New Social Media Features to Increase Your Business Exposure and Engagement

The rules of engagement are always changing on social media but, algorithm changes aside, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! Because social network sites are always working on ways to improve user experience, they often release exciting new features which in turn give businesses an extra avenue to reach and engage with their customers online. Here are five new features to experiment with on your business’s social media pages.

On Facebook:

1. Facebook Frames

Looking to increase your brand awareness? Facebook Frames are the perfect way to do so! Much like Snapchat filters, they can be used as an overlay on Facebook stories, photos and profile pictures. Once you have designed your branded frame in a program such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, it can be created in Facebook’s free Frame Studio. By specifying location and keyword targeting, your frame has the potential to reach a large yet relevant audience and you can also encourage your followers to use it via a shareable link. If you are hosting an event, for example, Facebook Frames are a great way to get attendees to post branded photos whilst at the venue.

2. Voice Notes in Facebook Stories

From May 2018, Facebook is rolling out the ability to post audio clips within Facebook stories. Although currently only available to users in India, this convenient feature is set to roll out to users across the globe shortly; giving you the opportunity to share quick, easily-digestible content with your followers. The voice notes can be up to 20 seconds long and accompanied by your choice of a background colour or photo. They’re set to be especially useful for radio broadcasters and podcasters who would like to include short snippets that entice followers to listen to a complete recording online.

On Instagram:

3. Advertising of Organic Posts

Instagram has finally given business accounts the opportunity to promote existing organic posts through Facebook’s Ad Manager platform. This means you can now use Facebook’s user-friendly ad interface to set unique objectives and targeting criteria for Instagram posts. Extra engagement that comes as a result of the ad will automatically be added to the original post – wonderful news if one of your Instagram goals is to increase native post engagement.

4. Emoji Sliders in Instagram Stories

Emoji sliders are a fun new way to poll your Instagram followers. Unlike the traditional poll sticker where followers are given two options to choose from, the emoji slider lets users vote on an animated emoji sliding scale. This is a great way to discover just how strongly your followers feel about any one topic. If you own a restaurant, for example, you could use the emoji slider as a unique way to gauge the degree of interest in that new menu item you have in mind. With the ability to ask any question and choose from a variety of emojis, the opportunities are endless!

5. Embedding Posts in Stories

This new feature is the first official way to reshare Instagram posts you’re passionate about within Instagram stories. In essence, you can now embed any public Instagram post into your story post. Credit is automatically given to the user on which the post first appeared and you can also add any extra commentary. The benefits for your business are twofold. Firstly, it is the easiest way to share user-generated content within your stories and, secondly, it removes the necessity of taking and reposting screenshots of a post that you’d like to direct your followers to.