As a social media agency, it’s vital we stay up-to-date with all the latest updates and evolutions in social – fortunately we love it, which makes it easy! As we ‘officially’ turn three this month, we’re taking a look at all the ways social has changed over the past three years.
Instagram Stories
It’s hard to remember our phones without Instagram Stories and we can’t quite believe that the feature has only been around since August 2016! When it first launched users were a little sceptical, but it’s since grown to have over 500 million daily active users (that’s 400 million more users since its launch in 2016!) And, we love them!!
With additions such as filters, GIFs, polls, Q&A features and Boomerang, Stories have given users the opportunity to bring the ‘instant’ back to their Instagram, allowing for more personal, unedited and behind the scenes content to be shared not only by individuals, but by brands too! Take a look at some of our top tips for using Instagram Stories as a brand here.
IGTV
In the summer of 2018, five years after the launch of Instagram video, the platform launched IGTV, its own answer to YouTube. IGTV allows users to share up to hour-long videos, offering brands the perfect opportunity to repurpose older video content, or create brand new videos for the platform! Whilst IGTV can be accessed via Instagram itself, it also has its very own app for those who simply want to immerse themselves in the content IGTV has to offer!
Facebook Stories
With Instagram Stories proving to be incredibly popular amongst users, it’s no surprise that the story feature was also rolled out to Facebook. Facebook Stories operates similarly to Instagram Stories and, whilst it might not seem to have had the same impact as Instagram’s counterpart, recent data has reported that it too has over 500 million daily active users!
The scope for advertising on Facebook has seen an increase, with 83% of marketers paying for ads. The platform has even managed to double its revenue per user in three years. It’s also second favourite for consuming video, with 40% of users saying they watch the most video on Facebook!
New Emojis
We love an emoji here at SCS and over the years we’ve been treated to a whole host of new faces, creatures and random objects! We’ve seen increased diversity with a range of career options, hair-styles and family set-ups, as well as the introduction of the lobster, avocado, hedgehog and many, many more new additions. We’re struggling to keep up!
TikTok
In 2018, former lip-synching app Musica.ly became TikTok. Whilst the latter had been around since 2016, the app has recently become increasingly popular amongst Generation Z, with 41% of it’s users between 16 and 24 years-old. By February 2019, it had exceeded one billion installs from the App Store and Google Play! In short, TikTok is a video sharing app that allows users to create short 15-second videos (often set to music), partake in hashtag challenges and even add themselves to other users’ videos! If you’re looking to target a younger demographic, you’d be wise to keep an eye on TikTok!
Customer Service
Social media has started to become the go-to means of communication between customers and brands. As of February 2019, 45% of consumers would go to social media for any queries or issues. In fact, 21% would rather message a brand on social instead of phoning up customer services. This means it has become increasingly important for brands to ensure their customer service extends to their social channels too!
Social media is ever-changing and these are just some of the changes we’ve seen over the past three years. We’re sure there’ll be endless updates to come and we can’t wait to see where social media will take us in the years to come!
