Get in touch
Start a project

Social Media Features You May Have Missed

2020 was certainly an interesting year, to say the least (and has unfortunately carried over to 2021!) While the pandemic raged on, people started running out of things to do, and as we went into lockdown around the globe, the social media tech-heads put their brains together to come up with some new social media features to keep us all entertained. While you may have heard of some of them (Instagram Reels, we’re looking at you!) there are a few others that may be news to you.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane and have a look at the latest social media features launched, platform by platform in 2020.

Instagram

Reels:

First and foremost, let’s talk about Instagram Reels – one of the biggest features to be released in 2020.

(If you missed our blog on it towards the end of last year take a peek here)

While many were quick to point fingers towards this being a “Tik Tok rip off”, Reels have allowed businesses to create short, quirky videos to showcase their personality through product demos, how to’s and DIYs. Reels can be seen by anyone if your profile is on public, so has been a hit with businesses trying to expand their following and reach a larger audience.

Instagram Shop:

In July of 2020, Instagram Shop hit our feeds, making it easier to discover products from brands and creators. This one is super exciting for businesses for a few reasons, mainly that their shop can easily be discovered. It also allows consumers to view the cost of items with a simple tap and visit the website with a click of a button instead of having to search for the company website. Shops are also categorised, along with editors picks, collections and the option to save items to a wish list. This new social media feature is an extremely important one for online stores wanting to expand their reach and get discovered.

Professional Dashboard:

One of the more recent social media features to grace Instagram is the professional dashboard that many businesses and creators will have noticed pop up.

The Instagram professional dashboard is to track your performance, grow your business and stay informed.

Performance tracking enables you to see all of your insights in one place, including accounts reached, content interactions, promotion statistics and individual story and post insights from either the last 7 days or last 30 days. Very similar to the insights button, but with an added graph under the professional dashboard tab.

The grow your business section provides you with options for promotions, branded content approvals, online shopping set up and the ability to create saved replies to common questions.

Staying informed gives you a section to view tips and best practices from the Instagram team, including posts on how to plan content, boost engagement and set up an Instagram shop.

Facebook 

Cross-app Messaging:

Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Facebook, so it totally makes sense for you to be able to message across platforms, right? Well, an update late last year merged the messaging platforms across both Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct messages – basically meaning that you can message someone’s Instagram account from Facebook Messenger and vice versa.

This makes it a lot easier to share memes with your Facebook friends who may not have an Instagram account or share a cool event you’ve stumbled across on Facebook that you want to send to an Instagram pal and everything in between.

Business Suite:

You may have noticed your Facebook pages app stop working, and that’s because Facebook Business Suite rolled out towards the end of 2020. This platform is available across both desktop and mobile sites, with easy access to all business tools such as posting, messaging and advertising capabilities. Business Suite was designed to make it easier for businesses to manage their Facebook and Instagram accounts – if you want to schedule posts to go out to Facebook and Instagram, you can!

All the capabilities that were available in Facebook Business Manager have migrated over to Facebook Business Suite, the difference being that you are now able to see all of your business accounts and pages in one place – including Instagram accounts – making it a lot easier to swap between accounts, post content and ads, respond to messages and view analytics.

Facebook Advertising Capabilities:

Facebook ads have implemented more features to improve the advertising process for businesses. It is now easier than ever for businesses to use Facebook ads, no matter what type of business they are.

There are now creative tools in place to make your dynamic ads as compelling as possible to your target audience. Facebook now lets advertisers turn their existing images and text assets into videos with video templates. These templates are made to create videos for mobile ads. Speaking of videos, you are also now able to see more in-depth metrics for video ads that you post. 

In the middle of last year, Facebook ads also brought out story carousel ads for Instagram. According to Digiday, carousel ads are ten times more likely to produce a result than other ad creatives.

LinkedIn

Live Video:

One of the major features to hit LinkedIn in the past year is the live video feature. Live video on LinkedIn allows brands and creators to connect with their audience on a more personal level, allowing them to reach a larger amount of people. According to Later, LinkedIn Live has seen x24 more comments on average than any other type of LinkedIn post.

Post Reactions:

Following Facebook’s lead, LinkedIn introduced reactions for posts. Instead of users only being able to ‘like’ a post, they now have the option to engage by throwing out a reaction – a like, celebrate, support, love, insightful or curious.

LinkedIn Stories:

Again, similarly o other social media platforms LinkedIn has introduced stories – posts that are published to your profile that last for 24 hours. Your audience can engage and respond as they would be able to on Facebook or Instagram.

Add an Event:

This feature is something that can be super useful for networking. You can now create an event on LinkedIn (like how you would on Facebook) and invite your connections to attend. This feature also allows you to add an online booking link so that you capture the data of participants, as well as providing you with the option to add a video meeting link.

Polls:

Everyone loves a good poll! They are one of the easiest ways to capture engagement, as they are generally catchy questions that where audiences choose between one answer or the other with a single tap. Polls have been rolled out on LinkedIn giving businesses another way to engage their audience.

