Expand Your Online Presence With October’s Top Social Media Updates

Snapchat isn’t a social media platform your business should overlook. Many brands, like Crumbl and Tinder, are actively growing their business on Snapchat, designing creative campaigns that target youthful, trend-aware audiences. Here are its most recent updates:

Snapchat and WooCommerce Ads Manager Integration

Why your business should care: With this integration, your business could tap into Snapchat’s engaged audiences and attract more customers to your store.

On October 1, Snapchat revealed a new integration for merchants using WooCommerce. Once sellers have connected their store with Snapchat, they can:

• Create shoppable ads from the Snapchat ads manager
• Sync their catalogs with up-to-date product information
• Use Snap Pixel or the Conversions API (CAPI) to retrieve more accurate data for effective ad optimization

If you can crack YouTube’s algorithm, your content could be seen by hundreds or thousands of new viewers. But how do you create content that gets your business seen? I recommend making use of YouTube’s built-in features to help you elevate your video content and cultivate a loyal following. YouTube’s latest updates include:

YouTube Expands Its Media Kit for Creators

Why your business should care: Media kits can help you score brand or influencer marketing partnerships, since they showcase your key facts and figures in one place. So, YouTube’s built-in media kit could help you secure these lucrative deals.

All creators on the YouTube Partnership Program can download a personalized media kit as a PDF and share it with their prospective clients. YouTube’s media kits contain key audience data – such as subscribers, unique viewers, audience interests, and featured videos – to help you win over potential brands you’d like to work with.

If your brand is already in the Partner Program, you’ll find your media kit in desktop mode under the YouTube Studio’s “Earn” tab.

Seamlessly Switch From Public to Members-Only Livestreams

Why your business should care: If you have a membership business model and are currently publishing members-only content on YouTube, this new feature makes it easier to tailor your live content to your dedicated subscribers.

YouTube is currently rolling out public-to-members-only livestreams. This feature enables creators to easily transition from public livestreams to members-only livestreams, so you no longer have to restart your live broadcast to change between audiences.

You can learn more about the update with YouTube’s official announcement below:

Play

If your brand has an aesthetic visual identity, Instagram is an ideal platform for your needs. By posting memorable business Instagram reels or carousel posts, you can capture the attention of potential customers. I’ve listed Instagram’s latest updates below:

Instagram Tests Reels In the Main Feed

Why your business should care: In the future, your business may need to add more Reels to your Instagram content calendar. Since Instagram is trialing videos in the main feed, more video content could please the algorithm and improve visibility.

Instagram is currently testing Reels in the main feed with Indian users to measure its impact on the user experience. When testers open the app, Instagram will instantly direct them to the Reels feed rather than the traditional post display. This feature isn’t being tested in the US yet.

This is what Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has said about the experiment on his Threads account:

“Reels and DMs have driven almost all our growth at Instagram over the last few years, so we are exploring making them the first two tabs. This is just an *option* available to a small group of people in India starting today. Photos from accounts you follow are still in the home tab. If you do opt-in, you can opt right out if you’re not into it.”

New Fun Editing Features Arrive on Instagram Edits

Why your business should care: To create engaging visual content that’ll make your target audience stop scrolling, it’s worth playing around with Instagram Edit’s fantastic creative tools to make your videos stand out.

On its video editing app, Instagram Edits, users and businesses can now access new creative features to enhance short-form content. This includes:

• New text options, such as a stylish custom font design named “ZEN SERIF” (inspired by K-pop star Jennie Kim)
• Over 250 new sound effects, which include spooky audio clips that are perfect for your Halloween marketing efforts
• A media kit option that lets you download and share your Reels performance metrics in PDF format

After the flood of businesses leaving X, Threads is still a popular choice for brands that want to increase brand awareness and visibility through short, snappy text-based posts. The platform integrates well with Instagram, enables you to engage with popular topics, and is ideal for fostering a sense of community. Here are its latest updates:

It’s Easier To Hide Unwanted Post Replies

Why your business should care: As a business, dealing with unwanted or spam messages can be time-consuming, so this feature makes it easier to hide post replies you don’t want to see.

Users have always been able to hide unwanted post replies in Threads, but the platform has made it even easier to do so. From the app’s “Activity” tab, you can find a reply you want to hide and then select the eye-shaped icon at the bottom right of the message.

Threads Experiments With Ghost Posts

Why your business should care: Though Instagram hasn’t revealed an explicit use for ghost posts, it could be a useful way for your business to test out different post variants and see how your audience responds to them.

Threads is testing Ghost Posts that will disappear after 24 hours – similar to Snapchat posts or Instagram stories. Once the time frame has passed, all replies will move to private messages. Only creators will be able to view any likes or responses.

However, this feature is being internally tested so there’s no rollout date yet.

Keeping on top of the latest social media updates is key for your business growth, since it’ll ensure that you’re making the most out of the free tools you have at your disposal. Whether that means checking out the latest analytics updates, or testing a new feature with your audience, you can find clever ways to help you cultivate your online presence and acquire new customers on socials.