It’s been another month, and we’ve got another batch of news from Meta.

This month’s highlights include several Reels updates, the launch of Small Business Studios and a new Creator Marketplace, and more direct support with the new Meta Pro Team.

Let’s get started and take a close look at July updates from Facebook and Instagram.

New AI-Based TextStyleBrush 

This is a small but really cool and really useful Facebook update, so we’re starting here! 

Facebook has just announced their new TextStyleBrush, which uses AI technology to essentially copy the font and style of text from an uploaded image and then recreate it on the platform. They only need a single word in order to recreate it. This could be an exceptionally easy way for businesses to take their brand’s font and text styles and adapt it for additional uses.

 In their announcement, Facebook noted that they’re continually working towards advancing AI in safe, responsible, and transparent ways. Which brings us to our next update…

Facebook is Cracking Deepfakes 

You may have recently heard the news that Facebook is aggressively working to find ways to detect deepfakes before the threat becomes more prevalent.

There’s good news: They’ve made some progress.

In a recent announcement, Facebook shared that while deepfakes can trick the human eye, there are attributes that reverse engineering can identify that flags it is false. 

This is outstanding, as the platform has taken a lot of hits as being a prime breeding ground of misinformation. While it won’t stop people from creating the deepfakes, the ability to spot what is and isn’t real (even just when Facebook can tell and remove or flag a video for users) is exceptional. Their reverse engineering accounts for multiple different models of deep fake creation.

This is a step forward in the technology world, and it’s arrived not a moment too soon.

In Testing: Headset VR Ads 

While only a relatively small subset of users are engaging with Facebook’s VR platform Oculus, that small niche is still a relatively large number of users. And now Facebook is looking for monetization options through their ad system. 

Facebook is currently testing ads for their headset VR experience. These ads will show up “in-world” for users. You can see this in the image below, which shows how ads can be placed into the experience in an interesting but not obtrusive way. Since it’s important for developers to have monetization options, this is an easy one that won’t negatively impact the user experience.

Right now, VR ads are only being tested with a handful of apps. As the tests go well, it’s likely that Facebook will continue to roll out the feature. They’ve also said that they’re working on new, unique-to-virtual ad experiences that are not ready for tests just yet. We’ll keep an eye out for what these could be and we’ll give you more information as it becomes available.

Messenger API for Instagram is Here 

The Messenger API for Instagram was launched on June 2nd at F8 Refresh. It allows businesses to use the same engagement platforms they’re using for other channels to respond to direct messages on Instagram. 

Many brands have experienced an enormous influx of private messages and Story responses on Instagram over the past few years, which became increasingly difficult to manage when team members needed to log into the account and check those messages. It was crucial they did so, however, since Instagram couldn’t be connected to other social media management platforms like Hootsuite originally, and since so many users were making high-intent messages asking about products before purchase.

The ability to respond to Instagram messages from different third-party platforms is about as game-changing as it gets for brands who are selling at a high volume here, especially with more features available with additional tools.

Interested in streamlining your business communications from Instagram? Check out Hootsuite’s Instagram messaging integrations.

New Ads for Instagram Reels 

Last month we shared that Instagram’s hyper-popular Reels feature got Insights. This month, it was announced that we’re getting Reels Ads.

Reels Ads have been tested in several countries over the past few months, and Facebook finally decided it was time to roll them out to a wider audience.

Like with standard Reels content, these ads will loop and can be up to 30 seconds long, making them longer than your standard 15-second Story Ad video or 5-second Story Ad image. You’ll also have room for “post description” at the bottom of the ad, and users can see likes and comments on the Reels Ad like they would a standard in-feed ad.

These ads can appear wherever you see Reels content, including in the Reels tab, the Explore tab, in Stories, and in your feed.

We’re exceptionally excited to see how Reels Ads perform, as they’re combining high-performing features from in-feed ads and Stories Ads on an already high-engaging part of the platform.

Affiliate Monetization Options Announced for Creators 

Instagram has just announced new monetization options for creators that marketers everywhere will be thrilled about: Affiliate selling. 

This feature will start testing in a few months, and it’s a completely new approach to selling other brands’ products on the platform.

Now, you can either sell your own products as a business or promote products for a brand as an influencer through a paid partnership. These are closely monitored and can require brand approval.

This won’t be the case for affiliate selling, at least as of now.

Influencers will be able to discover new products available on checkout and then share them with their followers. They can then earn commissions for the resulting purchases, all within the app.

Creators can make more passive income fairly easily, and brands can get extra visibility and sales without spending their marketing funds on promoted partnerships. It’s a win-win.  

While the tool isn’t available yet, we can’t wait to see how it works during testing. Keep an eye on this post monthly to see more information when it becomes available.

Final Thoughts 

Facebook and Instagram can keep marketers and small businesses on their toes, trying to guess at what new Facebook features will be coming around the corner next. This month, the new addition of two types of ads (one in testing and one being rolled out) is particularly exciting, but the AI and deepfake developments are great to see, too. This was a great month for Facebook updates, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you most excited about? What do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 

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Top Facebook Updates May 2021

Facebook Breaks Down its Ad Policy Review Process

We know that Facebook’s system looks at all ads you submit, reviewing them before they run. People have long been confused why ads that seemingly follow the rules are sometimes rejected while obvious scams somehow make it through.

To increase transparency, Facebook just recently broke down how their ad review process works, and it was extremely enlightening.

First, they reminded users that it’s not just the strict advertising policies that apply to Facebook Ads. You also need to check to ensure that each ad complies with branded content policies, commerce policies, event policies, and more (if applicable). You’ve got to be following all of Facebook’s rules in the ad platform.

They also explained that, as many of our users may have noticed, most ads are typically approved within 24 hours. I’ve had ads approved in as little as five minutes, as I’m sure many of our readers have, too.

