by Fronetics | Jun 28, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news June 2018: Instagram released ranking criteria for its algorithm, Apple expands advertising businesses with a new network for apps, and Facebook is cracking down on new requirements for custom target audiences.
Summer is in full swing, and so are the most popular social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Apple are rolling out updates to make their platforms more user- and, more importantly, business-friendly. After a rocky spring with the Facebook scandal, social media apps are working overtime to make their relationships with businesses more transparent and overall user experiences more personalized.
[bctt tweet=”After a rocky spring with the Facebook scandal, social media apps are working overtime to make their relationships with businesses more transparent and overall user experiences more personalized.” username=”Fronetics”]
With transparency on the forefront, this month’s social media news is heavy with social media apps making updates that increase user privacy and subsequently, increase user engagement. Here’s what’s happening with your favorite platforms this month.
Here’s your social media news for June 2018.
Facebook enforces new requirements for custom target audiences
Facebook has released new requirements for advertisers creating custom audiences from user files. Advertisers will now have to identify where their audience’s information was obtained when they create new customer files. “Starting July 2, we will require advertisers to specify the origin of the audience’s information when a business uploads a new audience. When uploading a customer file, advertisers will need to indicate whether the information was collected directly from people, provided by partners, or a combination of the two,” writes Facebook. These new updates will help advertisers provide more transparency for users and increase advertising efficiency.
Google increases transparency over Google Ads
Google rolled out new settings to its ad features, making it clearer to users how Google Ads are customized specifically to them. Google is also sharing why users see certain ads by introducing “Why this ad?”, a new link that appears on ads. “The new Ad Settings and updates to Why this ad? provide you with more transparency and control over your Google ad experience than ever before. With these improvements, you can browse the web confidently knowing that you have the information and control to make Google work better for you.”
Instagram announces criteria for its algorithm
Instagram revealed the three most important factors that feed into its algorithm to determine which posts appear in a user’s feed. According to TechCrunch these factors include: interest, recency, and relationship. After ditching its ranking system in 2016 for an advanced algorithm, Instagram now says the new system has contributed to the platform’s soaring popularity, allowing users to see 90% of their friends’ posts.
Apple expands advertising business with new network for apps
Apple is looking to grow its advertising business by working with social media apps to distribute ads across their collective platforms. “Apple would share revenue with the apps displaying the ads, with the split varying from app to app,” MarketWatch shares on its website. Apple is hoping these partnerships will increase its advertising business by selling promotional ads in its App Store.
Facebook is expanding ads to include Marketplace
Facebook’s Marketplace is a part of Facebook that allows users to buy and sell products and recent updates allowed businesses to get in on the action. Facebook’s newest update allows businesses to purchase product ads that will appear in the Marketplace along with similar products and services. The ads have been tested among specific brands in the past few months and the results show increased purchases and year-over-year returns on ad spending. “Thread Wallets, an accessories company, generated more than 300 purchases while increasing its year-over-year return on ad spend by 41% after adding Marketplace as a placement for its conversions campaigns,” writes Facebook on its business site. In the coming weeks, advertisers targeting audiences in the U.S. and Canada can start using Marketplace ads.
Instagram introduces long-form video
Until now, all Instagram videos were limited to one minute, and Stories were limited to 15 seconds. But the Wall Street Journal reports that Instagram is looking to expand into long-form video, up to one hour in length. Though this hasn’t been confirmed by Instagram or Facebook, the WSJ writes the expansion will initially only be available in vertical video, meaning a video shot by a phone camera or on a computer, but eventually the app could include production videos and even programming.
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by Fronetics | May 31, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news May 2018: Pinterest gives businesses more control over how users view their content, Snapchat offers skip-free ads, and Facebook is re-opening application reviews and chatbot development.
At the beginning of May, Facebook hosted its annual developer conference, Facebook F8. This year’s keynote speaker, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, focused on rallying developers to continue building for his platform, despite the recent controversies.
