Welcome to this week's episode of Social Chatter, your weekly social media marketing talk show where we cover the latest social media news from this past week.
Each episode of Social Chatter is available as a blog post or video.
Let's see what's new in social media this week with your hosts, Christian Karasiewicz and Jessika Phillips.
We're also joined by this week's special guest, Keri Jaehnig.
Watch This Week's Social Media Updates
Adding Snapchat Links, Voice Filters and Backdrop
In Snapchat news, you can now add links using the paperclip feature, use voice filters and add backdrops.
Why Adding Snapchat Links, Voice Filters and Backdrop Matters For Your Business
This week, Snapchat rolled out a host of new features, some of which as a business owner, you will want to begin using.
Let's take a look at Paperclip, voice filters and backdrops.
Paperclip
With Paperclip, you can now attach website links to your snaps.
When people see your snaps, they can swipe up to launch the browser, while keeping them on Snapchat.
To add website links to a snap, tap on the paperclip icon, add your link and select "attach to snap."
The ability to add links to snaps is a radical departure from Snapchat's earlier stance on links.
We'll see if this new feature keeps users within the Snapchat platform.
Voice Filters
The next new feature are voice filters.
They're exactly what they sound like - the ability to select a voice and then record yourself.
The voice filters include cats, robots and more.
While this doesn't seem like a feature businesses might use, we think it could be something Snapchat uses if they develop further partnerships with Disney and others to let users buy voice filters of their favorite characters.
To add voice filters, tap on the volume icon and select a new voice filter.
Backdrops
The last new feature this week from Snapchat is called backdrops.
To use backdrops in Snapchat, tap on the scissors icon and then trace around the object.
Choose a background design to insert between the objects you traced around.
Right now, the only backdrops you can choose from are ones that Snapchat provides.
In the future, we could see them allowing businesses to create their own "step and repeat" backdrops with their logo or products that they want to promote.
To read more about Snapchat links, voice filters and backdrops, here.
Photo and Video Replies In Instagram Stories
In Instagram news, they have added photo and video replies to Stories.
Why Photo and Video Replies In Instagram Stories Matter For Your Business
As an Instagram user, you want the ability to reply to someone in Instagram Stories.
This let's you send an appropriate reaction as you are viewing someone's story.
This week, Instagram has rolled out the ability to add a photo or video to Instagram Stories.
You can send a selfie or use the Boomerang app to add a unique response.
In addition, you can add face filters, stickers, Rewind and more.
What's also neat is that when you send a reply in Stories, they'll "include a sticker you can move around and resize."
Here is a screenshot showing where you can add a reply.
Instagram also mentions that "as with disappearing photos and videos in Direct, your friends will know when you've taken a screenshot or replayed a reply."
As a business owner, this can be a great tool to use to create direct responses to customers.
Typically, most customers don't expect a reaction or response from the owner.
With the ability to reply with a photo or video in Stories, this might encourage you to connect on a deeper level with your customers.
To read more about Instagram photo and video replies in Stories, click here.
Facebook Wi-Fi Expands Globally
In Facebook news, they have expanded Facebook Wi-Fi globally.
Why Expanding Facebook Wi-Fi Matters For Your Business
As a business owner, you should be excited about Facebook expanding Wi-Fi globally.
One of the biggest challenges with staying connected with friends and family is having a reliable data connection.
Sometimes this can be hard to do when you're in another country.
By expanding Facebook Wi-Fi globally, Facebook is continuing to help the world stay connected.
As a business, this is great news for you as well.
"Find Wi-Fi helps you locate available Wi-Fi hot spots nearby that businesses have shared with Facebook from their Page. So wherever you are, you can easily map the closest connections when your data connection is weak."
Think of it like free marketing for your business.
If you offer Wi-Fi, chances are you'll be able to bring people into your business.
Maybe they won't buy something, but they might recommend your business to their friends who will.
To use the Facebook Wi-Fi feature on your iOS or Android device, follow these instructions.
- Launch the Facebook mobile app
- Tap on "more"
- Tap on the "find Wi-Fi" tab
Here is a short video showing you how to use the Wi-Fi feature in Facebook.
You can read more about Facebook Wi-Fi on the official Facebook blog.
More Informative Links In the Facebook News Feed
Also in Facebook news, they are once again making updates to links shared in the News Feed.
Why Informative Links In the Facebook News Feed Matter For Your Business
In an effort to improve your Facebook experience, Facebook is looking to remove low quality content links.
These include items such as clickbait, sensationalism, and misinformation.
As a business, you want to be sure you are sharing quality content.
Not only will this help reduce the chances your content has a low relevancy score, but it will also help you attract more of the right people to share your content.
As is typical, whenever Facebook makes updates to the News Feed, business always wonder how it impacts their Facebook Page.
Here is a statement from Facebook.
"Most publishers won't see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed. Publishers that get meaningful distribution from people who routinely share vast amounts of public posts per day may see a reduction in the distribution of those specific links."
Facebook also shares a link to base guideposts that you should be aware of.
You can view them here.
You can read more about Facebook's changes to links in your news feed here.
Tools
In addition to sharing the latest news from this past week, we also highlighted some great social media tools and apps for you to check out.
Stencil
The first tool that we have discovered this week is called Stencil (web).
Stencil is a tool for creating visual content.
With Stencil, you get a complete editing package.
You can choose from over 1,000,000 background photos, 500+ templates, 100,000 quotes, nearly 2,000 Google web fonts, 200,000 icons and graphics and include your own logo.
Together, you can create images for your social media channels or blog posts in minutes rather than hiring a designer.
Stencil is available for free or you can upgrade to their Pro or Unlimited plans to get additional features.
You can sign-up for a free Stencil account using the link below.
Try StencilEnlight Photofox
The second tool that we have for you this week is called Enlight Photofox (iOS).
Would you like to create unique designs from your mobile device?
Instead of relying on expensive and complicated software, with Enlight Photofox (also known as Enlight 2), you get a sophisticated photo editing app that let's you create layers, apply special effects, fonts and more from your mobile device.
This way you can quickly create your own professional-looking images in less time.
Enlight Photofox is a freemium app.
You can download it from the link below.
Download Enlight PhotofoxWrap-up
That's it for this week's show!
To watch next week's episode of Social Chatter, your weekly social media marketing talk show, tune-in to our Facebook Page to find out what's new in social media news!
If you have any questions about of the social media news or tools that were mentioned this week, please share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or in the comments below.
