Welcome to this week's episode of Social Chatter, the longest running social media marketing talk show where we cover the latest social media news from this past week.
As a reminder, each episode of Social Chatter is available as a blog post, video or you can listen to the Alexa Flash Briefing.
For those of you who missed last week's show with Phil Gerbyshak, Christian Karasiewicz and guest, Morgan Harrell, you can find it here.
We're also joined by this week's special guest, Ross Brand.
Let's see what's new in social media this week with your hosts, Christian Karasiewicz and Phil Gerbyshak.
Watch This Week's Social Media Updates
YouTube Channel Memberships, Merchandise and Premiers
In YouTube news, they are rolling out the following new features for creators. Channel memberships, Merchandise and Premiers.
Here's a look at how each of these can help you build your YouTube channel.
Why YouTube Channel Memberships, Merchandise and Premieres Matter For Your Business
At VidCon, YouTube announced a host of powerful new features to help you build and grow your YouTube channel. Let's take a look at each of these new features.
YouTube Channel Memberships
One new feature is YouTube channel memberships.
YouTube channel memberships will let creators charge viewers a monthly recurring fee of $4.99 to get "unique badges, new emoji, Members-only posts in the Community tab, and access to unique custom perks offered by creators, such as exclusive livestreams, extra videos, or shout-outs."
A second feature is the ability to add merchandise to your YouTube channel.
YouTube Channel Merchandise
With this feature, you will be able to add a shelf on your YouTube channel to sell merchandise.
Here's a video showing how this works.
A third feature is called "Premieres."
YouTube Premieres
YouTube Premieres are "a new way for creators to upload content to YouTube."
According to YouTube, creators will be able to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. When creators choose to release a Premiere, we'll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, they'll be able to chat with each other (and with the creator!) in real time via live chat. It's as if a creator's entire community is in one theater together watching their latest upload."
With YouTube Premieres, you'll also unlock new revenue streams for your business. For example, you'll be able to tap into channel memberships.
Here's a video showing how YouTube Premieres work.
If your business has a YouTube channel and you aren't monetizing it in the right ways, it may be time to look into using YouTube channel memberships and merchandise to help you strengthen your community and grow your business.
To read the announcement about these new tools for YouTube creators, click here.
Instagram Launches Video Chat For Direct, A New Explore and More
In Instagram news, they are launch the following new feature. Video chat in Instagram Direct, topics channels in Explore, and new camera effects.
Why Video Chat In Instagram Direct, Topic Channels In Explore and More Matter For Your Business
Instagram is adding the following new features to their platform
Video Chat In Instagram Direct
Would you like to use video chat to communicate with your customers or friends on Instagram?
Instagram is adding video chat within Instagram Direct, their private messaging tool.
You'll now be able to start a video chat by swiping into your Instagram Direct Inbox.
Within a message thread, look for the camera icon (it's in the right corner). When you're using video chat within Direct, you can minimize your video and multitask on Instagram, browse your feed, post a Story and much more.
For now, video chat is limited to up to four people at a time.
According to Instagram, "if there's an active video chat in a group thread, the camera icon will turn blue."
A second feature that Instagram is adding are topic channels on Explore
Topic Channels On Instagram Explore
Within the Instagram Explore feature (the search icon), you will now have a tray at the top with personalized channels.
These are channels on topics and hashtags that Instagram thinks you are interested in. If you would like to remove a topics channel, simply press and hold the channel and select the 'mute' option. You can unmute it at any time.
A third new Instagram feature are new camera effects.
New Instagram Camera Effects
Instagram seems to be building a number of partnerships.
Their new camera effects were designed by Ariana Grande, Buzzfeed, Liza Koshy, Baby Ariel and the NBA.
If you follow any of these Instagram accounts, when you launch your Instagram camera, you will see these new camera effects.
This is an interesting take - we would love to see businesses create more of their own camera effects to share with users (and help broaden their branding).
If you would like to get these new updates from Instagram, all you need to do is update your Instagram app.
To read the announcement about video chat and a new topic channels in Explore, click here.
Snapchat Spectacles Can Now Export Videos In Circular and Square Video Formats
In Snapchat news, you can now export videos from Snapchat Spectacles in circular and square formats.
Why Exporting Snapchat Spectacles Videos In Circular And Square Formats Matters For Your Business
Do you have a pair of Snapchat Spectacles?
Previously, you could only export your videos in a circular format.
Snapchat is now adding the ability to export them in a square format as well.
As a business owner, you may not have found the circular format to be particularly useful. By adding another format, you'll be able to quickly edit your videos and upload them to other social media channels such as Instagram.
To get the new export feature for your Snapchat Spectacles, update your app in your mobile app store.
From the "Memories" feature in Snapchat, press on "Spectacles Story" and choose the new format option.
To read more about exporting Snapchat Spectacles video in circular or square format, click here.