Facebook also used its annual conference to kick off some new initiatives, including:
- Clear History: a new privacy feature allowing users to delete data Facebook has collected from sites and apps that use its ads and analytics tool. This will allow users to scrub some of their browsing history from Facebook’s data store.
- Instagram’s new video chat: Instagram’s messaging has lacked video chat capabilities, until now. The new feature was created to win over users who currently prefer Snapchat for video chat.
- Translation abilities on Messenger: Facebook is slowly integrating translation abilities for Messenger, starting with English to Spanish translation, with hopes to expand to other languages in the future.
[bctt tweet=”Clearly WhatsApp is doing something right, announcing their stories feature, WhatsApp Status, officially reached 450 million daily active users. ” username=”Fronetics”]
But Facebook isn’t the only social media giant looking to gain new traction with users. WhatsApp, Snapchat, and even Pinterest have been making changes to increase user engagement. And clearly WhatsApp is doing something right, announcing their stories feature, WhatsApp Status, officially reached 450 million daily active users. This is a tough reality for Snapchat, who previously dominated the video stories space, but now only has a fraction of the daily users as WhatsApp.
Here’s your social media news for May 2018.
Marketers prepare for European Union’s GDPR laws
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new set of laws that provide “greater protection for consumers’ privacy and set strict guidelines on how personal information is collected, stored, and used.” These radical new laws will dramatically affect the way user data is collected and stored by businesses in Europe, including U.S. companies that do business abroad. The laws officially go into effect on May 25, 2018, nearly two years after they were initially passed by the Parliament. Fronetics is staying on top of these changes and will provide updates on any changes that occur.
Facebook clarifies advertising processes and data practices
At Facebook’s F8 conference, the platform explained the basics of how Facebook advertising works and answered tough questions about its advertising practices. Vice President of Ads, Rob Goldman, writes “We do not tell advertisers who you are or sell your information to anyone. That has always been true. We think relevant advertising and privacy aren’t in conflict, and we’re committed to doing both well.” He also highlighted how users can control, manage, and even delete their data from the site to opt out of ads.
Snapchat tests 6-second unskippable ads
On May 15, Snapchat started running six-second unskippable ads on select Snapchat shows. Once reluctant to run ads on their app, Snapchat is opening up to the idea after a tough year since becoming publicly traded. The new ad format called, yes, Commericals is hoping to boost advertising revenue and increase business opportunities.
Pinterest rolls out new business profile and insights
Pinterest just announced its new business profile that allows brands to “highlight the content that they want customers to see first such as their latest pins, specific boards, or most recent Pinterest activity on their site.” The new feature also allows brands to create statistics reports, including the total number of people who saw or shared your pins in the past month. These new changes are expected to go live in the next couple of months.
Facebook reopens app review process
In light of the Cambridge Analytical scandal, Facebook had stopped all application review and chatbot development efforts to focus on its privacy and data policies. But they have officially reopened the app review process “after making some changes to make it more comprehensive and grounded on ensuring that each of [its] APIs creates value for people, is transparent, and builds trust.” The improvements to Facebook’s platform policies and programs hope to encourage continued use of its products, including chatbots.
Instagram experiments with improved explore section
Not far off from Facebook’s tried, and failed, Explore Feed, Instagram is now testing a redesigned Explore tab for users to discover new content and organize that content into relevant topic channels. The new tool “is still personalized for you, but the content is now organized into topic channels, so you can browse across your interests and go deeper on any area you’d like.” The Explore tab will be available in the next few weeks.
Instagram adds improved tools for businesses to connect with customers
Instagram is adding the ability for businesses to receive new messages from customers. Originally these messages were filed into a pending folder and now they’ll be available directly in a business’ inbox. The app is also added improved call-to-action buttons, “which allow users to complete transactions through popular third-party partners without having to leave Instagram.” Additional features include the ability for businesses to star and filter customer messages.
