GU Live Lunch Ep 86 - Snapchat, Instagram, Clubhouse, SEO, eCommerce, TikTok, Twitter and more...

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This week, it was just the GU team, talking about updates to Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Small Business Saturday, and how to ensure your website is SEO friendly.

Here are the snippets:

Snapchat have introduced some new layers on their Map function. Users can now see memories and locations from the last year, and the new Explore function will show what snaps other users have shared in particular places. Additionally, a new Partnered layer is upcoming, which will allow brands to sponsor particular map listings and promote their content to users in that location. Historically, Snapchat hasn’t offered much obvious benefit to small businesses, however, these new developments certainly make it worth watching. (03:13 – 05:44)

We’ve heard of a couple of tweaks to Instagram this week; they are now allowing users to delete images from their previously published Carousels. Unfortunately, there is still no option to rearrange or add images in, however. They have also introduced text to speak on Reels, which is a feature already available on TikTok. This allows users to select from available voices to read any text on the screen. Instagram allow users to select from two different voices, whereas TikTok has recently rolled out 5 new Disney voices for their version. (05:46 – 08:07)

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, YouTube has now introduced the trial of their Live Shopping feature, which is set to run until 22nd November. During the trial, selected high calibre users are recording interactive shoppable events, with viewers able to interact with videos and click on links to make purchases. If like the GU team, you don’t currently prioritise YouTube, the recent tweaks and improvements mean it can be an incredibly useful tool, especially for e-commerce businesses. (08:14 - 11:06)

In a bit of a departure from their initial format, Clubhouse has now released Replays. This feature allows creators to download audio from their sessions and share it on other platforms, as well as see information on who has attended or caught up on the replay. The feature also offers listeners the option to skip ahead to the next speaker. With so many different media types around, Clubhouse as an audio space has increased its value to its users with this update. (11:10 – 14:23)

Since the Spring of 2020, we’ve seen a real shift in TikTok becoming more mainstream and they are predicted to hit 1.5bn users in 2022. A key to the success of TikTok has been its ability to stay ahead of the game in terms of additional features, rather than allowing competitors to improve on their concept and steal their audience share. (14:25 – 17:34)

Since retiring IGTV, Instagram is really pushing their Reels feature and are using a $1bn fund to reward creators for creating content directly within the app, rather than creating on another platform and sharing. (17:51 – 19:50)

Mark saw a blog article this week that was so badly designed, that it got us talking about some of the most important considerations for writing blog posts. It’s essential to use sub-headings, imagery and call to action banners to keep your audience engaged and encourage them to spend time on your page. (20:08 – 30:01)

Although they’ve fallen slightly out of favour recently, Twitter is making some improvements to their analytics for company pages. Historically, users were only able to see numbers of impressions and engagements on each tweet, however, they will now provide more insight on tweet performance such as number of clicks and type of interaction. With a recent report stating that 25% of Twitter users are responsible for 97% of the content, implementing a strong Twitter strategy could present a great opportunity from an SEO perspective. (28:45 - 34:03)

Twitter has acquired Threader, an app, which compiles long-form content into individual tweets. This makes sharing blogs and repurposing content within Twitter far easier than it has previously been. (34:05 – 35:18)

Small Business Saturday is taking place on 4th December this year. If used well, this could offer a great opportunity to attract leads. Sharing knowledge, case studies or even hosting or participating in panel events could all generate valuable new leads. (35:26 – 38:04)

When viewing Instagram Stories on our personal pages, we’ve seen relatively few of the Link stickers which were recently introduced. We’re seeing more on the business pages, but far fewer than we’d have expected. The stickers offer a good opportunity to drive traffic, so if you’re not using them yet, why not?! (38:18 – 39:17)

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#Twitter #Clubhouse #TikTok #Instagram #SocialMediaNews #SmallBusinessSaturday #SEO