Facebook dominates our news updates this week as the social media giant realizes in a panic that it doesn’t have your continuous and undivided attention. Find out about this crisis facing all of us in the world of digital marketing in this week’s issue of Marketing Updates with Motion Ave!
Facebook Afraid You Forgot It Exists, Owns Your Entire Ecosystem
Did you know Facebook is a social networking platform used around the world? Did you know that Instagram and WhatsApp are Facebook properties? Are you sure?
Just in case the question “who’s your daddy?” doesn’t prompt you to loudly exclaim “Facebook” wherever you happen to be, Facebook announces a momentous change to its platforms that will improve the quality of life for users everywhere: Instagram will now be renamed “Instagram From Facebook,” and WhatsApp will be renamed… wait for it… “WhatsApp From Facebook”.
Given Facebook’s rocky relationship with… humanity lately, we’re wondering if permanently wedding the fortunes of its subsidiaries to the brand luster of their parent is an awesome idea. What do you think?
Teach the controversy here: https://mashable.com/article/facebook-to-rename-instagram-whatsapp/ https://time.com/5643028/instagram-whatsapp-from-facebook/
Speaking Of Instagram From Facebook…
Just to remind creators that if they know what’s good for them, Instagram From Facebook is their most “reliable” and profitable option for them, and that it would be a shame if anything happened to their ad campaigns, Facebook From Facebook launches a new feature in its Creator Studio App: Instagram Scheduling.
In all seriousness, this corrects a previous lack of functionality that was a real waste of time: finally, social managers can schedule posts and IGTV videos from official apps. Until now, this was only possible from a few apps, as Instagram’s API restriction limited other posting options. This opening of access is likely to cure a few headaches in marketing offices around the world.
Rejoice: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-instagram-scheduling-to-creator-studio/560162/
Google Search Not Entertaining Enough? Now It Runs Sideways
The “local pack,” or local results box you get when you search for location-tagged objects, is being redesigned in an effort to be more… interesting? Attractive? Action-packed?
Now, your search results appear below one ad in a scrollable carousel- which fits only one and a half results on the initial page. If you want to see anything past the first result (and see all of the second one, so you know whether “Free Foot” is “Footlong Subs” or something really creepy), you’ll have to scroll.
This can be bad news for SEO, and a lot of businesses that have enjoyed reliably appearing on first-page results are going to have to adapt to regain visibility- if they can.
The announcement, as well as some worrying and advice here: https://searchengineland.com/google-tests-carousel-local-pack-with-ads-included-320225 http://blumenthals.com/blog/2019/08/02/why-brands-should-be-worried-about-the-local-scroll-pack/
Snapchat Instant Create Makes It Easy… Almost TOO Easy
Social platforms aren’t just competing for users, they’re also competing for advertisers- with each platform having unique requirements, marketers don’t have the time or budget to chase every single one. Snapchat just launched its Instant Create Tool, which reduces the work of producing mobile-friendly vertical ads to THREE steps: give a URL, provide or choose an image, and toss that puppy into a template. Entering creative assets will be optional as Instant Create will import images from your website. This vastly widens the field of potential advertisers who can competently create quality ads- which could be a big win for Snapchat.
Snapchat’s official announcement here: https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/blog/introducing-instant-create
More about this new tool: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/31/snapchat-instant-create/
And that’s all Facebook from Facebook and Friends bring us this week. Stay tuned for next week’s surprises and controversies from Marketing Updates With Motion Ave!