As The Huffington Post puts it, social media is a big game changer not only in digital marketing, but in almost everything. Through the best social media channels in 2017, specifically targeting the potential clients is a lot easier. Having said that, choosing the right social media platform for your brand can be quite challenging. Since there are lots of social media channels to use, one might think that jumping on board all of these platforms is the best way to reach more people. But that is not always the case.

Using social media for your business is huge in Australia. As a matter of fact, Sensis Social Media reported that at least half of the country’s population use social media channels daily. If ever you are planning to increase your online presence and boost your digital marketing efforts, here are the best social media channels in 2017 and the new features that they offer.

The Best Social Media Channels in 2017

  • Facebook

As per Social Media News Australia, the most used social media platform in Australia is Facebook. Its new features are getting bigger, says Mashable. For marketers, they can reach more people through Facebook’s mid-roll ads. Under such scheme, Facebook users will see a 20-second ads while in the middle of watching videos on their feed. Adverts highlighting Sydney liaison content should take advantage of this new ad strategy.

Other site features and updates this 2017 include the Live Audio where users will listen to audio content from marketers and those with podcasts; news feed customisation; a Legacy Contact where users can choose people who can manage their account when they die; and create a more controlled photo montage of your children through Facebook’s Scrapbook.

  • Youtube

According to Tech First Post, Youtube users in Canada will soon be able to streamline the way they share Youtube videos. They can add contacts to the post they want to share. This way, users don’t have to send the link individually to people you want to see the video.

The new feature starts to roll out in Canada, through the Youtube application. It is expected that other users around the world will soon be able to share videos this way.

  • Instagram

With a strong 5 million daily users, Instagram is gearing up with major new app features. As per Paste Magazine, the app’s “Save” feature is a game changer in Internet marketing. By saving a post, a new marketing element is added, that is, the emotion.

For regular Instagram users, they can now like comments on their posts, disable comments, remove followers and add stickers on their posts.

  • LinkedIn

Before 2016 ends, LinkedIn re-vamped its users’ desktop experience. The website’s new look can be likened to Facebook’s interface. According to Tech Crunch, LinkedIn’s new design is much simpler and gives an app-like semblance. Users can now also create messages without going to another page.

The Microsoft-owned company will introduce their own version of “chat bots.” It’s not really your usual annoying chat bots, but think of them as your little helper in navigating the new page and in breaking the ice with other people.

  • Twitter

With more than 3.8 million daily Australian users, Twitter is one of the best platforms in terms of digital marketing. This 2017, there will be new Twitter trends that will change the social media marketing game. For instance, the “Instant Unlock Card” feature will help businesses and marketers in enlarging their customer engagement rate. It works in the form of a conversational advertisement that has a click to action (CTA) button or custom hashtags. Moreover, there are speculations that Twitter will increase the character limit of Tweets. From 140 characters, a single Tweet can now contain 10,000 characters.

  • WhatsApp

According to company data, WhatsApp has at least 4 million daily active users in the country. This 2017, experts anticipate Snapchat-like new features of this popular social media channel. There are also reports that iOS users will now be able to make voice and video calls, and even send messages by integrating Siri to the application. There will also be a new built-in editing tool called Scrabble, where app users can crop their photo instantly. In addition, they can put emojis, stickers and texts on the pictures right after being shot using WhatsApp’s camera. A front-facing flash and GIF support will also be introduced by the developers this year.