When an ad is first submitted, they’ll use an automated review that uses machine learning and algorithms to flag potential issues. The approved ad can run, and may be subject to human review later. If the ad is rejected, you can appeal and submit it to human review. They remind users that if an ad is rejected, they can always edit it and resubmit.

Facebook also warns advertisers that in addition to reviewing individual ads, they look at an advertiser’s profile overall.

Have you made attempts to get around the ad review process in the past, or to find loopholes? Are a large number of ads being rejected, or reported by users? Facebook may take action against advertisers who consistently violate their policies, including suspension or banning.

Facebook Reports Efficacy of Platform Safety & Integrity Measures

Over the past few years, many users have  worried about Facebook’s use of their personal data, as well as issues with transparency, hate speech, and misinformation.

While all of these issues are still in play and impacting users, the good news is that Facebook’s updated platform safety and integrity rules are making a positive impact.

In the first quarter of 2021, we saw the following improvements:

• Violent and graphic content decreased to .03%, down .05% from the last quarter
• Hate speech also decreased from .07-.08% to .05-.06%
• The rate of content “actions” taken was 10x higher, and we’ve seen the proactive rate shift from 24% to 97%.

This is great news for brands, because it creates a more positive and safe platform for all users.

New Instagram Insights for Reels & Live Video

Instagram Reels and Live are two exceptionally valuable features on Instagram. They’re currently both popular and capable of driving reach, engagement, and even brand awareness.

It’s great news, therefore, that we’re getting new native data for both to assess their performance and impact on our overall marketing strategies. This will be found under Instagram’s Insights, which you already have access to as a Business or Creator account.

Reels will get the following metrics:

• Plays
• Accounts reached
• Likes
• Comments
• Saves
• Shares

Live videos will get the following:

• Accounts reached
• Peak concurrent viewers
• Comments
• Shares

These metrics will also be added to the Account Insights, to get a better big-picture look of the campaigns’ impact.

And more good news: Over the next few months, Instagram is working to roll out new preset time frame options to let marketers view beyond 7 or 30 day periods. Insights will also be supported on desktop. Stay tuned for that!

New Tools for Asian & Pacific-Islander Owned Businesses

A recent study showed that API-owned businesses have been the most harshly impacted of all demographic groups during the pandemic, seeing a 20% decrease in working business owners from February to December of 2020.

Starting on May 17th, Facebook invited users and businesses to support the Amplify API program. They offered content and training opportunities tailored to API-owned small and medium-sized businesses, and committed to spotlighting and showcasing small businesses from around the API community.

Live Shopping Fridays Announced

It feels a little like QVC’s infomercials have come full circle, but we’re unbelievably excited about Facebook’s new announcement of “Live Shopping Fridays.”

Starting in mid-May and running every Friday through July 16th, beauty and fashion brands will go Live and showcase beauty and fashion products and tutorials in real time. You can find these streams on participating brands’ Pages or by browsing the Shopping tab.

Users will be able to buy products featured in-stream by tapping on them while viewing, and they can purchase without ever leaving the app.

These are the current topics and dates on the map:

• Glow Up – May 21, June 11 and July 2 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT
• New Fashion Finds – May 28, June 18 and July 9 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT
• Self Care Spotlight – June 4, June 25 and July 16 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT

While only major brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics are participating this year, it will be interesting to see if more advertisers will gain access to live shopping features on a more regular basis. Stay tuned!

Final Thoughts

While this was a relatively slow month for Facebook updates overall, the information and new features that we have gained are valuable.

A breakdown of the ad review process is a good reminder for users who are unfamiliar with how it works and the consequences of trying to game the system, for example.

The biggest standout feature here for Facebook alone is the Live Shopping Fridays, and it will be fascinating to see how effective these campaigns are and whether we see a more semi-permanent shopping feature roll out to more advertisers overtime.

In the meantime, this is also your reminder to check in with your ad campaigns since the iOS 14.5 and the ATT are in full swing. Watch those campaigns closely, and look at new ways to adapt if your campaigns take any hits outside of the expected reductions in efficacy of website and data tracking for reporting purposes. Learn more here.

What do you think? Which of these updates are you most excited about? What do you want to see next? Share your thoughts in the questions below!

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Top Facebook Updates April 2021

The ATT Is Here

Apple’s AppTracking Transparency update has been the talk of the town for a few months now. Since the app would require that all apps obtained user consent to collect user data (instead of having users opted-in as a default option that they’d need to proactively opt-out of), we knew early on that this could have an enormous impact on Facebook Advertisers who use this information to serve better ads and on-platform experiences to its users.

On April 26th, the ATT was officially launched. Apps must get user permission to track data, and they also explain why you want to track additional user information (like their emails) when submitting your app to Apple for review.

This update is likely to impact custom audiences from site and app activity, and Facebook has acknowledged that it may impact the accuracy of both tracking and ad optimization. While this will only be true for mobile iOS users and their activity in-app, this may still have a wide-reaching impact. You can learn more about how to prepare here.

Facebook Addresses COVID-19 Misinformation

Unfortunately, misinformation on Facebook is nothing new, and it has potentially reached an all-new level of dangerous during COVID-19.

Last month, Facebook shared what it’s been doing to address misinformation about COVID. So far, they’ve created a global network of over 80 independent fact-checkers who review content across over 60 different languages, aided by AI advancements. AI tools have been removing COVID-19 misinformation flagged by global experts, removing a total of 12 million pieces of content about the virus and its vaccine.

While this is controversial amongst some users, it’s interesting to see how Facebook has responded to misinformation and understand the process behind it. We can assume that this is how they will handle misinformation regarding objective, science-based information in the future.

New Business Suite Features

Facebook’s Business Suite launched last year, and it’s like a central hub for your Facebook and even Instagram marketing.