New social media features are getting rolled out all the time, making it easy for some to fly under the radar. But getting ahead of the game and on top of these features will allow you to advance and scale your business – and learn a thing or two in the process!

Get in touch with one of our team members today to chat about what features could benefit your business.

Ready to build, nurture or evolve your brand?

Get in touch
Contents

One of the hardest things about running a business is knowing what actually deserves your attention.

When you`re inside it every day, everything can feel important. The website needs updating, content needs creating, marketing isn`t quite working, the messaging feels off. Someone suggests a new platform, another campaign or a complete change in direction. But more activity isn`t always the answer.

A big part of Jessica`s work, both through Oraco and the business owners she mentors, is helping people step back far enough to see what`s really going on.

– What are you actually trying to achieve?
– Who are you trying to reach?
– What`s already working?
– Where is the real disconnect?
– And what can probably wait?

Sometimes the most valuable strategy isn`t adding another thing to the list. It`s creating enough clarity to know what matters now, what comes next and what doesn`t need your attention at all.

If you`re looking for strategic advice, a fresh perspective and someone to keep you accountable to actually doing the things you said you were going to do, Jessica offers one-on-one business strategy and mentoring sessions. Shoot us a DM to find out more.

43 13
Open post by oracoagency with ID 17986629341863106
One of the hardest things about running a business is knowing what actually deserves your attention. When you're inside it every day, everything can feel important. The website needs updating, content needs creating, marketing isn't quite working, the messaging feels off. Someone suggests a new platform, another campaign or a complete change in direction. But more activity isn't always the answer. A big part of Jessica's work, both through Oraco and the business owners she mentors, is helping people step back far enough to see what's really going on. – What are you actually trying to achieve? – Who are you trying to reach? – What's already working? – Where is the real disconnect? – And what can probably wait? Sometimes the most valuable strategy isn't adding another thing to the list. It's creating enough clarity to know what matters now, what comes next and what doesn't need your attention at all. If you're looking for strategic advice, a fresh perspective and someone to keep you accountable to actually doing the things you said you were going to do, Jessica offers one-on-one business strategy and mentoring sessions. Shoot us a DM to find out more.

Last week, we lost someone very special.

Sean was a former Principal of Mannix College, a longstanding client of Oraco`s, and someone I was lucky to get to know over many years.

I first met Sean in 2012 through my work with Mannix, and I remember instantly clicking with him. He was incredibly kind, funny, super organised and genuinely caring. He made working together easy, but he was also someone who took the time to get to know you beyond the work itself.

Every year, without fail, Sean would send me a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year message, always accompanied by a quirky little Bitmoji of himself. Even after he finished as Principal and we were no longer working together regularly, those messages continued. It`s such a small thing, but I think it says a lot about the kind of person he was.

I`ve worked with Mannix since 2009, a relationship that now spans close to two decades, and Sean sits right in the middle of so many of those memories. He was there through an important chapter in my career and Oraco`s growth, trusting us with Mannix for many years, and still making the effort to stay in touch long after our working relationship changed.

Looking back, it means a lot that such a longstanding professional relationship also brought someone like Sean into my life.

As the Mannix community gathers today to celebrate Sean`s life, I`ll be joining the service from home and thinking of his family, friends and everyone at Mannix. I had hoped to be there in person, but I`m glad I`ll still be able to join everyone in remembering him.

Thank you, Sean, for your kindness, your humour and for always finding a way to put a smile on people`s faces. You made a difference to so many people, myself included, and I`m very grateful our paths crossed.

Leanne x

Photo courtesy of Mannix College.

17 1
Open post by oracoagency with ID 18016270139941947
Last week, we lost someone very special. Sean was a former Principal of Mannix College, a longstanding client of Oraco's, and someone I was lucky to get to know over many years. I first met Sean in 2012 through my work with Mannix, and I remember instantly clicking with him. He was incredibly kind, funny, super organised and genuinely caring. He made working together easy, but he was also someone who took the time to get to know you beyond the work itself. Every year, without fail, Sean would send me a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year message, always accompanied by a quirky little Bitmoji of himself. Even after he finished as Principal and we were no longer working together regularly, those messages continued. It's such a small thing, but I think it says a lot about the kind of person he was. I've worked with Mannix since 2009, a relationship that now spans close to two decades, and Sean sits right in the middle of so many of those memories. He was there through an important chapter in my career and Oraco's growth, trusting us with Mannix for many years, and still making the effort to stay in touch long after our working relationship changed. Looking back, it means a lot that such a longstanding professional relationship also brought someone like Sean into my life. As the Mannix community gathers today to celebrate Sean's life, I'll be joining the service from home and thinking of his family, friends and everyone at Mannix. I had hoped to be there in person, but I'm glad I'll still be able to join everyone in remembering him. Thank you, Sean, for your kindness, your humour and for always finding a way to put a smile on people's faces. You made a difference to so many people, myself included, and I'm very grateful our paths crossed. Leanne x Photo courtesy of Mannix College.

One year of @twobayslaundry 🤎

A year ago, Two Bays Laundry opened its doors with a brand we’d had the pleasure of helping Liz and Kirill bring to life from the very beginning.

