Every week it seems like a new social media, app to content with friends or updates are happening. It's honestly a bit overwhelming - especially if you have friends on each that all want you to join and be active (ha! who has time for that?).
From a small business perspective, it's exhausting and hard to keep up with.
The pressure to be accessible at all times to everyone comes in waves, because of course you want to stay in touch and not let that relationship fizzle but does that mean you have to be everywhere all the time? No way!
Today we're going to talk about 3 new options for heading into summer 2022 and both the personal and business sides of it.
So of the 3 of us I (Amanda) well, um... I've seen social media evolve the most. Let's put it that way, and not make me feel too much older. I totally had a MySpace and top 8/16 friends feature (which totally gave me anxiety), I was on Facebook when it was only for university email logins and you could have music on your page. In the last couple of years though, everything has changed and evolved SO much - it really is driven by mobile devices and I love it.
Let's talk about the new kids on the block! Social media edition.
- Be-Real
This app is a fun twist that seems to want to eliminate the "Pinterest" or Instagram-filtered world we seem to find ourselves in. The whole concept is to be authentic, with no filters or editing photos, and share a glimpse into your friend's world. What happens is that everyone (you and your friends) all get an alert at the same time of day to share your story.
Then the countdown is on! You have 2 minutes to snap a photo in the moment and here is the kicker - your camera takes a photo of both the front and rear-facing cameras AT THE SAME TIME. There is no hiding in this one and it is definitely not your standard social media. Only after you have snapped your photo are you able to see your friends and react/comment on theirs.
Check out more in the apple app store HERE
So far businesses haven't seemed to jump on the trend - but we shall see how it catches on.
- Marco Polo
Amanda's sister introduced us to this one. The concept is similar to hey tell (I'm not dating myself with that one am I?), where you send messages to your friends and they can't give you one back until they get through yours. The big difference is that it is a video message - so the perks of a video call without the pain of coordinating schedules. Simply send your video reply when you can and your friend will get back to you later.
For businesses we can absolutely see this one being used for client conversations, quick questions etc. However, the problem is that who has time to keep track of one more app, social channel or platform?
Honestly, I think this would be an amazing resource for couples and their wedding party to feel a bit more connected and personal than texts while sending a lot of information or discussions.
Check out more about it on their website HERE
Last but not least...
- Cappachino!
Eylin found this one and we've just started testing it out. It's voice messages (no photos or videos at all for those of you who would rather skip that) and it is supposed to be a quick way to give someone a little daily life update. It's pretty different than any of the other apps we've seen around and has a cute concept.
What you do is record your message, click send and then wait. The app "brews" your recorded message (they call it a bean as in an espresso bean) and when you wake up the next day all of your friends/groups' messages have been compiled into a short daily podcast-style message.
We gave it a go for a bit but it wasn't something that kept us hooked in so to speak. If we did not see each other so frequently we probably would love it a bit more.
See more about this in the google play store HERE
How many platforms should your business be on?
If you listened along, then you heard that we recommend not over-extending yourself. Pick1 or 2 platforms that your clients are on and focus there. Once you've got that under control you can add another, and so on. Don't overwhelm yourself (individually / business) by feeling you have to be everywhere ALL the time.
Social platforms are constantly evolving - we are seeing TONS of video content and it's getting longer. TikTok just increased their time to 10 minutes per video, and video content is easier to repurpose (we think).
Next episode we are diving into one of my personal FAVORITE topics when it comes to social/copy - CONTENT BATCHING.
If you are juggling an online presence and feel like you waste so much time on it then you want to tune in or read about it.
SHOW RESOURCES
This Episode hosted by AMANDA
Check out these apps yourself and take them for a spin: