June 2017 Digital Marketing News Updates

Our list of June 2017 social media updates includes a long list of Facebook news, a word about LinkedIn and why now is the time to update your profile, and an update about Twitter direct messaging. Keeping up-to-date allows you to stay on top of your social media game.

Facebook News – June 2017

• Facebook allows groups to create courses – Groups can now create online learning courses as part of the functionality within the group. It seems to still be in testing, but several accounts have access. It’s interesting if you use groups for your business, this offers another service you can provide to your members. Functionality is pretty limited at this point, but it’s great for quick tutorials or tips. It could also work as a great incentive to grow your group membership.
• Facebook adds “Order Food” option in main navigation – This is relevant to restaurant owners. Now there will be an “Order Food.” Definitely make sure you’re set up correctly to be featured in the “Order Food” section so you can capitalize.
• Facebook announces live chat with friends – This new feature allows you to live chat with friends, which is a private chat about the video between you and those you choose, rather than between the person conducting the live stream and anyone who is watching. Another great function is the “Live With” option, which allows two people to be in the live stream.
• Facebook expands personal fundraisers – Facebook is working to replace sites like GoFundMe using Facebook Fundraisers. They have to be approved by Facebook and fall within set categories, even if you’re not a non-profit.
• Facebook, Instagram and Messenger allow cross-platform notifications – Facebook now allows notifications from different apps appear all in one place. Outside of the advertising platform, there hasn’t been a lot integration. Now it’s expanding to the general public.
• Groups can now screen new members with questionnaire – If you’re a group manager, you can now require group applicants to complete a questionnaire to make sure they’re qualified. Note, this is the second update for Facebook groups, this could show that Facebook is investing group functionality and could be a trend.
• Facebook cracks down on fake live videos – Some folks are using the live streaming feature to show recorded video. Facebook is cracking down on this misrepresentation and misuse of the feature.
• Facebook reduces visibility of low quality links – Facebook is trying to improve the user experience. They really want to reduce low-quality experiences. They’re going to reduce the visility of links that go to low-quality webpage experiences. This is intended to discourage pages from posting clickbait, spam, and misleading information.
• New analytics link Facebook ads to offline purchases – Facebook is working to improve the reporting of lead ads and their connection to offline conversion. Facebook is now working with partners to try to link your Facebook audience to your customer transactions. It helps connects the dots between the role the ad plays in getting someone into the store, for example.
• Facebook reduces clickbait in the newsfeed beware of exaggerations and missing information – Facebook ranking posts with exaggerations and withheld information lower. Facebook is now looking at it at the publisher level. If they consistently use this type of headline format, they’ll penalize the entire page in ranking.

LinkedIn News – June 2017

• LinkedIn announces intentions for third party integrations – If your LinkedIn profile isn’t awesome, this is the time to fix it. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and your profile will now be integrated into several applications, quite possibly in Microsoft products. For example, perhaps Outlook email will now give you the LinkedIn profile snapshot of someone who sends you an email. Make sure your public profile looks good!

Instagram News – June 2017

• Instagram announces Face filters and other fun camera additions – There are many new filters and features on Instagram now. Instagram is starting to look quite a bit like SnapChat! Instagram is looking to make the experience more fun and allowing itself to go head-to-head in competition with SnapChat.
• Advertisers can launch Messenger chats on Instagram ads – Facebook launched an ad option where your prospective client can initiate a Messenger chat with the business. Now you can also do that in Instagram.
• Instagram lets you upload outside the app – but don’t get too excited – You can now upload Instagram from outside of the app. The downside is that you basically have to trick your desktop/laptop into thinking it’s a mobile device by altering the url code.
• New Hashtag and Location stories on Instagram – This allows the user a new way to explore, as stories and posts will be more public. It also organizes content for searchability a bit better. The implications for a business using Instagram is that the hashtags and locations are now much more important if you want to be found!

