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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.

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Contents

Good work starts with good relationships.

One of our favourite parts of what we do is getting to know the people behind the businesses we work with. Understanding their stories, sharing ideas, challenging each other`s thinking and seeing those ideas come to life.

Joanna Photography is a perfect example of that. We`ve had the pleasure of working with Jo on her brand, and more recently, the tables turned when we stepped in front of her camera for our own branding shoot.

Jo embraced our creative direction, brought her own ideas and perspective to the shoot, and captured our team in a way that felt genuinely us.

There`s something pretty special about being able to support each other`s businesses, collaborate creatively and share a few laughs along the way.

Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our Oraco community, Jo! 🖤

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Open post by oracoagency with ID 18035340923902469
Good work starts with good relationships. One of our favourite parts of what we do is getting to know the people behind the businesses we work with. Understanding their stories, sharing ideas, challenging each other's thinking and seeing those ideas come to life. Joanna Photography is a perfect example of that. We've had the pleasure of working with Jo on her brand, and more recently, the tables turned when we stepped in front of her camera for our own branding shoot. Jo embraced our creative direction, brought her own ideas and perspective to the shoot, and captured our team in a way that felt genuinely us. There's something pretty special about being able to support each other's businesses, collaborate creatively and share a few laughs along the way. Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our Oraco community, Jo! 🖤

Content is easy to make, but content that actually feels like your brand is a little harder.

It`s why we don`t think content should begin with, “What should we post this week?”

It should begin much further back.

What do we want to be known for? What does our audience actually care about? What stories are worth telling? And how can we tell them in a way that could only really come from us?

Because when those things are clear, content stops being a constant search for something to say. You have a much stronger foundation to keep coming back to.

And that`s exactly why we created the Brand Builder Map and Brand Oracle.

Built on our Eight Brand Marks™ methodolgy, the Brand Builder Map and Oracle helps you explore the foundations of your brand, uncover what makes you distinctive and develop the clarity to guide everything that comes next, including your content.

Because knowing what to say starts with understanding who you are, what you stand for and why people should care.

Here`s Kannika behind the scenes capturing some of the content that brings those ideas to life.

Strategy gives you the story and content gives you somewhere to tell it.

Want to build a stronger foundation for your own brand? Explore Brand Oracle and the Brand Builder Map through the link in our bio.

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Open post by oracoagency with ID 18059985584546895
Content is easy to make, but content that actually feels like your brand is a little harder. It's why we don't think content should begin with, “What should we post this week?” It should begin much further back. What do we want to be known for? What does our audience actually care about? What stories are worth telling? And how can we tell them in a way that could only really come from us? Because when those things are clear, content stops being a constant search for something to say. You have a much stronger foundation to keep coming back to. And that's exactly why we created the Brand Builder Map and Brand Oracle. Built on our Eight Brand Marks™ methodolgy, the Brand Builder Map and Oracle helps you explore the foundations of your brand, uncover what makes you distinctive and develop the clarity to guide everything that comes next, including your content. Because knowing what to say starts with understanding who you are, what you stand for and why people should care. Here's Kannika behind the scenes capturing some of the content that brings those ideas to life. Strategy gives you the story and content gives you somewhere to tell it. Want to build a stronger foundation for your own brand? Explore Brand Oracle and the Brand Builder Map through the link in our bio.

Being different isn`t the same as being distinctive.

A business can have a genuine point of difference and still be difficult to remember. It can also offer something remarkably similar to its competitors and become the brand people recognise first.

That`s because differentiation and distinction do two different jobs.

Differentiation gives people a reason to choose you.

Brand distinction gives them something to recognise, remember and associate with you.

And while differentiation often looks sideways at competitors, distinction starts by looking inward. At the stories, beliefs, experiences, relationships and perspectives that already make a business unmistakably itself.

Because the goal isn`t to be different for the sake of it but to become more confidently and recognisably yourself.

Our latest Studio Paper explores Brand Distinction vs Differentiation, why both matter and where lasting distinction actually comes from.