Last month, they rolled out new features to the business suite, including the following:

• The ability to schedule and post Stories to both Facebook and Instagram, which is fairly groundbreaking
• The option to edit scheduled posts
• The ability to create, edit, and manage albums
• Saving posts in a draft mode

The Stories posting and scheduling feature is the biggest standout here, as that’s something that most users don’t have access to just yet.

New Dynamic Ads for Streaming

If you did a double-take when you read “dynamic ads for streaming,” you aren’t alone, but it’s a really exciting new feature.

These ads are meant to help video streaming brands show off their content to their target audience. When they see the ad, they can swipe through the slides to see different personalized suggestions that are relevant to them. They’re similar to Facebook’s traditional dynamic ads, only they show off different media titles instead of products.

Here’s why this is a big deal: Before this update, streaming creators typically had to promote different media titles separately.

Hulu would create entirely separate campaigns, for example, for The Handmaid’s Tale than they would for Shrill. Now, however, they can create a single campaign if they choose and let Facebook’s incredible optimization features do the heavy lifting (ATT’s impact notwithstanding, of course).

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates March 2021

March of 2021 was another exceptional month for Facebook updates, giving us three great new changes: more IGTV ad expansions, additional brand safety controls, and online courses for community managers were all released.

IGTV Ad Expansion

IGTV ads were first announced and rolled out on a small testing basis last year, and in March it was announced that they’d be rolling out to more users across the globe. These ads use a revenue-share model, and have been slowly improved over the last year. The mobile-first and immersive ads appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed, helping to capture more high-intent users who will sit through the ad.

Now, select creators in Australia and the UK will gain access, which is a good sign for even more significant expansions soon to come. This opens up more ad placements for users, and can allow creators to earn passive income on the platform, making it a win-win for everyone. The fact that it’s so high intent by capturing users who already clicked to watch the video will likely help boost video completion rates, too.

Updates to Brand Safety Controls

Brand safety controls have been a cherished feature for many advertisers on Facebook for some time, and in March we got a few new great options to help with this.

First: With the Rights Manager, copyright owners can opt to claim and collect ad earnings on copyrighted content that’s published by other Pages, as long as both aligns with the partner monetization policies.

This means that when someone shares your content, you can still profit accordingly instead of automatically having it blocked for copyright issues.

Second: They’re integrating “publisher allow” lists and inventory filters into the Ads Manager’s reach estimator. This can help you assess what your campaigns’ reach is after you’ve narrowed down which creators your ad content can appear in.

Third: There are new IP protection tools, to help protect your intellectual property across all of the Facebook suite of tools. This will help protect your brand and combat the promotion and sale of counterfeit items.

This is exceptionally great news, as this has been a problem for hot products for some time. The new measures include a notice-and-takedown program to machine learning investments that will help identify and suspend counterfeits.

As part of this program, they’re working on updating their Commerce and Ads IP tool. You can apply to access this tool here. The updates include image search functionality and more expansive search results.

Community Managers Online Course Expands Globally

Facebook has outstanding courses to walk businesses, brands, and social media marketers through the marketing and advertising process. Facebook Blueprint is an excellent example.

Their online courses for community managers are no exception, and these have now expanded globally. The program, which details how managers can build and grow their communities, was originally released last October only in English. It’s now available in additional languages, including Thai, Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Indonesian, and Portuguese.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates January 2021

February was a slow month for Facebook updates, so we’re rolling straight into January 2021! Here, we’re going to look at topic exclusion testing, the new Instagram professional dashboard, and new tools to disclose partnerships.

Since Instagram is closely tied into Facebook as its sister app, we’re going to cover these changes here so you’re up to date across both platforms.

In Testing: Topic Exclusion Controls for Advertisers

Facebook is currently building and will soon be testing new advertiser topic exclusion controls, which is an extension of their brand safety measures. The goal is to allow advertisers to prevent their ads from appearing in the Newsfeed next to certain topics, based on their brand suitability preferences.

A vegan company, for example, might not want to have their ad displayed next to a post from a Page that offers bulk orders of meat. Seeing the two back to back could create an association the brand doesn’t want.

This isn’t entirely unlike how brands can choose to have their video ads excluded from showing in content of certain creators or creators in certain industries to prevent associations they want to avoid.

The idea here is that advertisers can select topics like “Crime and Tragedy” to avoid.

The building and testing of these features is complex, and it will take some time to get it right; expect to hear more later on this year.

New Instagram Professional Dashboard

Have you noticed that Instagram’s dashboard for business and creator accounts looks a little different?

The dashboard got a big update in January of this year. These are the three big changes and key features to know:

• You can track performance by measuring trends and insights with a core focus on vital data
• You can gain access to tools that help you grow your business account more efficiently, including assessing monetization status and eligibility, setting up branded content, and giving out badges to loyal and engaged followers
• Get access to everything you need for an Instagram education, including resources that share tips, strategies, guidance, and inspiration to grow your account further

While some of these resources were already available across Instagram, they were now brought to one central location. The hope is that it will be easier for business accounts to access and discover tools that are well-suited to assist them. And Instagram did note that they plan on adding to this tool overtime, so keep an eye out.

Business Equality Resources & Tools Announced

In 2019 and 2020, business equality, diversity, and inclusion were cornerstones of discussion in America. Facebook, like many other companies, has made steps to improve the inclusivity of the platform by creating a new resource center focused on Business Equality.

This resource center features the following:

• The most up-to-date trainings, programs, resources, and tools that all businesses can use to foster business equality in day-to-day operations
• Programs like SheMeansBusiness and Boost with Facebook, which may include spaces for diverse or minority people to gain resources they need and network
• Advertising tools like Ads for Equality that are meant to eliminate harmful bias in advertising
• Examples of businesses and organizations who have started on the journey, so other businesses can follow suit

Keep in mind, though, that these resources are not the end-all-be-all; there are limitations to what they can do, so consider consulting a specialist to help your business and marketing team in these areas if needed.

