October 2020 Digital Marketing News Updates

Krista Neher

Oct 11 2020

Members of our All Access Pass get the first look at the latest digital marketing news updates each month during a live webinar.

Facebook News Updates

Facebook Removes Image Text Rule – Facebook has historically penalized (or prohibited) ads with over 20% text in the images. This restriction has been lifted as Facebook aims to optimize ads based on performance vs. enforcing the 20% rule.
Facebook Launches Business Suite – This replaces business manager and includes Facebook, Instagram and Messenger all in one place. You can download the new app on your phone or you’ll see the new interface when you login to Business Manager.
Facebook Announces Ad Limits – Facebook will now limit the number of ads that a business can run at once. For small businesses it is 250 ads. This is a strategy by Facebook to encourage businesses to simplify their ads and better use the AI tools and dynamic ads features to improve results.
Facebook Beta Tests Horizon VR – This is a virtual reality world that includes games, creation and more. While it is in Beta it shows that VR may be making a comeback in a more isolated world.
Facebook Removes 28 Day Attribution – This is for conversion ad calculations where you can give the ad credit for conversions that happen up to 28 days after the ad interaction. This window will be reduced to 7, so if you run conversion ads you should expect to see a reduction in results.
Facebook Adds Public Group Discussions to Newsfeed – This can result in more visibility for groups and posts. Facebook continues to focus on group content.

LinkedIn Launches Stories – Most profiles should have access to stories – for Pages they are being rolled out. You can create and share “stories” through the app as an additional way to connect with audiences. Stories have fairly prominent placement and aren’t heavily used yet, so this is a nice whitespace for exposure in the platform.
LinkedIn Integrates with Video Apps – LinkedIn announced integrations for Zoom, Bluejeans and Microsoft teams. These aren’t live yet, but they should come soon along.
LinkedIn Expands Marketing Partners – They are now in a number of different areas to offer providers to meet all of your LinkedIn marketing needs.
LinkedIn Offers Page Owners More Insights – Into followers as well as things like Employee Milestones. This gives you more details on the people who follow your Page and the opportunity to create better content.
LinkedIn Launches Brand Demand Playbook – This gives businesses ideas and proven approaches to generate more leads from LinkedIn.
Microsoft Ads Includes LinkedIn Targeting – Not available in every country but you can now target people based on their LinkedIn profile attributes via Microsoft ads. This is a great alternative for businesses that find LinkedIn ads to be too expensive or ineffective.

Reels Update Includes Longer Video and More Editing – With the initial launch videos were limited to 15 seconds — and they are now extended to 15. There are also more editing features to make it easier to create. With TikTok blocked in India (and challenges in the US) Instagram is hoping to capitalize on the new format.
Reels Launches Trend Report – If you are thinking of jumping in to the short video craze of TikTok or Reels, checkout the Reels trend reports that dive deep into what’s trending. This is probably recommended reading if you market to younger audiences.

YouTube Announces Shorts – Competing with TikTok and Reels, YouTube has announced shorts to get in on the short-form video game. If you are creating short video content this could be an additional syndication platform.

Google Limits Search Results Reporting – The SEO industry is OUTRAGED that Google will no longer show search data for keywords with small volumes. They don’t specifically say what the cutoff is, but the truth is that businesses will have less data for keywords that are low traffic.
Google My Business Adds New Attributes – You can now add details to your business listing around if you require masks, if staff wear masks, etc. If you have a local business that people visit, definitely update your listing.

75% of People Don’t use Branded Hashtags and 26% Will Leave Reviews – This report shares the propensity that people have to share or create branded content. Definitely check it out for inspiration in your reviews or user content execution.
Emojis in Email Subject Lines May Work (but they aren’t the most important thing) – Studies often show that emojis increase open rates by grabbing attention. But a new study found that ONLY if the subject line was actually interesting. So focus FIRST on a great subject line and augment with emojis as needed.