Newest Social Media Features Around the world
There have been a lot of new changes and features added across multiple Social Media platforms in recent weeks. Some of these changes have already been rolled out whereas many of the new features are being tested out in countries around the world. It is always good for small business owners to stay up to date and ahead of their competitors online. In today’s blog post we are going to share what these changes are and how they could be beneficial to your small business.
|Instagram Maps|
Instagram has launched a new In-App Map feature, so users can find businesses local to them. In a move to try and disrupt Google’s dominance in the Map market, Instagram has decided to test this out in Australia and New Zealand first and if successful may roll it out globally.
Users will be able to see shops, cafés, and restaurants on the new map. It will then show the location, reviews, opening hours, and more info.
In a move similar to the Snap-Chat map added back in July, Instagram will be hoping to have a more direct link to businesses with this new test feature. If you are Down Under, be sure to let us know what you think of the new feature.
|WhatsApp Business Directory|
Again, Facebook trying to rival and disrupt Google’s dominance. This time they are adding a business directory feature to WhatsApp. Users will be able to search for local businesses in the ‘Businesses Nearby’ section.
According to their press release, users will be able to “find local shops, restaurants, and businesses without leaving WhatsApp. The business directory helps businesses expand their reach, share their business information, and connect with new customers for free.
This is a great resource for Small businesses to gain an advantage over their competitors. They can have a fully optimized profile with reviews, products, services, prices, and more info.
This new product can be seen as a move by Facebook to gain a foothold in the eCommerce market. They have likely gained inspiration from WeChat’s dominance in the Chinese market, where the original messaging provider branched out into an all-conquering app where you can pay for everything, such as groceries and plane tickets within the app.
For now, the update is only available in São Paulo, Brazil. But if it is a success, it could be coming to a city near you by early 2022.
|Facebook Communication Prediction|
Across all of their platforms, Facebook gives businesses the opportunity to choose how they would like their customers to contact them. Be it Email, Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram Direct. But a new feature that is being rolled out when running an ad is Communication optimization. Businesses can already buy ads that encourage people to message them.
With this update, businesses can choose all the messaging platforms where they’re available to chat, and we’ll default the chat app in your ad based on where a conversation is most likely to happen. Facebook knows which messaging platform a customer prefers and will give them this option.
|TikTok Pin To Top|
TikTok has rolled out a new small change, but one that is very helpful. It will allow users to “Pin” up to 3 videos to the top of their feed. This is useful in many ways. You can choose the most relevant and informative videos to be stuck to the top of your profile, instead of the most recent ones, which may not be as useful as the pinned ones.
This will only affect the top line of videos, on the second line will then appear your most recent clips.
This feature has already been rolled out and is being used across all of your favourite Tik-Tok accounts!
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