New Tools for Partnership Disclosure Released

Partnerships on Instagram is practically a core part of the platform at this point, but that comes with needed regulations to help everyone stay above-board both in terms of following Instagram’s guidelines and standard promotional laws, too.

It’s important that a creator’s audience knows when a brand is involved in creating that #sponsoredcontent. The transparency builds trust and promotes transparency. The branded content tool helped with this, and in January, Instagram rolled out a few new features to enhance it further.

These include the following:

• Branded content tags that have been expanded to Reels and Live content on Instagram, allowing every type of content to have that lovely “Sponsored” tag to identify paid content. Keep in mind that all branded content on Instagram must use these tags. You can learn more about how to use it here.
• Encouraging disclosure and communication with creators, including through direct messaging on platform if needed.
• A Trademark Reporting Channel, where creators can report content that they believe infringes on their rights. This may include untagged branded content if it violates trademark.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates December 2020

There were three core updates from this month: New features for car dealers, social good resources, and the original announcement of iOS 14 and how it would impact business ads.

New Features for Auto Dealers

Selling cars is no easy task, especially when you’re trying to generate demand. The good news is Facebook has created some hyper-niche on-platform products to make it a little easier. If you sell cars or work with a client that does, this is great news.

Right now, US-based dealership Facebook Pages will get access to:

• A new “Manage Inventory” tab on their Pages, where they can create and promote vehicle listings on-platform
• A streamlined process to create auto industry ads (AIA), where you can promote your current inventory quickly through on-platform catalogs and pre-filled templates
• A new “Vehicles” tab on the Page, which will show your existing inventory through a standard Facebook shop interface

Especially now, as COVID-delays may cause a shortage in new cars hitting the market, this is something auto dealers and their marketers should take advantage of.

Business Resources for Social Good

December can be a time of great joy for many, but it can be incredibly difficult for those who are struggling. With a greater emphasis on social good in recent years, Facebook created a website designed to help businesses advance their social impact. We’re well past the holiday season now, but most information is still relevant. You can see the site here.

The site features purpose-driven brands to give you some inspiration for new directions your business could take, whether it’s hosting a fundraiser or doing “buy-one, give-one” deals on products.

The site has resources for the following:

• To help businesses build communities around causes using native platform tools
• See how to build your brand awareness while promoting social good (not in a self-serving way, ideally)
• Connecting with communities and customers more meaningfully, especially when working with key moments like Giving Tuesday, Pride Month, or Ramadan

Facebook First Announces The Impact of iOS 14

Anyone else remember the feeling of panic that set in when we first learned about iOS 14? While I am thrilled about users having more control over how their data is used, there’s no denying that this can directly impact Facebook Ads.

Facebook first confirmed the expected impact of iOS 14 (which eventually morphed into the ATT) in December of 2020.

They spoke out about the iOS update vehemently at the beginning, saying it would have a harmful effect on small businesses who relied on Facebook advertising and the free internet. They said it was about profit, not privacy, forcing businesses to turn to subscriptions and in-app payments for revenue while free services will have to start charging to stay on the market.

They have since updated their original post on April 26th, and stressed that Facebook will be providing an education screen before Apple’s prompt to explain how tracking is used before they decide to opt-out. For more information about how the changes are expected to impact businesses and advertisers, see here.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates November 2020

There was one update in November 2020 that we’re going to look at: Additional expanded branded content capabilities on Instagram.

Additional Branded Content Capabilities

In November, we got a number of different updates to branded content features on Instagram, which can spill over to Facebook when you consider that you need to take each platform’s requirements into account when creating cross-platform campaigns.

Because the changes are extensive, let’s look at each one at a time.

Branded Content Ads Receive a New Optional Creation Process

Previously, Branded Content ads could only be run by promoting existing posts from creators. Now, Instagram allows advertisers to create Branded Content ads without the creators posting organically on the platform first.

This allows for more flexibility, especially if the brand wants to be the one running the content, though it has creator control in mind. Creators can pause and approve ads published from their handle as they choose. You can see the dashboard in the image below:

Branded Content Ads Released for Stories

In November, Stories Ads gained the ability to feature branded content. Even better, they included tappable, interactive elements like location tags, hashtags, and mentions. Brands could promote this content for authentic, mobile-shot ads that have been proven to perform well.

Branded Content Ads Get Product Tags

Businesses gained the ability to promote branded content posts that contain product tags.

Previously, posts from creators that had product tags couldn’t be promoted through the ad system.

This was one of the more significant changes to the Instagram platform in late 2020, and this increased the selling power of influencer campaigns significantly. If you’re investing in influencer and partnered campaigns, after all, you want to get the best ROI possible with a more seamless, in-app shopping experience.

Age Restrictions Put in Place for Branded Content

This was another great update we were excited for. Businesses and creators can set minimum ages that determine who sees their branded content on Instagram. They can rely on a default minimum age, a minimum age for specific countries, or a custom combination of the two.

An influencer in the US, for example, might restrict anyone under 21 from a sponsored post promoting a local bar, abiding by drinking age requirements.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates October 2020

October was a big, substantial month for both Facebook and Instagram updates. Here, we had an expansion of badges in Instagram live for creators, the new Messenger API supporting Instagram, a collaboration manager update for Groups, and a new community management certification.

Expanding Badges to More Creators in Instagram Live

Earlier in 2020, Instagram rolled out a test program that allowed select influencers to offer badges to live viewers. These could be purchased as a way to support the creator, as they get a share of the profit. The badges can then be displayed on their profile, and even be used to get features like a special heart to interact with, or having their comments stand out.

In October, over 50,000 creators received access to the feature, and in November they temporarily matched badge earnings to support creators during the tough economic times. In addition to expanding more within the US, badges were expanded to France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Brazil.

