April 2021 and May 2021 social media updates
Social media channels and their algorithms are constantly changing and evolving. Here are the updates we have seen so far in April 2021 and will see in May 2021 across social media networks, and why they’re good for your business, and how you can take advantage of the new updates and features in your social media marketing.
1. Instagram updates
- IG Stories and Reels caption sticker: converts words into text automatically, saving you precious time and enabling your videos to be watched without sound, making them more accessible and viewable. Currently available in English-speaking countries.
- Disable audio or video during collaborative lives and Live Rooms: when you’re featuring in someone else’s live, you can now turn off the latter when filming, which takes the pressure off! So if you’re more introverted, you can now feature in other lives without speaking or showing your face.
- Remix Reels: you can now add and feature other user content in your reels, so you have so much more content at your disposal to create attention-grabbing reels. For businesses, this is great because you can easily feature user-generated content or collaborate with other brands.
- Read receipts: you can now add read receipts on Instagram Direct – perhaps more intrusive for its users, yet good for helping you keep track of your customer service and communications.
- Posting to other accounts: this is an odd feature in our opinion, as most individuals want their accounts to have individual content but you can now choose to post to multiple accounts. This is beneficial if you’re a company with local brand accounts and franchises as it will save you a lot of time
- Instagram story notifications: when somebody tags you in their content, you will now be alerted in your notifications so you no longer need to check your messages or message requests. This makes sharing user-generated content faster and easier for companies.
- Instagram alt text: with a focus on keywords and SEO you can now add alt text to posts – meaning the image/video can be read by SERPs. Alongside hashtags, this should help your content be found by users interested in your business and content type.
- Pin comments: you can now pin your favourite comments under a post so they stay fixed underneath your content. This is a great way to show your business in the best light if you’ve received compliments, important feedback or praise.
- Like counts: rather than completely removing them, Instagram is testing options to turn off like counts if the user wishes to do so.
2. Facebook updates
- New Facebook Ad optimisation goal options: Facebook has added new goal options for your ad campaigns to optimise towards including a call optimisation goal, making your ads all the more effective
- CRM integration: businesses can import existing customer and lead data into Facebook Business hub for tailored targeting helping with customer acquisition and conversions
- Convert Facebook Lead Ad forms into messenger templates
- A new, streamlined business news feed: using the news feed for business you can now interact as a business
3. LinkedIn updates
There are no notable LinkedIn updates this month at the time of writing, however, following the boom in audio chat, LinkedIn are producing their very own audio chatroom to rival Clubhouse, with their USP being that the conversations will be of high-quality due to being a professional network. This is great for companies and creators who are established on LinkedIn as it offers a new way to network and promote.
4. TikTok updates
- Auto-captions: your videos can now be automatically transcribed, meaning they can be watched without sound, improving the viewability experience.
- Playlists: the new playlists feature is a great way to increase your engagement on the app – you can now group your content by themes to curate categorised playlists, making your content even more user-friendly and digestible.
- Music visualiser: real-time, immersive Music effects are a new interactive feature enabling businesses to enhance their creativity amongst their TikTok communities
5. Snapchat updates
- A new design on iOS, not yet available on Android, has been launched: chats and snaps are organised chronologically.
- Subscribe option for creators: the subscriptions section shows stories belonging to Snapchatters who are not following you back.
- Dark mode: the new available dark mode could lengthen the time users spend on the app and increase the content they consume
6. Twitter updates
- Twitter Spaces accessibility improvement: all accounts with 600+ followers can now host their own Twitter Space, enabling businesses with a smaller Twitter following to host and participate in their own conversations. Eventually, everybody, no matter what their follower count is, will be able to create a space.
- Simplified promotion: the network is reportedly rolling out an improved way to promote tweets more easily across the platform, making it easier for businesses to boost particular tweets
- Threaded conversation: Twitter is now allowing users to thread additional content into their conversations and tweets, so you can complement your content with extra insights and material
- New topic picker: there is now a specific, glossy new page for finding new topics across the platform meaning your content could more easily reach your audience niche
7. YouTube updates
No updates have been rolled out or announced so far this month, however in April 2021 it was reported that YouTube are testing options for removed like and dislike counts.
Now that we’ve covered the latest updates, you may want to consider which social media channels are best for your business.
Learning new tools and features to market your business online is a tedious task. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for updates on the latest social media trends! We’re here to help you stay competitive in the ever-changing world of social media.
Related content:
How To Create A Social Media Plan For Your Business
How Social Media has Impacted the Way we Market Our Businesses
