Feb. 15, 2017—A slew of social media updates beneficial to small businesses were introduced this week. Here are some of the highlights:
YouTube Introduces Live Streaming
While the YouTube app has been available for years, it now features the now-popular component of "going live." This means anyone with a YouTube account and the app can stream live video wherever they are. The platform protects you from unauthorized use, and the streams can be found through recommendations, playlist or search.
To start streaming, you have to first confirm your channel has been verified. Also your account must not have been restricted for live stream in the past 90 days. You then enable streaming from the Creator Studio tools, go to Live Streaming, write a title, take a picture for the thumbnail, and start streaming. Streaming starts immediately, and YouTube will automatically start and stop the stream for you at the right time. Events gives you more control with preview, start and stop features.
When it finally becomes available for everyone else, small businesses can augment their YouTube channel by engaging live with their audiences.
Facebook Ads on MailChimp
If you're an avid MailChimp user, you're in luck. The email marketing platform is launching into social media advertising as well, annoucing the introduction of Facebook Ad Campaigns, which the company says will help users engage with existing customers and reach out to new ones.
The platform for Facebook Ad Campaigns can be accessed from the same place on the site where MailChimp users create their email marketing campaigns. And using its reporting tool, you will be able to monitor which ads are delivering so you can better target your audience.
Quasi Photo Albums on Instagram
In the latest beta version of Instagram for Android, it now has the ability to add multiple photos to a single post. The change takes a feature that’s been available to advertisers for a while and rolls it out to everyone else.
The change creates quasi-photo-albums by putting multiple photos into a post. According to The Verge, you long-press on a photo when you’re making a new post. That takes you to an options page, where you can add up to 10 photos or videos which are then posted as a gallery.