Snapchat Experiments With Ad Sharing Revenue
Also this week, Snapchat began testing ways to share ad revenue with its creators.
Why Snapchat Experimenting With Ad Sharing Revenue Matters For Your Business
Snapchat is currently struggling to add users, with more and more defecting for Instagram.
In an effort to encourage Snapchat creators to use the platform more (along with their self-serve ads), Snapchat is starting to offer ad revenue sharing.
While it used to be about who can build a sizable audience on a platform, it's now about who can help you monetize your content.
If you're using Snapchat on a regular basis, you may want to consider sticking with the platform to help monetize your content. Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere.
You can read more about sharing ad revenue with Snapchat creators here.
Facebook Keyword Snooze
In Facebook news, they are rolling out keyword snooze to help you control your news feed.
Why Facebook Keyword Snooze Matters For Your Business
Facebook is rolling out keyword snooze, a tool to help you control the content you see in your news feed.
With keyword snooze, you can hide posts for 30 days from your news feed that contain certain keywords.
Here's how to use keyword snooze.
"Located in a post's upper right-hand menu in News Feed, the feature gives people the option to temporarily hide posts by keywords, which are pulled directly from text in that post. If you choose to "snooze" a keyword, you won't see posts in your News Feed containing that exact word or phrase from any person, Page or Group for 30 days. In other words, fewer spoilers."
This can be a benefit for users who want a more tailored News Feed. As a business owner, you may want to be more deliberate about what you post.
Keyword snooze uses the keywords in your posts to hide them. If you're posting about politics or topics that might be controversial and don't necessarily belong in business, you may have your content even further hidden from your fans by your fans.
To read more about Facebook keyword snooze, click here.
Facebook Launches Grow Magazine
This week, Facebook launched a lifestyle magazine called Grow magazine.
Why Grow Magazine Matters For Your Business
Facebook's new lifestyle magazine, Grow, will be a quarterly print magazine.
You'll be able to find it in select airports and train business lounges.
Its purpose is to help business leaders stay up-to-date on trends during their commute.
If you don't find their magazine in your area, you will be bale to view it on their Facebook Page here as well as on a planned blog.
You can read more about Grow magazine here.
Facebook Messenger Kids Adds Kids Pledge, Kindness Stickers
Also this week, Facebook added a number of new features to Facebook Messenger Kids to include: Messenger Kids pledge, kindness stickers and appreciation mission.
Messenger Kids is also now available in Canada and Peru.
Why New Facebook Messenger Kids Features Matters
Here's a look at the new features being added to Messenger Kids.
Facebook Messenger Kids Pledge
Pledge is a way for parents and kids to encourage responsible use of the Messenger Kids platform.
Kindness Stickers
Facebook is also adding "kindness stickers" to help inspire kids to be more kind to one another.
Appreciation Mission
Messenger Kids will soon be adding an interactive guide called "appreciation mission" to help encourage kids to discover appreciation for their friends and family.
This guide is also said to include features that teach kids how to start a video call and to send a photo.
Messenger Kids In Canada and Peru
Facebook is also expanding the kids version of Messenger to Canada and Peru. You'll be able to find them in your favorite app store.
As a business owner, if you have kids, spend time getting familiar with the new app. If you have customers in your store with kids, don't hesitate to show them the app as well.
You can read more about these updates to Facebook Messenger Kids 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.
IGTV
The first tool that we have discovered this week is called IGTV (iOS).
We talked about the launch of IGTV last week on Social Chatter.
IGTV is a free mobile app for iOS and Android for creating your own long-form video channel on Instagram.
If you're a creator, you will need to use the IGTV app to upload your own videos from 10 seconds to 60 minutes.
Once you install the IGTV app, you will be asked to sign-in to your Instagram channel to link the two together.
Your Instagram channel will now show your IGTV channel underneath your Instagram bio.
If you're interested in viewing someone's IGTV channel, you can do this from the IGTV app or directly on Instagram.
Overall, we're excited about the possibilities of IGTV. Instagram is essentially taking on both YouTube and Snapchat with this launch.
To setup your own IGTV channel, download the separate app from the link below to get started.
Download IGTVSendible
The second tool that we have for you this week is Sendible (iOS).
Sendible is a leading social media management tool for digital agencies.
With Sendible, it makes it easy for you to manage your social inbox for each brand that you are working with.
Many other social media management tools lack good reporting. Sendible helps you create dynamic reports to showcase your social media analytics.
In addition to helping manage your social media channels, Sendible includes social listening tools as well. This way you can stay on-top of who is mentioning your clients on social media.
You can try Sendible for free for 30-days using the link below. Prices then start at $29 per month for a very robust set of tools to make it easier and more efficient to manage multiple social media channels.
Try SendibleWrap-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 here to find out what's new in social media!
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.
