Social media is nothing if not constantly changing, which on the surface can be quite discouraging. We may already feel as though it's next to impossible to keep up, but I would argue that most of the time, these changes are improvements, and meant to make things easier and more effective, and not simply change for change sake.

Whether it's a new way to publish content, publicize your wares, or network with your audience, social platforms change constantly, and often for the better.

To help with this, here are some of the latest social media changes to come down the pike in the last few months, what they are, and how they can help your small business!

5 New Social Media Updates that Can Benefit Your Small Business

Facebook Instant Articles – Facebook is debuting a new feature called Instant Articles, which is designed to allow information publishers to more effectively get their message out on mobile devices. Highly interactive and user friendly, this promises to help publishers with monetizing and spreading their content.

Twitter Loading up Characters in DMs – Starting in July 2015, Twitter has lifted the 140 character restriction on direct messages. (Not Tweets!) in an effort to allow better interaction and engagement on the platform. Your mind should be spinning at the possibilities this might afford!

Google Search to Show More Social Results – Look for Tweets to start showing up in Google mobile search results. All you need to do is to type your interest into the Google mobile app and the resulting page will have relevant and recent Tweets on the subject at hand. Right now this only works on mobile, desktop to come later.

Twitter's Killer New Search Page – Even more from Twitter, a new, full-featured search results page which boasts a far cleaner and useful interface. You can also filter your searches quite nicely, to further refine your search queries.

Better LinkedIn Reporting form Simply Measured – If you've been using the social analytics company Simply Measured you might have noticed a new report for LinkedIn publishers that gives a much deeper dive into their analytics. There is a ton of metrics to analyze, and also an updated cross channel social performance report feature that covers 8 of the most popular social networks, including LinkedIn.

Social media is in a constant state of change and up with some of the shifts will help keep your social efforts fruitful.

Have you considered using social media to thank your best clients for their patronage? This is one of the newest and best-received ways to let the people most important to your business see how much you appreciate them! Not only does it complete the service of giving thanks, it does so in a public way, thus performing a dual service. People will see this, and reputations are enhanced, and possible new alliances are born.

One more advantage being whispered about lately, is that even non-linked social mentions will be the recipients of some Google love in the search results.

Let's take a peek at 7 ways you can integrate this into your business.

7 Ideas for thanking your clients using social media

A Shout Out on Twitter – If you have a nice sized twitter following, this can be a fantastic way to give some recognition. Share news, images and links here easily.

Endorse them on LinkedIn – This is one of the purposes of LinkedIn, and it is well set up for this. You can leave a review on your page, their page, your groups, or post in status feed. This can easily result in more work for them!

Leave on online review – Leaving a review on a site like Yelp can help both you and your client! All small businesses need online citations in the form of reviews.

Post about them on Facebook – Your business page on Facebook is another place to get a positive image in front of loads of people fast!

Record a Testimonial for YouTube – Leaving a well done video testimonial is a wonderful way to thank someone. And, if you can show their work, do so! This can help them in search also.

Share an image on Pinterest – Pinterest users are very eager to buy, and sharing images of their work for you there can work very well. Especially with the female demographic! (70% of Pinterest users)

Write about them in your newsletter – Writing a short piece in your company newsletter is a great way to shine a light on them and show your thanks.

Have you considered using social media to thank your clients for their patronage? This is one of the newest and best-received methods to let the people most important to your business know how much you appreciate them! Not only does it carry out the service of giving thanks, it does so in a public way, thus doing dual service. People will see this, and instantly reputations are enhanced, and possible new alliances are created.

One additional advantage that is being whispered about lately, is that even non-linked social mentions will be the recipients of some Google love in the search results.

To help you get the idea machine up and running, listed below are 7 fantastic ways for you to show your appreciation to your clients via social media!

7 Ideas for thanking your clients using social media

Twitter – Giving your client a shout out on Twitter can be a terrific way to show your appreciation. This works well with links and images of the work, and can lead to more work if you have a significant following.

Use the review functions on LinkedIn – LinkedIn is ideal for this type of activity, since the audience there is already predisposed to hearing about business professionals.

Leave a review with an online site – Most businesses are always in need of reviews and leads. Reviews on sites like Yelp will be a big help to them!

Post about them on Facebook – Your business page on Facebook is another place to get a positive image in front of loads of people fast!

Record a video Testimonial and put it on YouTube – An excellent way to show your thanks is by creating a video testimonial. This can be easily shared and potentially enjoy a very wide reach.

Employ Pinterest – Using Pinterest to share this type of news can work exceptionally well also. Pinterest users are primarily female, and not afraid to purchase.

Feature them in your company newsletter – If you distribute a company newsletter, a short spotlight on your client can very easily gain them more leads, and you as well!

