June may have marked the shortest day of the year (or the longest depending on where you are in the world) but it’s been jam-packed with social network updates.
Once again we have stayed on top of all the important developments so we can give you a monthly roundup of the must-know social media updates.
Instagram and Pinterest Celebrate Pride
Pride festivities didn’t pass unmarked for the marketing teams at Instagram and Pinterest.
Both social media platforms were keen to show their support of equality and diversity.
Instagram users were given the option of a rainbow version for their Instagram profile.
Similarly, Pinterest created Pride-themed pins to inspire users on how to get involved with the festivities, and rainbow search features.
They also had a presence at local Pride events.
Instagram Launches IGTV to Promote Long Form Videos
In efforts to continually expand its functionalities and compete with other social networks such as YouTube and Snap, Instagram has launched a new app called ‘IGTV‘.
This long-form video hub comes in a separate app but is also accessible via Instagram’s native app.
Creators and brands can now create long-form videos, similar to Snapchat’s Discover, that appear as ‘channels’ on a followers’ app.
Although the new app emphasizes vlogs that last around 10 minutes, videos can go up to 60 minutes and be up to 3.6gb.
This feature creates yet another avenue for creators and brands alike to provide engaging content for their audience – vertical style.
YouTube’s New Creative Suite
Instagram hasn’t been the only one sprucing up creative features for users. YouTube is now introducing a more advanced creative suite as part of its AdWords program.
Marketers will be glad to hear that this will include video experiments, video creative analytics, YouTube director mix and Ad sequencing.
More options like this will potentially improve usage among those in the video and marketing industry, keeping competitors such as Vimeo on their toes.
A lot of the tools are still in BETA but Google and 20th Century Fox have been playing around with the developments – it’s definitely something to keep an eye out for.
Channel Memberships to be Rolled Out on YouTube
Speaking of YouTube, they’ve also announced this month that they plan on creating channel memberships and other features to enhance contributor’s ability to make an income.
Sounds great right? But there is a catch.
To participate you have to be part of the YouTube Partners Program and have a minimum 100,000 subscribers – not for the small players.
However, it is great news for those eligible users looking to increase revenue.
Subscribers will be able to see members-only content and enjoy additional features.
Facebook Watch Features
It seems that a lot of the June updates are focused around improving video broadcasting via social media.
Facebook recently announced that it will be expanding its Facebook Watch (a dedicated video space for its users) services to make it more in-line with YouTube.
The aim is to enable curators to build brand awareness and earn income from video content.
It will allow advertisements to promote businesses and has tools to identify potential viewers for content.
Additionally, content creators will be able to search for partners to collaborate or create sponsorship options, which will hopefully lead to some creative and interesting campaigns.
Facebook will also be creating a subscription area where users can sign up for paid monthly features on video channels that they like.
Sound familiar?
Seems that Facebook is watching Youtube closely.
Facebook Messenger Video Advertisements
Facebook Messenger announced permitting video advertisements on the platform.
It’s still early days and in the very beginning stages but autoplay video ads will be rolled out.
Will this change user behavior with Facebook Messenger?
Potentially, since it is more of a closed network.
Some users may feel as though their privacy is being infringed but the long-term effects won’t be observed for some time.
New Messenger Kids Features
Facebook Messenger has also got a revamp on the kids version.
Children have had the ability to use a child-friendly version of the application to stay in contact with family and friends.
The new features of the application in June includes a range of new interactive features such as child-friendly stickers and updated parental controls.
Facebook has been in the midst of a lot of data scandals recently, including hitting the news this month for mishandled data, so updates of Messenger kid privacy and controls are likely to be received well.
More Updates on Facebook ‘False’ News
Perhaps the data mishandling has prompted the latest update of false news checking from Facebook.
The platform has announced that it will limit the amount of fake news posted with a control feature for fact-checking.
Instagram shoppable stories
Instagram has furthered its shoppable functions as touched upon in last month’s roundup.
Users can now use the stories option to create shopping stories.
What does this mean exactly?
You will be able to click on a shopping icon in a story, see all the details and purchase without ever leaving Instagram!
This is a marketing dream for creating interactive brand awareness and enabling conversions at the click of a button.
Users get to follow their favorite brands and stay on track with latest trends and products.
Instagram @mention Sharing Feature
Instagram has also improved the mention feature within stories.
When someone mentions you in their story, you’ll now be able to share that photo or video into your own story.
This can be a great way for brands doing influencer or UGC marketing to optimize their content reach while keeping it authentic.
LinkedIn Advertisements
LinkedIn has introduced carousel style adverts to their platform.
Marketers can now tell a more comprehensive story of their brand through multiple images and stand out from the normal newsfeed.
June seems to have been flooded with updates particularly in the video broadcasting domain.
Platforms seem keen to enhance this area due to its potential for marketing and increasing growth of users.
Marketers should definitely continue to pay special attention to this area in the coming months to create successful campaigns based around video content.
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