If there are any creators out there reading this: If you have the feature, take advantage of it. It’s a great way to earn extra profit without a lot of significant effort, but make sure that you’re interacting heavily with the users who have purchased badges when they’re commenting on your lives and your content in general.

The Messenger API Integrates with Instagram

Earlier in 2020, there was a ton of talk about how Facebook was revamping their Messenger API to integrate with their suite of tools, including Instagram and potentially WhatsApp.

Last October, we finally got access to that long-awaited feature. The API allowed businesses participating in their beta program to integrate Instagram messaging with the business suite, or even with their own CRM.

A business, for example, could receive a direct message on Instagram about a Shopping product they had questions about. This could tie into the brand’s CRM to look at the customer’s history with the brand. It also can facilitate increased responsiveness, and allow for third-party social media management tools like Hootsuite to offer in-app response features that had previously been off the table.

Personally, we were greatly excited about this; a large number of small brands and large corporations alike use social media management software to boost response times and customer satisfaction; this update makes that easier than ever before.

New Expansion of the Brand Collabs Manager to Public Groups

The Brand Collabs Manager is essentially a marketplace where brands can promote their services or products to connect with potential influencers. They can then collaborate on campaigns that help both parties on Facebook or Instagram.

It was launched in 2018, and last year was expanded to some public groups to allow brands to connect with relevant audiences in engaged, trusted spaces on the platform.

Group admins can now create Branded Content with partnerships. The content will be disclosed as such, but it’s a great way to monetize Facebook Groups. Since Groups already have high organic reach and are typically incredibly high-engaging, this was a valuable option.

When using these features, however, make sure that you don’t overdo it. If your Group becomes nothing more than a stream of endless sales pitches, your members will start to tune out. They need to get value out of it, too, so put connection, support, and interaction as the core focus and use this as an add-on benefit with moderation.

Community Manager Certification Released

With a bigger-than-ever focus on not only social media management but community management and Facebook groups, it’s not much of a surprise that Facebook rolled out a community management certification course.

Unfortunately, maintaining a Facebook group and an online community is a whole different skill set than the ones you use to create high-converting ads or even click-worthy posts. It focuses much more on fostering engagement and interaction than driving immediate off-platform action. It’s a long-term game that requires the right strategies.

We strongly recommend having someone on your team take the course, which goes over the following:

• How to define and establish a community, including setting goals and guiding principles
• Developing strategies to manage and build your community, brand, and partnerships
• Creating relevant content that’s community-oriented
• Engaging with and moderating a community
• Measuring community success and Group performance

Certification badges are received upon completion and are valid for two years. Those who complete the course also gain access to a private Facebook Group specifically for certified community managers.

Final Thoughts

There you have it. It’s been a long few months both in Facebook world and the outside world, but Facebook at least has given us some great updates to improve the efficacy of our marketing campaigns.

The biggest and most substantial change to watch right now is the impact that the ATT will have on advertising. Keep a close eye on your campaigns for the next few months and be prepared to adapt as needed.

And don’t forget to check back next month; we’re excited to start updating this post again, and we’ll let you know what’s new through the month of May!

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates September 2020

We’ve finally arrived at fall in this absolutely bananas crazy year, putting us three-quarters of the way through 2020.

That alone is worth celebrating given everything the world has gone through, but we’ve also got another reason to be excited: It’s time for our September Facebook Updates edition!

And this month, there are plenty of updates to be excited about, and a few that admittedly are a little less thank exciting. (Don’t worry, we’ll get the not-so-fun news out of the way first.)

We’ve got everything from ad limits for Pages,  a new business suite, expanded brand safety options for in-stream ads, and so much more.

Ready to see what’s new? Let’s get started.

New Ads Limit Per Page

Alright, let’s go ahead and get the worst news out of the way first, because there’s a solid chance that if you already know about it, this is why you intentionally came to find this particular blog post.

Facebook announced almost exactly a year ago that they’d be imparting an ad limit on each individual Page, restricting the number of campaigns they run.

By restricting volume, Facebook -says- this will help advertisers keep costs down and performance up as the system’s machine learning and personalization options mean that high volumes aren’t necessary anymore.

We now have more information about the ad limits, which will roll out between February and the summer months in 2021.

While last year it was expected that only major corporations running more than something like 100k ads per month would be impacted, it’s clear that this isn’t quite the case.

These will be the new ad limits that determine how many ads can actively be running at a single time:

• 250 ads per Page for small to medium Pages

these are pages with less than 100k in ad spend in their highest spending month over the past twelve months

• 1,000 ads per Page for medium and large Pages

these are pages with ads costs ranging from $100k to $1M in their highest spending month in the past twelve months

• 5,000 ads per Page for larger pages

these are pages with $1M to $10M in their highest spending month over the past twelve months

• 20,000 ads for “largest” Pages

these are pages with over $10M in ad spend in their highest month over the last 12 months.

It is true that machine learning, improved algorithms, and options like dynamic ads make it possible for businesses to run fewer campaigns overall, and maybe restrictions on ad volume will make it easier for ads to be approved faster or more reliably (no promises though, of course, we all know how unreliable that system can be).

Overall, it’s not exciting to have limits, especially if you’re looking to scale, though adjusted ad spend would assumably increase volume potential overtime.

One thing to note now, though; if you’re on the verge of the next tier and want those extra ads, pay attention to that now. You’ve got until at least February.

Facebook Prepares Partners for iOS 14

There’s been a ton of talk about the upcoming iOS 14 update, which (amongst other changes) will ask users to opt-in to data collection instead of requiring them to be proactive and look up how to opt-out themselves. While this is good in theory for user privacy, it’s not so great for advertisers.

