August 2020 Digital Marketing News Updates - Facebook Room Lives, SnapChat Redesign and Brand Profiles, Predictive Analytics in Google Analytics

Krista Neher

Aug 03 2020

Facebook News Updates

Facebook Grows Revenue and Users this Quarter – Despite advertiser boycotts and complaints about fake news, Facebook grew ad revenue 11% and added 100 million new users.
Facebook Chat Plugin No Longer Needs Login – If you want to use Facebook Messenger for website chat it is now available without requiring users to login. This retainer marketing plans makes it a great (free) option for adding chat to your site.
Facebook Rooms can Now be Broadcast Live – To profiles, pages or groups to live stream video conversations with up to 50 people.
Facebook Rolls Out Image Sharing Layouts – For multiphoto posts you can choose your layout.
Facebook Ads Shopping Custom Audiences – In custom audiences when placing an ad you can now create an audience based on shopping behavior in your IG or FB store.

LinkedIn Revenue Up 10% and Sessions up 27% – Strong growth in both ad revenue and users despite the pandemic.
LinkedIn Adds More Options to Post Creator – Including share that you’re hiring and find an expert.

Pin Comments to the Top – You have more control over your account by pinning comments to the top of a post.

Twitter Grows Users but Loses Revenue – Revenue for Q2 is down 19% while user growth is 34%.

WhiteHouse Gives TikTok Until September 15 to Sell – Microsoft is reportedly interested in buying the platform. The uncertainty creates an opportunity for other platforms, (Instagram is launching a competitor) to try to win over users.
Snapchat Adds 9 Million Users and 17% Revenue Growth – Continuing to grow both users and revenue.
SnapChat Redesign – Makes it easier to use and also increases prominence of maps which can be relevant for local businesses (which can be shown on maps).
SnapChat Begins Closed Beta of Brand Profiles – Brands are already on SnapChat with regular accounts. With this pilot brands will be able to have designated brand accounts with more business features.

Updates to Dynamic Search Ads – Dynamic/Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) dynamically test variations of copy to put a final ad together. They now have new features including adding a countdown timer, locations as well as advanced insights.
Google Analytics Launches Predictive Analytics – Create audiences based on predicted behavior. For example those likely to buy. The algorithm uses a variety of factors to predict the audience so you can be more targeted.
Google Messaging Tools Available in Maps and Search – The “Message” button allows customers to start a messenger conversation with a business. Businesses can add this to their Google My Business profiles.

Pinterest has over 400 Million Users – Making it a large, growing platform. Check out the link for data on the users.
Spotify Allows Video Podcasts – Users can now upload their video podcasts and users can watch them. This is the first time Spotify is branching into video.
Hulu Launches Self-Serve Advertising Platform – Allowing small and medium businesses to run video ads on the platform with a self-serve model.
What’s App Launches QR Codes and Catalogs – To make What’s App more business friendly you can now use a QR code for customers to initiate a conversation. Also catalogs and items can be shared on What’s App.
New Emojis for World Emoji Day – Check them out 😉