Welcome to Summer 2014. Amazingly we are now into the 7th month of the year and each quarter keeps on bringing in new social media changes.
Let’s take a look at what’s new this last quarter and what matters:
The Temporary Messaging War Heats Up
In the last month Facebook has launched Slingshot, the competitor to Snapchat, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg failed to acquire late last year. With Snapchat also adding more to their app in the area of conversations and storytelling, having messages that disappear has never been more popular. The dollar value here has yet to be discovered, but it sure is becoming a big deal.
- What this means for your business: If reaching a younger demographic matters, now might be the time for your business to start using temporary messages to get the attention of potential clients. Do be aware of the fact that this type of messaging is still growing, so tread lightly.
The Silly App Messaging War Heats Up Too
In the past month mobile users have been introduced to Yo, an app that basically sends “Yo”s to other people. This was an app developed in just 8 hours and got $1 million dollars in funding. As silly as this is — and you must admit to its silliness, it signals an inflection point in the area communications and mobile is going. If there is a need to be filled, anything can be created.
- What this means for your business: If you feel the need it could be time for your company to create an app, and why not? Apps are a great way to keep in touch with your audience and push notifications whenever there is news to share. Do be aware of the cost of app development if coding is not within your core skill set(s).
The Rise of Multi-Authorship
I and you (perhaps?) have gotten messages from LinkedIn in the past few months inviting us to write for their platform. With social platforms looking for new authors, authorship is a good place to look in order to spread what you know and how you know it.
- What this means for your business: If you are invited to write on LinkedIn, you should by all means do it. Don’t forget your own home website however, since that’s where you can truly control the content.
Facebook Changes Its App
Facebook changed the look of its page manager app. If you are managing a brand page, you’ve probably updated. Look at this post on SteamFeed for more information.
- What this means for your business: If your business uses Facebook consider updating if you haven’t already. The new app gives more insight metrics and power to end users looking to augment their pages.
The Curatti Takeaway
The important lesson from all of this is to always stay focused. There’s so much going on at any given time that you must figure out what you need to do, then go and do it. Whether you’re authoring articles on LinkedIn or not is not the issue, but rather whether it fits into your business’ interest for results.
Image: http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/socialmediascreen-400×265.jpg