If a large number of your audience automatically opts-out to anonymous data collection, it means that you won’t be able to show them retargeting campaigns based on actions taken on your site or landing pages.

Website-based retargeting will likely take a massive hit as this update rolls out, especially since mobile usage is so popular and often surpasses desktop usage when it comes to browsing.

Facebook has said that they’re preparing businesses for the update, and have noted that they won’t collect identifiers for advertisers (IDFA) on their own apps.  

They’ll also be reminding users about how their information is used on Facebook, and highlight their Off-Facebook Activity feature. This shows them a summary of the off-Facebook activity businesses send to Facebook, so they can disconnect it.

Facebook Business Suite Announced & Rolled Out

On to happier news!

Facebook’s new Business Suite has been both announced and rolled out, and many of you have likely discovered it already!

The Business Suite is a single dashboard for your linked Facebook and Instagram accounts that allows you to post, message, advertise, and view insights all in one place.

It’s designed to make the social media management process easier, at least for two platforms. (Only third-party tools like Hootsuite extend across non-Facebook social media platform management).

If you want to schedule posts that will go out to both your Facebook and Instagram followers at the same time, now you can.

The combined insights feature is also useful for big-picture views on your performance for the two platforms, especially in terms of comparing what works on each and what doesn’t.

You don’t need to do anything special to access the new Business Suite; if you’re eligible to access it, you’ll be redirected when you visit business.facebook.com.

On mobile, if you’re using the Pages Manager App, you’ll see the option to opt-in; if you aren’t, the Facebook Business Suite App is available on Android and iOS app stores.

Data Checkups Coming Soon

Facebook has made efforts to keep the platform transparent and to protect user privacy as much as possible. They track plenty of data, after all, but it is anonymous; brands can’t see the names of users who visited their sites, for example.

Facebook has thus announced that they’re launching a Data Use Checkup, which is an annual workflow for developers and businesses on the platform that will allow them to review the permissions they have access to.

They’ll also be asked to commit that their data use and API access comply with the terms of service and developer policies within 60 days.

As long as you’re on the straight and narrow, you should be good to go here, but keep an eye out for this and make sure you’re familiar with all the latest policies.

Improvements Made to Auto Inventory Ads

Auto Inventory Ads (AIAs) have been around for a little while now, and Facebook has recently made some great improvements to them. These ads, if you aren’t familiar, are designed specifically to be relevant to those interested in buying a car.

These ads have now been expanded, allowing advertisers to send traffic to a mobile-optimized, on-platform shopping experience.

They see dynamic Vehicle Detail Page (VDP) on Facebook, which pulls information from the dealer’s auto catalog. Here, users can research vehicles, look at additional inventory, and connect with dealers directly through a lead form, phone call, or Messenger.

Expanded Safety for In-Stream Options

In-Stream has been a great opportunity for brands to have advertisements that users are kind of forced to watch while they wait for the content they chose to watch.

There have always been brand concerns, however, about what video their content is associated with, especially following major YouTube incidents a little while back when ads were shown on openly-racist videos.

There are plenty of associations you just don’t want, and having ad revenue go to these users can hurt you.

Facebook has rolled out plenty of “brand safety” options in the past, and now we have two new ones:

• Topic exclusion

which offers a “granular exclusionary tool” that allows you to assess suitability at the content level. It’s fueled by machine learning, but you can ensure your videos won’t appear on content relating to any of the four following topics you choose: news, gaming, religious and spiritual content, and politics.

• Publisher “allow” lists for in-stream auction

which let you name a specific list of individual publishers you who would be willing to have your ad shown alongside

You can learn more about how to protect your brand while advertising here.

Final Thoughts

This month’s lineup of Facebook updates is fascinating; some are about giving more control to advertisers, while others implement restrictions (intentionally or otherwise).

Either way, it’s essential for brands and marketers to be up to date on everything that could impact their organic and advertising campaigns moving forward.

It will be fascinating to see what the rest of this way-too-long-year has in store for us, and how the platform will continue to evolve to offer new features while adapting to tighter security and privacy restrictions.

Check back next month– you know we’ll fill you in on everything you need to know.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates August 2020

There’s a lot to cover this month, so let’s get started discussing all of the important Facebook updates for August 2020 and what they mean for you.

New Sponsored Posts for Groups

2020 is the year of Facebook Groups. Facebook groups are getting priority in newsfeeds, and users are joining and engaging in them in record numbers.

One of my favorite new Facebook updates this month is all about Facebook Groups, too. They’re now looking at potential revenue opportunities for those who run engaged, thriving communities.

You can already run ads your Groups feed, but soon you’ll be able to create brand partnership posts in groups.

Their branded content tags are now being extended to public groups, allowing admins of a group to create sponsored posts in partnership with or on behalf of advertisers.

For businesses and brands who are running groups to build loyalty and hopefully drive sales, this could be a great way to monetize the groups further.

Many businesses running groups, after all, may need to dedicate at least one team member to group management on a daily basis, especially once the groups pick up steam.

If you’re able to increase direct revenue from groups, that may help increase the ROI of the group overall.

One thing to be careful of; users, in general, are wary of ads, so if they see an overwhelming number of sponsored posts, they could lose trust with your brand.

Make sure you’re only using this feature sparingly if you do use it.

New Educational Features Roll Out

Facebook has just rolled out a new “Educational Hub” just in time for students heading back to school– remotely or otherwise.

The Educator Hub contains a large number of educational resources designed to help parents, teachers, and students alike.

The resources include the following:

• Anti-racism resources
• Self-care strategies and mental health resources (which are likely particularly important during social distancing during the pandemic)
• “Get Digital,” a digital literacy program that includes lesson plans, online conversation starters, and online activities for students
• Group-focused options, including the option to start or find a group of like-minded teachers, students, or parents

Whether a family has students enrolled in a homeschool group or remote learning or a teacher is teaching in-class or from home, this could be worth checking out.