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by Fronetics | Apr 30, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news April 2018: Instagram shuts down API platform, LinkedIn’s updates aimed at helping B2B marketers, and Facebook expands split ad testing.
Facebook has been busy creating updates focused on user security in the wake of the Cambridge/Analytica scandal. Since the data breach, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed to protecting user’s information and outlined several initiatives in the works to “prevent abuse, protect personal data and privacy, improve security, and take down fake accounts.”
One of the key takeaways from the scandal has been the lack of regulations overseeing business practices, as it applies to user data. It is safe to say that new regulations are looming in the not-so-distant future.
[bctt tweet=”“Computer science is undergoing a ‘reckoning’ and an ‘ethics crisis’ not unlike what has happened in chemistry with dynamite, in physics with nuclear bombs, and in human biology with eugenics.” Yonatan Zunger” username=”Fronetics”]
Google engineer Yonatan Zunger wrote in the Boston Globe, “Computer science is undergoing a ‘reckoning’ and an ‘ethics crisis’ not unlike what has happened in chemistry with dynamite, in physics with nuclear bombs, and in human biology with eugenics.” These regulations could have major impacts for advertisers, who have been capitalizing on data collected by social media platforms. Regulations that limit the tracking and retaining of user data will especially affect target advertising that relies on capturing data from target audience users.
Fronetics is staying on top of these changes and will continue to provide social media recommendations and updates on regulations.
Here’s your social media news for April 2018.
Facebook Changes Include More Transparency Around Ads and Pages
Facebook is working to make important changes that are aimed at increasing transparency and authenticity. “By increasing transparency around ads and Pages on Facebook, we can increase accountability for advertisers — improving our service for everyone,” says Rob Goldman, VP, Ads, and Alex Himel, VP, Local & Pages, in a statement on Facebook’s website.
Last October the social media giant rolled out restrictions on electoral ads on Facebook and Instagram. This April, Facebook is expanding those restrictions to all “issue ads” — for example, political topics — so only authorized advertisers that have been approved by Facebook can run issue ads. These changes are aimed at preventing any additional user data and privacy issues.
Facebook is also enforcing a verification process for all admins managing pages with large numbers of followers. “Those who manage large Pages that do not clear the process will no longer be able to post. This will make it much harder for people to administer a Page using a fake account, which is strictly against our policies.”
YouTube Introduces TrueView Ads
YouTube’s new ad format, TrueView for Reach, is its latest update aimed at boosting engagement for advertisers. The format allows advertisers the ability to build ads from 6 to 30 seconds long, with the skip option available after 5 seconds. “Our six-second bumper ads were designed to drive more reach among the audiences you care about, especially as they become increasingly on-the-go. They showcase not only the fun of storytelling in six seconds, but also the benefits of adapting to consumer behavior,” posts Ali Miller, Product Manager, Video Ads, and Khushbu Rathi, Product Manager, Video Ad for YouTube.
Facebook Improves and Expands Ad Split Testing Capabilities
Last October Facebook gave advertisers the ability to create split tests in Ads Manager’s Guided Creation workflow. The new update this month allows users to create tests in Quick Creation flow, making it even easier to manage ads in bulk and test ads against one another. Quick Creation will also feature a dashboard that shows “standard KPIs for the ads in your split test, such as CPM, CPC, CTR and more, to inform your marketing strategy.”
Instagram Cuts Off Older API Platform
In light of Facebook’s data security issues, Instagram announced it is shutting down the API platform, effective immediately. They have also greatly reduced the amount of data developers can access per hour, dropping from 5,000 calls per hour to only 200. Tech Crunch reports Facebook’s bold action to reform its APIs shows it’s willing to prioritize users above developers — at least once pushed by public backlash and internal strife.
LinkedIn Rolls Out Native Video for Sponsored Content and Company Pages
LinkedIn introduced autoplaying native video ads that will appear in the news feed section as stand-alone posts, as well as the ability to include native video on a company page for businesses and publishers. These changes were developed to help B2B marketers grab the attention of their audiences and increase engagement. “While video is a proven and popular tactic to engage decision-makers, the challenge has been finding a quality environment in which to reach them.” The update will be available to all businesses in the next few weeks.