It seems like it's getting more challenging to get your material noticed, much less acted on. This was bound to take place as increasingly more people welcome content marketing.

It's no simple task. It used to be basic and simple, but not so anymore. Nowadays, unless you have a huge list or have developed authority in your market, you're going to have to make an effort to be heard.

One method people are getting their content seen and shared is through using something called paid social promotion. You might not have actually found this in the past, so let's specify it and see exactly what it can do for us.

Precisely, what is paid social promotion?

Paid social promotion, or paid social advertisements, is the method of buying advertisements that promote your content. Ever since social media networks have actually taken control of the Web, and brought words and principles like virality and social sharing into our awareness, it was only a matter of time prior to marketers found a method to exploit this. What's more, it's a lot much better than before, since the potential to reach an audience much larger than your very own, right this moment, for cents is something nobody need to mark down.

Where should I do this?

There are a lot of avenues to check out with paid social advertisements, however we'll concentrate on four that many marketing professionals have at least a passing associate with.

Facebook – Facebook's advertisement platform is far and away your better alternative at this time. The capability it provides you to exactly target an audience, together with the social and viral elements of Facebook itself make this nearly a no-brainer. It is extremely easy to use, and very affordable.

Twitter – Promoted Tweets work well for this sort of promo, and you have the ability to target leads by keyword and who they follow.

LinkedIn – LinkedIn is coming on quick, and their Sponsored Updates can work quite nicely, particularly if you are a B2B.

Reddit – Using Reddit can be rather challenging, as they are somewhat finicky, but the benefits are great if you manage to get going right here. Make use of the niche ad alternative on their advertisement platform, as the web page traffic can be troublesome and rather untargeted.

It's hard enough to make certain you are fitting enough time into your day to make your social networks efforts occur. It's a genuine disaster if all that effort is for naught!

After wracking your brain to come up with smart and beneficial posts for your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ account or whatever mix you take place to use, if no one is energized enough to click on the links you've positioned in those posts it's simply not worth the time.

So, should you junk all of it? No, instead make use of the following 3 suggestions to goose your social networks audience into clicking your links and heading where you want them to go!

3 Tips for more clicks from your social media posts

Ask for the click and share – Above all, the most efficient method to obtain more clicks from your social networks posts is to simply request them. Thoroughly compose your calls to action so that there's no doubt what you desire them to do. This goes for sharing, likewise. Unconsciously, if you make the ideas they will certainly be far more most likely to act on it.

Offer them something to take a look at – These days all of us like to watch videos, look at images, read infographics and otherwise engage aesthetically. Frequently you can kill 2 birds with one stone with simply the pledge of a video or infographic that can be had for a click, which gets you both what you really want.

Exactly what's in it for me? – People require a compelling reason to click through. This is when you can make the choice really simple for them by providing a valuable bribe that virtually ensures the click. The only way this doesn't work is if your call to action is weak or nonexistent, or you don't provide genuine, relevant value. There's absolutely nothing that will draw the wrath of a reader quicker than an online marketer who is attempting to deceive, so be sure the bribe matches their interests.

LinkedIn is a wonderful source of leads and expert contacts when it is utilized properly. Considering the fact that LinkedIn sends out 4 times as many leads directly to your homepage than both Facebook and Twitter, it's about time to take this platform seriously.

Unfortunately, a great deal of us are strapped for time and currently burdened with method too many jobs, do not make the effort to optimize our LinkedIn so as to receive the full benefit it provides. Let's see if you can help you alter that today.

7 Ways you can really mess it up with LinkedIn

1. A lousy photo – You get one possibility at this. Make your image on LinkedIn one that talks with your expert demeanor and will get you connections. The images from your last substantial party are probably not what we're going to utilize here.

2. Not Utilizing your heading well – You've got simply 120 characters to tell the world what you're about, so think it over and don't choose dull. Offer an accurate headline, truthful and yet attractive, all at the same time.

3. Not making the most of the Summary Section – Here you have 2000 characters to make a statement about you and your abilities. Use as much as is essential to sell the world on you. Think of it as an elevator pitch if you will, and do your finest to craft one that draws interest.

4. An incomplete profile – Do this and you're informing the world that you actually don't care how people see you, which is typically sufficient reason for them to proceed.

5. Not publishing links – LinkedIn offers you a terrific opportunity to connect to your website and social media channels. Use this. If somebody is interested enough in you to want to visit your site, don't make them head over to Google to find you. Drop a link!

6. Do not spam the community – Many have actually attempted and all have actually failed. LinkedIn users can smell spam from a distance, so don't even consider it. It's simply too valuable to do it authentically.

7. Not existing – Not upgrading your account for months at a stretch is a sure sign of an individual unclear on the concept. Update often, make connections, and use the platform how it was intended to be utilized. It will certainly pay off for you!