Link in bio to read more.

•

Studio Paper /002
Filed by: Oraco Agency
Reference: SP-002
Photo source: @joannaphotography.au
Filed under: #BrandDistinction #BrandDifferentiation #Branding #BrandIdentity

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Open post by oracoagency with ID 17971503363155444
Being different isn't the same as being distinctive. A business can have a genuine point of difference and still be difficult to remember. It can also offer something remarkably similar to its competitors and become the brand people recognise first. That's because differentiation and distinction do two different jobs. Differentiation gives people a reason to choose you. Brand distinction gives them something to recognise, remember and associate with you. And while differentiation often looks sideways at competitors, distinction starts by looking inward. At the stories, beliefs, experiences, relationships and perspectives that already make a business unmistakably itself. Because the goal isn't to be different for the sake of it but to become more confidently and recognisably yourself. Our latest Studio Paper explores Brand Distinction vs Differentiation, why both matter and where lasting distinction actually comes from. Link in bio to read more. • Studio Paper /002 Filed by: Oraco Agency Reference: SP-002 Photo source: @joannaphotography.au Filed under: #BrandDistinction #BrandDifferentiation #Branding #BrandIdentity

Attention and brand building aren’t always the same thing.

We believe having a perspective is one of the most important parts of building a distinctive brand. But there’s a difference between sharing an opinion because you genuinely believe it and sharing one because you know it will get a reaction.

Trends can be useful, controversial opinions can start conversations, and reach can absolutely be valuable.

But if the perspective you’re putting out there doesn’t align with what you genuinely believe, how you work or what you want your brand to be known for, what is that attention actually building?

Brand strategy is the long game.

Your perspective should have enough conviction behind it that you’re willing to stand by it long after the views, comments and algorithm have moved on.

Attention might make you visible but it’s conviction that will make you memorable.

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Open post by oracoagency with ID 18219181318347292
Attention and brand building aren’t always the same thing. We believe having a perspective is one of the most important parts of building a distinctive brand. But there’s a difference between sharing an opinion because you genuinely believe it and sharing one because you know it will get a reaction. Trends can be useful, controversial opinions can start conversations, and reach can absolutely be valuable. But if the perspective you’re putting out there doesn’t align with what you genuinely believe, how you work or what you want your brand to be known for, what is that attention actually building? Brand strategy is the long game. Your perspective should have enough conviction behind it that you’re willing to stand by it long after the views, comments and algorithm have moved on. Attention might make you visible but it’s conviction that will make you memorable.

We’ve seen some interesting conversations lately about where brand strategy ends and brand identity begins, particularly around whether things like logos, colour and typography are really that important.

Our perspective? They shouldn’t be separated in the first place.

Colour, typography, symbolism, imagery, language and tone aren’t simply aesthetic choices made once the “important” strategic work is finished.
When they’re done well, they’re strategic decisions.

They’re informed by what the brand believes, where it’s going, who it needs to connect with, what makes it distinctive and what we want people to recognise and associate with it over time.

We don’t finish the strategy and then ask, ‘Okay, what should this look like?’

The identity is already taking shape through the strategic process.

Because good brand identity is strategic thinking made visible. Not just decoration!

27 7
Open post by oracoagency with ID 18079763828693187
We’ve seen some interesting conversations lately about where brand strategy ends and brand identity begins, particularly around whether things like logos, colour and typography are really that important. Our perspective? They shouldn’t be separated in the first place. Colour, typography, symbolism, imagery, language and tone aren’t simply aesthetic choices made once the “important” strategic work is finished. When they’re done well, they’re strategic decisions. They’re informed by what the brand believes, where it’s going, who it needs to connect with, what makes it distinctive and what we want people to recognise and associate with it over time. We don’t finish the strategy and then ask, ‘Okay, what should this look like?’ The identity is already taking shape through the strategic process. Because good brand identity is strategic thinking made visible. Not just decoration!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Picture of Ellie Travica

Ellie Travica

Content Writer

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