From strategy through to the visual identity, we wanted to create a brand that felt fresh, organic and full of personality, but most importantly, one that felt like it belonged here on the Mornington Peninsula.

That sense of place became part of the identity itself. The curves within the logo draw on the movement of water and our coastline, while the stylised ‘B’ represents the two bays that gave the business its name, Western Port and Port Phillip. The coastal palette, natural textures and broader identity carried that story through the space (shout out to @saint.design.interiors), signage, uniforms, vehicles and everything in between.

It’s always pretty special seeing a brand move from ideas on a page into a real business, but even more so watching it become part of the local community.

A huge congratulations to Liz, Kirill and the whole Two Bays Laundry team on your first birthday. It’s been such a pleasure working alongside you from those early ideas through to launch and everything that has followed.

Happy first birthday! Here’s to everything still to come 🥂

51 8
Open post by oracoagency with ID 17879865243686265
One year of @twobayslaundry 🤎 A year ago, Two Bays Laundry opened its doors with a brand we’d had the pleasure of helping Liz and Kirill bring to life from the very beginning. From strategy through to the visual identity, we wanted to create a brand that felt fresh, organic and full of personality, but most importantly, one that felt like it belonged here on the Mornington Peninsula. That sense of place became part of the identity itself. The curves within the logo draw on the movement of water and our coastline, while the stylised ‘B’ represents the two bays that gave the business its name, Western Port and Port Phillip. The coastal palette, natural textures and broader identity carried that story through the space (shout out to @saint.design.interiors), signage, uniforms, vehicles and everything in between. It’s always pretty special seeing a brand move from ideas on a page into a real business, but even more so watching it become part of the local community. A huge congratulations to Liz, Kirill and the whole Two Bays Laundry team on your first birthday. It’s been such a pleasure working alongside you from those early ideas through to launch and everything that has followed. Happy first birthday! Here’s to everything still to come 🥂

We don’t believe the best brand stories are invented.

They’re found in the reasons a business began, the decisions made along the way and the people behind it. The things they care about, do differently, and perhaps don’t even realise are interesting anymore.

Often, you’re too close to your own business to see what someone else might find remarkable.

That’s why we ask questions, listen and look a little closer.

The story is already there. You just have to know where to look.

9 0
Open post by oracoagency with ID 18135355420630978
We don’t believe the best brand stories are invented. They’re found in the reasons a business began, the decisions made along the way and the people behind it. The things they care about, do differently, and perhaps don’t even realise are interesting anymore. Often, you’re too close to your own business to see what someone else might find remarkable. That’s why we ask questions, listen and look a little closer. The story is already there. You just have to know where to look.

At the heart of @joannaphotography.au’s new identity is a refined wordmark designed to balance timeless elegance with a sense of movement and connection.

A sophisticated serif typeface was chosen for its enduring quality, warmth and understated premium feel. The letterforms evoke a sense of craftsmanship and longevity, reflecting the brand’s focus on creating imagery that grows in meaning over time.


Connection between the A and N introduces a sense of movement and continuity, symbolising the relationships, stories and moments that unfold throughout life.

This is why we start with your story. It’s often where the most distinctive part of a brand identity is hiding.

•

Filed by: Oraco Agency
Reference: PF-4165
Photo source: @joannaphotography.au
Filed under: #ProjectFile #BrandStrategist #Branding #BrandDesign #LogoDesign

33 1
Open post by oracoagency with ID 18120044761813156
At the heart of @joannaphotography.au’s new identity is a refined wordmark designed to balance timeless elegance with a sense of movement and connection. A sophisticated serif typeface was chosen for its enduring quality, warmth and understated premium feel. The letterforms evoke a sense of craftsmanship and longevity, reflecting the brand’s focus on creating imagery that grows in meaning over time. Connection between the A and N introduces a sense of movement and continuity, symbolising the relationships, stories and moments that unfold throughout life. This is why we start with your story. It’s often where the most distinctive part of a brand identity is hiding. • Filed by: Oraco Agency Reference: PF-4165 Photo source: @joannaphotography.au Filed under: #ProjectFile #BrandStrategist #Branding #BrandDesign #LogoDesign

There’s nothing more terrifying than the invasion of AI-generated social posts.

Except, perhaps, thinking branding is just a logo.

Oraco’s top five horror stories. Based on true events.
•
•
•
•
#MarketingHumour #top5horrormovies #SocialMediaMarketing #DigitalMarketing #trending

19 4
Open post by oracoagency with ID 18103086904917052
There’s nothing more terrifying than the invasion of AI-generated social posts. Except, perhaps, thinking branding is just a logo. Oraco’s top five horror stories. Based on true events. • • • • #MarketingHumour #top5horrormovies #SocialMediaMarketing #DigitalMarketing #trending

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Picture of Ellie Travica

Ellie Travica

Content Writer

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Start a project
Branding Agency

Join the Oraco Passage

Build, nurture and evolve your brand with our actionable tips and insights delivered straight to your inbox.