It’s a free resource, which can be accessed here.

New Improvements for Accessibility

Accessibility is a big concern, as plenty of users may need assistance using social media sites from accessibility devices like screen readers or by using keyboard-only navigation (no mouse).

Social media sites haven’t historically been the most accessible, but Facebook is taking steps to improve that on their platform.

Here are the new accessibility improvements recently made by Facebook:

• Scalable font sizes, increasing readability
• A new API to ensure that contextual headings are always implemented correctly in descending order, allowing them to actually be usable
• Resolved and debugged keyboard commands so that full keyboard navigation is possible
• Overlay and markup that would flag features that may be problematic for those with low sight (like Stories)
• Reusable components based on the ARIA Practices Guide

Businesses don’t need to worry about being impacted by these updates, but it’s great news overall. The more accessible the platform is, the easier it will be for you to reach your true full target audience.

New Page Follow Settings Give Users More Control

Facebook is testing out different notification options that make it easier for users to get updates from Pages and brands that they most want to see.

When following a Page, users can choose to be notified for highlights or all content of posts, videos, live content, and offers.

If you want to closely follow a local restaurant, for example, so that you’re notified the second they upload a post in case it’s featuring the week’s specials, you can do that.

Many users actually want to see more crucial content from their favorite businesses and have started to realize that with declining organic reach, that just isn’t happening. Plenty of users may choose to opt-in for these purposes.

As this rolls out, take a close look at your analytics.

If some post types have significantly higher engagement that spikes, this may be what users are subscribing to. Creating additional similar content could help you reach quickly.

New Paid Online Events for Creators & Businesses

Small businesses are struggling all over the world right now; there’s no doubt about that. In order to help small business recovery, Facebook has just created a new feature: Paid Online Events.

Designed to help businesses, creators, educators, and publishers to generate direct and quick income during COVID, this feature allows Page owners to create online events that users can pay to attend.

Creators can promote the event, collect payments, and host the event itself through live video all on the platform. They’re also currently testing paid events with Messenger Rooms for an added layer of interaction.

There are plenty of great uses for this feature.

A local restaurant can offer an online cooking class, showing how to make a popular dish or how to plate dishes like a pro. A graphic designer could offer a coaching class to people who want to own their own graphic design businesses but don’t know where to start.

Think about what expertise your business offers and how you can profit accordingly.

Facebook will not be collecting on any fees for paid events for the next year, so take advantage and strike while the iron is hot!

Removal of 1,000 Targeting Options

Facebook has recently removed just over 1,000 of their previously existing targeting options.

While this seems like a strange move for a platform that’s known for its insanely hyper-specific ads, it makes sense; they’re removing the targeting features because they’re either not used frequently, or because they’re so similar to other targeting options that they don’t make an impact.

Facebook gave one example of removing the interest “Key West” because it’s a duplicate version of “Key West, Florida,” which will be kept in place.

Keep an extra close eye on your campaigns for the next few weeks. On the very off chance that your campaigns are impacted, this will allow you to react immediately.

New Timely, Cultural, & Political Updates

The last few years have been extremely tumultuous politically, and Facebook has been at the center of some controversy as problems with transparency and misinformation have run rampant.

Facebook has rolled out a number of significant updates this month. They’ll really mostly impact you as a user unless the specifics apply to your business, but we still wanted to outline them here.

These are the big updates you need to know:

• Facebook has launched a $25 million program to support Black creators.
  The program is open to creators who are at least 18 years old with a minimum of 10,000 followers on either Facebook or Instagram.
• Facebook launched “Black Business August” to highlight Black-owned businesses.
  They’ve also rolled out business education content in support of Black-owned businesses, which included business panels and free online courses.
• Facebook has a Voting Information Center, encouraging 4 million more Americans to vote.
  It encourages users to register, and reminds them of when their primary or election dates will be.
• There’s a new tool to track political ad spend via the Ad Library.
  Researchers, journalists, and users in general can use the ad library to see how different campaigns and accounts are spending their money on political campaigns. This can promote transparency.
• Facebook created a new informational prompt that shows up when users share COVID-19 content.
  This will point users to official health resources, providing more context about potential posts.

Final Thoughts

There’s been a lot to digest regarding transparency updates over the past year on Facebook, and with an ongoing pandemic and a major election in the US this year, that’s unlikely to change.

We can likely expect more transparency- and authenticity-driven features in the next few months, along with hopefully additional features to support more of the small businesses who need it most.

We can’t wait to see what features come next! Make sure you subscribe to our blog so you never miss an update, and check back next month to see what’s new in September!

What do you think? Which update or change are you most excited about? What do you think will make the biggest impact on your business? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

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Top Facebook Updates July 2020

This month’s Facebook updates do include a few new features (like Live broadcasting from Messenger rooms), but they focus most heavily on creating a more secure, authentic, and truthful user experience.

Eager to know which Facebook updates have been announced (or rolled out) in July 2020? Let’s dive in and take a close look at each one and how they might impact you.

Go Live from Messenger Rooms

You can create “rooms” on Facebook Messenger, which allows you to invite up to 50 people into what’s essentially a chat room.

This feature rolled out relatively recently, and now we’re gaining a new extension of it: The ability to broadcast live from rooms on Messenger.

This is an interactive feature, and it’s designed to be a joinable video call. Any invited users are able to join the call, even if they don’t have a Facebook account as long as they have access to the Messenger room.

You can keep these broadcasts private, or, as a room creator, broadcast the room to your profile, Page, or even a group you run and invite viewers to watch.

This is a great feature to use, especially as many people are more physically isolated due to the coronavirus.

Your business can use this feature to create engaging, multi-person live videos that your audience will respond to (or even participate) in real-time!

Since live video sees significantly higher engagement than most other types of content on Facebook, this is a great feature that you should test out.

