Allison Chaney
Mar 08 2018
We spend hours reviewing articles, posts, and reports to stay up-to-date so you don’t have to. Here are the 2018 digital marketing news updates to keep you current in performing your job.
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Facebook News Updates
- Facebook Ends the Explore Feed Test – In a response to people wanting to see more from their friends and family in their News Feed, Facebook tested out the Explore Feed as a dedicated place for content from Pages. The people have spoke, and they didn’t like the idea of two separate feeds. They also didn’t find the Explore Feed as an effective way to discover new businesses and public figures they didn’t already follow. So, Facebook is ending the Explore Feed test. As we talked about last month, the News Feed is going to continue to include more from friends and family, and less from brands.
- Facebook is Helping People Find Jobs and Local Businesses Hire – Facebook has added the ability to apply to jobs directly on Facebook. 25% of people from a recent poll said they searched for or found a job using Facebook. If you’re having trouble finding talent and filling a few positions, this might be a feature worth checking out!
- Facebook is working to bring internet access to all – While more people are connected than ever before, there are still 3.8 billion people without internet access, and Facebook is working to change that. By improving the infrastructure of the internet and decreasing the cost to access it, people worldwide will continue to become more independent and empowered through internet connectivity.
- Facebook is Making it Easier for Organizations and Businesses to Help People during a Crisis – During a crisis, organizations and businesses can play an important role in helping people and communities. So, Facebook is now allowing businesses and organizations to post in the Community Help section of the Crisis Response feature on Facebook. If you have a business that provides products or services that can be of help in a crisis situation, this may be another way to get the word out and connect with those in need.
- Facebook is Making Ad Metrics Clearer – In an effort to help advertisers understand more about how to measure and improve their campaigns, Facebook is making some changes. They are adding transparency to the metrics by noting numbers that are estimated, removing redundant and outdated metrics, and introducing a new program in March called Measure What Matters which will share insights so businesses can understand how to measure their success on the ad platform. Measure What Matters will be offered on the Facebook Business website and on Facebook Live and in-person events.
- Facebook’s New Organic Reach Measurement – You may notice the organic reach of your posts declining recently. Facebook is now counting organic reach impressions only when a Page post actually appears on a person’s screen rather than counting a reach impression if a post appeared anywhere in their news feed. We believe this is a good thing because it’s more accurately counting who really saw a post.
Twitter News Updates
Snapchat News Updates
- Snapchat Rolls Out Analytics Tool For Influencers – Influencers have been asking for a way to see how many people follow and watch their Snapchat Stories, as they could use this data to sell brands on sponsoring their Stories. Snapchat will is making a commitment to be more active in how they support their verified influencers by providing this data, in hopes that this increases influencer use of the app.
- Snapchat Offers Free Credits to Brands Running Vertical Video Ads on Rival Platforms – Many advertisers are still not ready to test the platform yet when it comes to running ads on Snapchat, which is leaving the app with a lot of unused ad inventory. So, they are giving free ad credits to advertisers who have already run vertical video ad formats on other platforms. If you have already bought vertical video elsewhere, why not try it on Snapchat for free? With nothing to lose, this might be a great way to boost advertising on Snapchat and prove the ROI, then turn it into real revenue as advertisers learn the value.
LinkedIn News Updates
- The Chart of Who Viewed Your Profile is Back! – A few months ago, without warning, the chart showing trends in who viewed your LinkedIn profile disappeared… and now it’s back! Amidst a wave of changes at LinkedIn, we thought this was a feature they just decided to do away with. Perhaps we’re not the only ones who saw value in what it can do to help motivate a team to network and make more valuable connections.
Instagram News Updates
- Instagram Tests Its Own Sharing Features – There’s a share button on Facebook and a retweet button on Twitter. But what if you want to share someone else’s Instagram post with your followers? You will need a separate app like Regram for that. But Instagram is testing a new feature with a small percentage of its users, which will allow them to add the post to their Story so anyone who follows them will see the post when viewing their Story within 24 hours. This could significantly expand the reach of brands’ and influencers’ organic content if they choose to roll this out. As Facebook organic reach lessens, Instagram is a platform where organic reach could really take off for some brands.
Search News Updates
- Google Sets HTTPS Deadline – Google has been encouraging website owners to move to a secure site for some time, and now they have set a deadline. Having an HTTPS or secure website means you are offering extra layers of protection for your users including encryption of private data. For some, the ranking boost alone was enough to encourage the switch. But now, if your site is not secure by July of 2018, a warning will appear for all Chrome users (43% of all internet users in the US) that the site is not secure. If you’ve been putting this off, it’s time to make the switch or risk losing a lot of ranking and traffic! But switching is easier and more affordable now than ever. Most hosting platforms offer this option and some even offer the service to migrate the site for you.
- Restaurants Can Upload Menus to Google My Business – If you have a restaurant, then you need to know about this update! You can now add a menu right to your GMB page, and it will be viewable only when using a mobile device. Previously restaurants could only add a link to the menu or had to use a third party service. For hungry searchers, this could be a great way to get their mouths watering and entice them to choose your restaurant over another where they aren’t certain of what’s even on the menu!
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