Pinterest News – June 2017

• See your pin stats right on your pins – You can now see some vital performance stats on an individual pin right on the pin (rather than clicking over to analytics). You can also promote directly from there.
• New food features make finding recipes easier – Now you can filter your recipe searches by several criteria including total time, diet, ingredients, etc.
• Pinterest lenses now allow you to scan QR codes – You can use your mobile phone and recognize objectives and categorize them. This now works with QR codes.

SnapChat News – June 2017

• SnapChat growth slows – The growth of average daily active users is starting to stagnate. It could be because other networks are copying their functionality. What’s important to note, however, is that their audience has huge loyalty. Businesses continued to be challenged to find SnapChat as a viable means of marketing.
• SnapChat adds collaborative stories – A story is a series of snaps. Now you can collaborate with another user to create a custom story.
• SnapChat becomes safer for advertisers by looking at snap content – More and more advertisers have expressed concern about where their ad appears in relation to the content it’s featured with. They’re working to crack down on brand content being featured with objectionable content.
• SnapChat launches augmented reality world lenses for advertisers – Brands can now sponsored augmented reality lenses.
• SnapChat announces limitless Snaps – SnapChat is copying Instagram and Facebook in that you can now create limitless Snaps that expire in “infinity” so they don’t disappear.

Twitter News – June 2017

• Twitter lets users approve DMs from anyone – Now you can send a direct message and someone will have to approve it if they’re not connected to you.
• Twitter launches interactive features to DM in promoted Tweets – Twitter now allows direct messaging as an action item for advertisers.

Search News – June 2017

• Study shows featured snippets reduces organic clicks – Do you really want to be the first Google result? If you show up in the snippet, organic clicks are reduced as searchers often get their answer without clicking.
• Google speeds up search ads with Mobile AMP beta – AMP (accelerated mobile pages) is a way for a page to load faster on mobile devices. Google is trying to help advertisers by enabling their pages to load faster. If you’re interested in participating, you’ll have to sign up for their beta.
• Google tests buy button in search ads – You can add the “Buy” button to search results, likely upping the likelihood of conversion.
• Events are now added to search results – If you host events, make sure they are properly optimized! Google has added events, organized in a logical way, to the search results.
• Bing debuts Bots in local search results – Bing has enabled bots in search results. If you search for a restaurant, for example, a bot will engage you to serve the information you’re seeking in a chat-like experience. It’ll be interesting to see if Google copies this functionality.

Analytics News – June 2017

• Google launches Attribution to take measurement to the next level – It’s been difficult for digital marketers to piece together the touchpoints a potential customer has in their journey to becoming a paying customer. This new launch from Google coordinates data from a few sources to give you a better picture of which of those touchpoints had the greatest impact in that conversion.

Digital Advertising News – June 2017

• Adsense can remove ads from individual pages, not just sites – The struggle continues for digital advertisers in having their ad show next to objectionable content. Previously AdSense worked on a site-basis, meaning they could remove ads from appearing on an entire site. Now it can remove ads from specific pages.
• Check out the state of digital advertising in 2017 report – Clickz Intelligence’s 2017 report covers hot topics like attribution and the impact of integration, plus more!
• Search ad revenue continues to grow – check out the latest data – This is a great resource for general information about search and how it continues to grow, as well as a look at ad revenue performance by format. You can compare your strategy to this data for quick reference.

Digital Marketing Innovation News – June 2017

• Google lens lets smartphones understand what they see and take action – This is a cool innovation. The Google Lens will allow you to point you camera at an object and be provided with information about it. For example, if you point the camera at a flower, you’ll be given information about what kind of flower it is and where it grows, for example.
• Check out the state of voice – Google Home and Amazon Echo are just two examples that are gaining popularity. Apple just announced the version this week. Stay tuned as this technology is likely to grow.
• Google launches data tool to make your own Gifs – If you’re looking for a visual way to represent data, here’s a new tool.
• Google assistant launches new features – It now works across devices.
• Check out the Social Media Examiner State of Social Media 2017 report – 50+ pages of the state of social media in 2017. Krista reads this report every year and recommends it!