Top Social Media Changes in 2017

With 2018 on the horizon, we are looking back on the good, the bad and the ugly 2017 brought us! While social is constantly changing presenting new challenges around every corner, there were some positive developments for the everyday user and marketers alike! While this isn’t a full comprehensive list of all the changes, we think the changes outlined below should be celebrated by marketers. If you agree, lets chat!

Facebook Helps User & Brands Tell Stories

When snapchat launched in 2013, the platform was an instant success in the social media space drawing in a younger audience. It wasn’t too long until Facebook got down and dirty and cloned the stories feature first rolling out a similar feature on Instagram in August 2016 then to their own Messenger app shortly after.

Facebook brought heat in 2017 when they allowed users the option to share their Instagram Stories to their Facebook Stories. This feature drastically cut down on the annoyance of manually syndicating your stories which takes time and reduced image quality.

Shortly after, Facebook Stories rolled out the feature to Pages which allows brands, new publishers, athletes and nonprofits to join in!

LinkedIn Lead Generation Ads

For B2B brands, managing a social media presence might not be cut and dry, but social media can still play an important role in your overall marketing strategy. LinkedIn can be an effective advertising platform with the right messaging, right budget and right targeting.

LinkedIn sweetened the deal earlier this year by adding a Lead Generation Form option to its ad platform. This allows users to opt into your company’s offer with just one click encouraging an impulse buy. A couple of months after launching Lead Generation Ads, LinkedIn added additional features such as custom questions according to Adweek.

Twitter Doubles Character Count

Hello, 280 characters! This November, Twitter announced it will roll out a 280-character limit for a single tweet after testing among a handful of user since September.
What does that mean for marketers? Social Flow reported that people are retweeting and liking longer tweets almost 2X more than shorter ones.

Pinterest Improves Search

Pinterest stepped up their game this year and added several new features to the platform to improve search. In February, the platform launched ‘Shop the Look’ which allows users to find and jump to additional products within a photo they are currently viewing. This announcement came along with two additional features, one built around searching for ideas and products through pointing your camera at something called ‘Pinterest Lens’. This is crucial for Pinterest as they strive to give marketers and brands a way to drive users to their products.



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