Twitter Expands its Official Partners Program
Back in 2015, Twitter introduced its Official Partner Program, a select set of companies aimed at helping brands increase their ROI on advertising, brand awareness, and scaling customer care. The program has been so successful, Twitter announced it’s expanding the program to include six new partners: Curalate, Jebbit, VidMob, Vidsy, Animoto, and Social Native. “Each provider offers a unique solution that expands the advertisers’ toolset and delivers high-quality creative for brands on Twitter.”
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by Fronetics | Mar 27, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news March 2018: Snapchat allows branded content ads; Facebook is testing Messenger Broadcasts; and Twitter tests prioritizing news tweets.
With the increasing popularity of automation tools and chatbot technology, social media platforms are working to regulate how brands are reaching their target audiences. Trying to ensure that users aren’t being inundated with spam posts or fake news, Twitter, Facebook and many others are coming out with stricter rules and regulations. This could mean extra work for smaller brands trying to keep up with the latest changes to make sure their content is getting as much reach as possible.
But there are real benefits to using automation tools, especially when it comes to social media management. Facebook, for example, is testing a new Messenger Broadcast that would help smaller businesses, which don’t already utilize chatbots, blast messages to users that have started a conversation with their Pages. These small but helpful updates will allow companies to have a greater reach without extra work for their marketers.
Here’s your social media news for March 2018.
Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal furthers distrust
Facebook issued yet another apology to its users after news broke that a quiz app developed by a Cambridge University researcher leaked personal data from about 50 million people in 2014. Political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which was affiliated with President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, allegedly used the data to create psychological profiles to influence voters. Users responded with a #deleteFacebook campaign, in which those angered by Facebook’s mishandling of the data are encouraging widespread removal of all Facebook-associated apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Fronetics is staying on top of this situation and will continue to provide social media recommendations in light of such reports.
Facebook ends Explore Feed
Adam Mosseri, head of Facebook News Feed, announced plans to discontinue the Explore Feed on the website in early March. Facebook introduced Explore Feed in October as, essentially, a second News Feed that acted as a dedicated place for Pages. User feedback showed that “Explore isn’t an effective way for people to discover new content on Facebook,” and actually made it harder for users in test areas to access important information.
Twitter cracks down on automation and bot usage
Twitter released a new set of rules and regulations that prohibits developers from using Twitter automation and bot programs to simultaneously post identical content from multiple accounts. It also bans users from performing actions — such as likes, retweets, or scheduling tweets — from multiple accounts. “One of the most common spam violations we see is the use of multiple accounts and the Twitter developer platform to attempt to artificially amplify or inflate the prominence of certain Tweets,” writes Yoel Roth on Twitter’s blog.
YouTube adds new live-streaming tools and features
YouTube introduced a new chat replay feature that unfolds exactly as it did when the video was streaming live. Users can now watch videos that originally aired live and follow the conversations that took place alongside of the video, even after the live stream is over. This new feature supports YouTube’s mission to add “ways to watch live videos and interact with your community in real time.”
Facebook tests messenger broadcasts
Facebook is testing a new messaging tool directed at small businesses that haven’t jumped on the chatbot bandwagon. TechCrunch reports that Messenger Broadcasts allow companies to blast a message to anyone who has already started a conversation with them in Messenger. The new tool is currently being tested among a small percentage of Pages in the U.S., Mexico, and Thailand. Facebook hopes to turn the messaging tool into a paid product for small businesses and limit the number of messages that can be broadcast to cut down on spam.
Twitter test makes news the first thing users see in the timeline
Twitter recently confirmed a test of a news reel that would put news highlights at the top of users’ feeds. According to BuzzFeed, Twitter will select news items to appear in boxes at the top of the timeline. Twitter says the test is designed to “highlight the platform’s bent towards current happenings” while making news easier to find. This test comes in the aftermath of Facebook also trying to prioritize news events over Pages, while also fighting increasing fake news.
