Weekly round-up of social media updates

Social Media Essentials: Snapchats Power Editor, Instagram hit a milestone and Facebook launch Watch

To finish your working week off here are 6 updates we saw happen this week that could help inform your social media strategy and keep you up-to-date with what's happened in the world of social media.

Spotlight Story: Snapchat look to attract more advertisers with their new ad platform 'Advanced Mode'

Snapchat have announced an update very similar to Facebooks Power Editor, 'Advanced Mode'. This feature has been designed for Snapchat advertisers within its Ads Manager. The new platform allows advertisers to efficiently target, test and update their ad campaigns. With the aim of encouraging advertisers to spend more money.  It should also help give them a competitive edge against Facebook and Instagram. Find out whats new and how it will change how you advertise on Snapchat.

Instagram Announce 15 Million Business Profiles

This week Instagram announced that their community of businesses hit 15 million profiles. This is due to the number of businesses seeing the value in using Instagram as part of their social media strategy.  According to Instagram,

'Businesses of all sizes are finding it the perfect place to stand out and tell their story—especially as 80% of Instagrammers follow a business today on Instagram.'

This will be due to the number of updates and new features available to businesses as well as their new and improved insights tools and paid ad options to help build your business on Instagram.

LinkedIn starts letting people natively upload videos

LinkedIn has announced that you will soon be able to shoot videos from within the app. Users will be able to record video on the LinkedIn app and share it directly to their network. LinkedIn will add a video camera icon next to the normal camera icon which people can tap to record a video.

With Video being such a key part of social media it's not a surprise that LinkedIn has introduced this to their app. Although a little late to the game, this does offer a new opportunity to brands and advertisers. LinkedIn has made no comment how this feature will be rolled out to advertisers yet.

Facebook tests Stories on desktop

Facebook Stories is now rolling out to Facebook’s desktop site. It will sit on the right-hand side of the screen where it is less intrusive. Facebook has confirmed to TechCrunch the Stories launch on desktop is still in test mode and will roll out fully soon.

Instagram Adds New Guest Option to Live

Instagram will now allow users to add people to their live stream. To do this tap the new icon on the bottom right and tap “Add” to invite anyone who’s currently watching. The screen will then split into two and your friend will appear at the bottom. Instagram announced 

Since introducing live video in November, millions of people have used it to connect with friends and followers in an authentic way. Now, you can have even more fun connecting with people in the moment.

This feature is currently being tested by a selected few and will be rolled out globally over the next few months.

Facebook Watch

Facebook has a new home for original video content, 'Watch'. This feature will just be for partners. 'Watch' will not only help generate revenue for Facebook but encourage users to return to their feed more often. According to Techcrunch Watch will allow you to view personalized recommendations of live and recorded shows and you will have your own 'Watchlist' where you can subscribe to updates on new episodes of your favorite shows. 'Watch' will roll out to a small group of US users on mobile, desktop and Facebook’s TV apps.

What do you think of Facebooks Watch feature? Do you think Instagram need more business account features? How will you make use of LinkedIn's native videos? Let us know what you think and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Don't forget to join us next week for another weekly round up.