, Pinterest announced buyable pins for Apple users by the end of the month, with Android users following “shortly after.” (Android users are still waiting as of the release of this blog post.)

While creating buyable pins requires more work for companies (only rich pins can be created as buyable pins), the overall sales potential is so great that businesses should be jumping on this opportunity before long at all.

Social Media Channel: Facebook

What’s New: “See First” Option for Users

I will be the first to admit: it was hard to pick just one change from Facebook to highlight in this post. But I felt this particular change had the potential to have the most impact on both businesses and consumers.

Basically, the “see first” option is exactly what it sounds like: Facebook is allowing users the ability to choose who/what they see updates from first. This includes friends, groups, pages – everything on Facebook you would normally get content from. So, if someone is a ‘super fan’ of your page – this might be a good thing, as they have the option to go in and CHOOSE to see content from your page first. The only problem? They have to take the time to choose who they want to see first. A lot of people will not take the time to do so.

And, for those that do take the time, most of them are going to choose to see their family and friends’ posts before they see those of companies. I almost said it’s not personal, but it very much is. If you only have five minutes to browse Facebook before your next meeting, do you want to see your best friend’s baby first, or that Shelly’s Boutique is having a sale?

Social Media Channel: Instagram

What’s New: It’s Not Just for Squares Anymore

That’s right: Instagram now allows portrait and landscape images! You are no longer confined to the trademark square shape, so go crazy friends.

Social Media Channel: Twitter

What’s New: Loosening up on the Character Count (kind of)

Twitter has announced two changes in the past six months that have loosened its stringent character count:

• Direct messages are no longer limited to 140 characters. So if you really need to say something long on Twitter, do it via direct message! Admittedly, this does not allow you to write a paragraph of content with each link you share, but it is still a big deal. Messages were always very hard to confine to 140 characters while still making it sound like you were not a teenage girl. So please, bring back words. Full-length words.
• Retweets are limited to 116 characters – but do NOT count what you’re retweeting. In other words, you see something newsworthy on Twitter but it was already 135 characters. That didn’t leave room for you to add anything to the tweet when you retweeted it. Now, Twitter turns what you are tweeting into an image BELOW what you have to say, leaving you 116 characters (the same number you have left when you tweet any image) to make your own statement.

While I doubt this means Twitter is getting ready to drop the 140 character limit all together, these are still very welcome changes in the Twitter world.

If you don’t have time to stay on top of the latest trends in social media, don’t worry! That is what your Red Sage marketing team is for! Give us a call to set up a consulting session to go over any of your social media questions today.