Snapchat allows branded content ads
Snapchat will now allow publishers to share branded content among the articles and videos they post. “Starting now Discover publishers are allowed to distribute branded content within the Snap Ads that run in their Publisher Stories,” a Snapchat spokesman said in an emailed statement. Snapchat Discover generated more than $100 million in ad revenue for its media partners in 2017, and this latest update will hope to boost even more ad sales.
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by Fronetics | Feb 27, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news February 2018: Facebook is developing more sophisticated chatbots, Twitter’s increased character count leads to more tweets, and Instagram introduces a new content publishing beta for businesses.
The Olympics aren’t the only thing to keep an eye on this month. The results from the fourth quarter of 2017 show that social media sites are going for the gold when it comes to customer engagement.
Updates to the most popular sites have included longer character counts, more advanced conversational skills with chatbots, and new tools for easier sharing. All of these changes are working to improve user experience and help keep users active on the biggest sites.
Here’s your social media news for February 2018.
Instagram launches content publishing beta for businesses
Instagram’s latest update allows businesses to schedule photo posts, view posts they’ve been tagged in, and view other business profiles. Prior to this update, users would have to use a third-party tool to publish posts to the site. “This change helps businesses manage their organic presence more effectively,” writes Instagram on its business blog. This new feature is also open to Facebook Marketing Partners.
Facebook boosts local news posts
In a continued effort to increase customer engagement, Mark Zuckerberg shared the latest changes to Facebook’s News Feed. The site will now boost local events and news stories from high-quality sources. “We’re making a series of updates to show more high-quality, trusted news. Last week we made an update to show more news from sources that are broadly trusted across our community. Today our next update is to promote news from local sources,” writes Zuckerberg. The updates to News Feed are rolling out in the U.S., with plans to expand to other countries later this year.
Twitter launches Sponsored Moments
Twitter introduced a new sponsorship opportunity, Sponsored Moments, in which advertisers can run tweets designed around a specific event or theme. Similar to other in-stream sponsorships, advertisers can promote the moment to their specific target audience and expand their reach beyond the content partner’s existing followers. Twitter is hoping these changes will help advertisers be relevant “in the moment” and create opportunities for a more organic marketing reach.
Facebook developing new chatbots with better conversational skills
The Verge reports that Facebook is working on more sophisticated chatbots with a “consistent personality” and the ability to carry on better conversations. Feedback from Facebook’s FAIR lab showed that customers were unhappy with chatbots’ ability to provide context-based responses and their programmed responses, like “I don’t know,” when faced with questions they can’t answer. Facebook’s new research is looking for patterns in large datasets that will allow chatbots to converse in a more natural human dialogue.
Snapchat hits 187 million daily active users
Snap’s Q4 2017 Earnings Report showed that Snapchat gained 8.9 million daily active users during the last quarter, bringing its total to 187 million daily active users. While still not reaching Instagram and Facebook’s user numbers, this growth shows the largest increase in users since 2016. This increase included 3 million new users from outside of the U.S., a market Snapchat has just recently focused on expanding into.
Twitter’s increased tweet character count leads to more tweets
Back in November, Twitter increased its tweet size to 280 characters. Though most tweets aren’t using the additional characters, the platform has seen an increase in tweets. CEO Jack Dorsey stated that the recent expansion hasn’t actually changed the length of messages people are sending out — but it has led to more engagement.” The increased engagement has come from more retweets and mentions, higher follower rates, and less abandonment of tweets.
Facebook updates branded content policies
Facebook will no longer allow publishers to take money for posting media they didn’t create or weren’t involved in creating. These updates to the platform’s branded content policies also prohibits publishers from placing ads in video, audio or visual content and states that all branded content may only be posted using the branded content tool and has to feature the proper disclosures.
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