Every month on the blog, check out my summary of digital marketing news and social media updates so that you can keep up to date with what you need to know.

Social Media Updates this month

Instagram tests hiding likes

Watching likes clock up on Instagram is addictive and of course, it’s a great way to find out what content is hitting the right spot with your audience. But it can also mean pressure to collect vanity metrics.

Instagram is testing hiding likes from followers so that only the account holder can see the number of likes. This means that you will still be able to track the effectiveness of content but should also discourage fake engagement. Watch this space…

Instagram adds quiz stickers for Instagram Stories

Here’s another update from Instagram, which has now officially added quiz stickers for Instagram Stories. This new feature offers you the ability to ask up to four multiple choice questions via Stories.

This is a great way to further engage your fans with fun content and quizzes related to your brand.

Linkedin tests a new freelancer services field

With the freelancer economy booming, Linkedin is testing a new field that allows users to add their service to their profile. The field asks, “Are you a freelancer or business owner? Showcase services you offer to find new clients.” This would allow freelance consultants or sole traders a better opportunity to be found on the platform.

Linkedin reactions

Do you feel that you can’t express yourself fully on Linkedin? Now this B2B social channel is rolling out new reaction buttons.

“One of the things we regularly hear from all of you is that you want more expressive ways than a “Like” to respond to the variety of posts you see in your feed. At the same time, you’ve also told us that when you post on LinkedIn, you want more ways to feel heard and understand why someone liked what you said.” (Linkedin)

There are 6 reactions:

  • like, love, or celebrate to show support, offer praise, congratulate peers on a new job
  • insightful to respond to a piece of interesting content
  • curious to demonstrate that you want to find out more.

Do you have access to these new reactions yet? Let me know how you get on with them.

Facebook ad manager gets a refresh

Facebook ads manager is being refreshed. The channel is rolling out a new simplified ads manager interface, including:

  • Copy and paste functionality on campaign creation
  • Auto-naming feature that will make it faster for businesses to customize their campaign, ad set and ad names
  • Intuitive ad-level creative and placement editing tools

These updates are expected to be available to all Facebook advertisers by next year, and updates to Business Manager are also planned.

If you’re interested in finding out more about digital marketing and how it could help your business, get in touch.