The Social Update: What Happened In May?

Need a quick round-up of what happened on social last month? Here are some of the most important updates in social from May and why they could impact your business.

1. Facebook Announced Two New Algorithm Updates

The first update to the Facebook news feed will be increasing the visibility of posts from your closest friends and the second is aimed at reducing 'click-bait' style content. Facebook is aiming to show users more content from the people they care about and demote posts and links which users have said are not 'worth their time' (based on user research).

These updates will make it even harder for your business to get organic reach. If you haven't already started using paid ads on Facebook in the Facebook Business Manager, now's the time to do. If you need help setting one up you can watch this step-by-step video.

2. Instagram Updated Explore Section To Include 'Shop'

There is now a dedicated ‘Shop’ category in Explore feed of Instagram personalised to your interests. This makes it easier than ever to shop from the app. If you are an eCommerce business, having an Instagram Shopping feed could massively increase your website visits and sales now the Shop category has been introduced to help with brand visibility and discovery.

3. YouTube Added New Still Image Ads

A new still image option has been introduced that will appear within YouTube home feeds. "Discovery Ads" are the new option that will use audience targeting to display ads to relevant users, based on their activity. You can use these ads to generate leads e.g. subscriptions or generate sales.

4. Instagram Is Ramping Up Efforts To Stop Apps Selling Likes and Followers

Code hacker, Jane Manchun Wong, has found some new warning messages within Instagram’s system that appear to show another step is coming for accounts that have been found to have used third-party software to gain followers. This means that if you're still buying followers or likes then you will be caught out eventually. I would NEVER suggest buying followers/likes because these are only vanity metrics - engagement (e.g. comments) is proof of meaningful value on social media.

Instagram is working on cracking down like farms and followers farms.

It's important to know that I don't work at Instagram. pic.twitter.com/EYZmMnyRC8

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 11, 2019

5. LinkedIn Updates Job Search Tools And Releases Salary Insights To Non-Premium Members

Two major job function updates have been made to LinkedIn - the job search function has moved back to the main app and salary insights are now available for non-premium users. These updates will make it easier for job seekers to find new jobs and will let people with non-premium accounts have a better understanding of their salary compared to others in their sector.