Krista Neher
Jan 15 2018
January 2018 Digital Marketing News Updates
Don’t spend hours researching to stay up-to-date! We’ve compiled the January 2018 Digital Marketing News Updates to keep you current on Search, Advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, and more! Want to be the first to know about the latest and greatest in digital marketing? Sign up for our All Access Pass for training and access to our monthly webinar. BONUS: Get your questions answered by a digital marketing expert live!
- Facebook Fights “Engagement Bait” – “Like this if you are smart” – not anymore. Facebook knows that users find aggressive posts asking for engagements spammy, so Facebook will begin to penalize posts that blatantly ask for engagements. Also, Pages and people who consistently use these tactics will see their post visibility drop over time. So stop being spammy 😉
- Facebook Snooze Button Gives You a Break – Facebook launches a “snooze” button that allows users to take a break from people or Pages that are overwhelming them. This may be a better option vs. unliking someone.
- Facebook Launches Face Recognition (CREEPY) – In case you didn’t think that Facebook was already infringing into your life enough, they have now launched facial recognition technology. The idea is to help you to know where pictures of you are being used in Facebook. You can turn this off, but it could also be an easy way to find photos of yourself online.
- New Video Distribution and Monetization – If you are into Facebook video (and if you aren’t you should be) there are 3 new features to know. 1) Video distribution: Updating News Feed ranking to improve distribution of videos that people actively want to watch — for example, videos from Pages that have strong repeat viewership. 2) Ad Breaks: Improving the viewing experience for people by updating our guidelines for Ad Breaks, and providing new metrics for publishers and creators to understand how their Ad Breaks perform. 3) Pre-roll: Testing pre-roll ads in places where people intentionally go to watch videos, like Watch.
- Facebook Expands AR Studio – People can now join the beta of the Facebook AR studio and experiment with adding AR into their visual content.
- Facebook Launches 360 Community + Tools – Over 1 million 360 videos have been uploaded to Facebook and Facebook wants to support creators. Check out the 360 community for tips and tools on 360.
- Facebook Launches Messenger for Kids – Concerned that Facebook is missing out on younger audiences? They’ve now launched an app just for kids with parental controls. This new app allows those under 13 to participate in the social network and gets even younger users on Facebook.
- Verify your Domain on your Facebook Page or Lose the Ability to Edit – Facebook announced last year that they would remove the ability to edit content in links for non-verified domains. This is expected to launch in Q1 of 2018 – so verify your domain now.
- Facebook will Shift to Viewable Only Organic View Counts – FINALLY – Facebook analytics will only count viewable views – or views that actually appeared on a screen vs. just loaded. This means that you may see a decline in organic views when the feature becomes active.
- Facebook Launchest What’sApp Ad – What’s App is the biggest messaging platform outside of the US and now Facebook has an ad unit for brands to integrate What’s App into Facebook. You can now run a Facebook ad that connects to the What’s App platform.
- What’s App Verifies Business Accounts – There are 3 levels – verified, confirmed, and business. Be sure that your business account has the right designation.
Pinterest News Updates
Twitter News Updates
Instagram News Updates
- Follow Hashtags on Instagram – Instagram becomes a little friendlier for content discovery as you can now follow a hashtag to see relevant content. If you have a branded content this can be an easy way to track content.
- You Might Get More Reach on Instagram – Between the above update on Hashtag following and new discovery features, Instagram is trying to help people discover more content they love. While this may bring more clutter, it can also increase the amount of content people will view on Instagram and can increase your reach.
Snapchat News Updates
- Snapchat Launches Lens Studio – Now anyone can make a lens for Snapchat. This could be cool for marketers looking to share their brand story in an organic way on Snapchat.
Search News Updates
Digital Advertising
- Mobile Ad Spending Eclipses Desktop – If you have been dragging your feet on truly getting mobile this is your wake-up call. Mobile ad spending is greater than desktop and mobile is now the second largest ad medium…and it is continuing to grow.
Innovation News Updates
- Americans Still Love Email – If you worry that email is dying (in the US at least) think again. Most people expect email to remain as one of their primary communication formats.
- 80% of Brands Plan to Increase Video Spending in 2018 – Video is continuing to grow as the preferred communication tool for people and businesses. If you don’t have a video strategy get started NOW.
- AR and VR are Expecting HUGE Growth – If you are curious what the future holds AR and VR are two areas that are coming in to their own. Marketers are getting excited about the opportunity to create immersive experiences for customers and growth is expected to be HUGE in the next few years.
Read some more of our recent posts