New Privacy Settings & Messenger App Lock

This new Facebook update is all about increasing security for users, and it comes with a multi-faceted approach.

The first is the “app lock” feature, which allows you to lock access to the Messenger app even someone else has access to the phone itself.

If someone needs to borrow your phone to make a phone call, for example, you can “lock” the app so that they’re not able to see any of your messages even though they’re holding your otherwise-unlocked phone in their hands.

If you’re managing a business’s communications, this is particularly important, but it’s great news for all users.

You’ll need to use features like Touch ID or face recognition (whatever you have enabled) in order to unlock the app again. This feature is already available on iOS and will roll out to Android within the next few months.

Which sort of brings us to the second feature that will be coming soon with this update: The ability to gain more control over who is messaging you or calling you on Messenger.

Facebook is working on a set of new controls so that you can determine who can message or call you directly, which messages are sent to a requests folder, and who is unable to message you at all.

These will resemble Instagram’s own message controls.

New Options for Connecting with Businesses on WhatsApp

Plenty of users will reach out to businesses on WhatsApp, making it an important platform for brands to consider joining.

And now, there are new features that can make connecting with your customers on this platform easier than ever.

For starters, you can feature QR codes on your site, in a chat, on product packaging, or in-store. When users scan these QR codes, they’ll be able to immediately initiate a chat in WhatsApp with your business.

The easier it is for users to connect with you, the better.

You can also now share your business catalog or featured items as links on WhatsApp, which can be used to answer user questions, promote your products, offer suggestions, and drive sales.

If you’re an eCommerce business with a catalog on Facebook and you’re invested in using native shopping features, this could be a great way to use WhatsApp to build product awareness and sales in one nice, neat, convenient package.

Facebook Removes “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior”

After the 2016 US election, there’s been huge concern about the intentional spread of misinformation and manipulation of users on Facebook. Facebook has taken a number of steps to resolve this, including rolling out new transparency tools.

They’ve also been on the lookout for “inauthentic” behavior, especially when it’s consistently coordinated.

This month, they’ve announced that they’ve shut down four networks that violated Facebook’s policies against all foreign interface and coordinated inauthentic behavior. The accounts originated in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Brazil, and Ukraine.

The inauthentic behavior included the following:

• Using a combination of established and fake accounts to manipulate user trust, promote their own content, and drive users off-platform to third-party political sites.
• Former government officials in Ecuador and political consultants tried to hide their identities and mask as local independent news journals
• In Florida, users linked to a hate group previously banned on Facebook tried to set up fake accounts to pose as state residents to evade enforcement and manage a network of pages while purchasing followers from Egypt and Pakistan.

This hopefully is only good news for businesses out there, as it means Facebook is coming up with new ways to keep the platform safe and they’re enforcing their policy guidelines. And since Facebook is prioritizing original news reporting, probably, this will help keep misinformation at a minimum.

Final Thoughts

Facebook knows that the pressure is on for them to step up their game and do their part to reduce the misinformation and manipulation that can take place on the platform.

They’re taking this seriously, looking at both major enforcement options to shut down coordinated networks of policy violators and small, seemingly minor security updates like the option to lock your phone.

These are the most exciting updates because they’ll hopefully have a positive and significant effect on the platform as a whole, but the new WhatsApp and Rooms Live features are pretty great, too.

We’re excited to use them, and we hope you are, too.

What do you think? Which tools are you most excited about? What new features do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 

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Top Facebook Updates June 2020

This month, we don’t have many new exciting, flashy features for businesses, but we do have some big important updates about the platform itself.

With that being said, let’s go ahead and take a look at what’s new and what it means for you.

It’s been interesting to watch what updates Facebook has released when; in addition to your standard new and exciting features (like the new styles of shops rolled out on Instagram), they’ve also been working hard to shift users’ perception and safety on the platforms.

They’re opting for more transparency and more authenticity, and are taking their role in helping to prevent misinformation seriously.

We’ve seen this as they’ve tried to put a stop to incorrect information on anything related to politics to the coronavirus.

Facebook Complying with CCPA

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CPPA) grants California consumers the right to control their personal information. This includes knowing who has and is using their information for marketing purposes, and the right to ensure that their information isn’t used for those purposes without permission.

All businesses that sell to consumers in California want to ensure that they’re maintaining the standards of that privacy law, and Facebook has stepped up to make that much easier.

Now, businesses can limit how Facebook uses the data that they’re sending to Facebook by using the “Limited Data Use” feature.

This feature must be enabled to apply, but once it is, Facebook will process information about California consumers as the business’s service provider. This will take California’s specific privacy laws into consideration. There is a transition period, which will take place this July.

Facebook does note that businesses may see a dip in campaign performance, and note that both retargeting and some tracking and measurement capabilities will be limited.

That being said, if you’re selling to consumers in California, using this feature can help protect your business and their privacy. That’s always worth it.

Facebook Seeking to Advance Racial Justice

We’ve seen a number of businesses come out strong over the past two months, making it clear where they stand about racial injustice. Facebook has just recently done so, and they’ve listed clear steps they’ll be taking.

These steps include:

• Improving their policies, products, and programs.

They’ll be investing in people and technology designed to “proactively detect and remove hate speech hand other violating content.” They’ll also be reviewing policies around how to handle violating content, around voter suppression, and around discussions and threats of state use of force. They’ll also be working to amplify Black voices and ensuring there is more diversity on their own teams.

• Investing in communities of color. 

Facebook says they’ll be investing over $1 billion USD to support Black and diverse communities and suppliers within the US. They’ve specified that this year, they’re committing an additional $200 million to Black-owned businesses, creators, and organizations.

• Launching a new destination. 

Facebook is creating a “new destination” called Lift Black Voices, which is designed to amplify Black voices and to share educational resources and storytelling through fundraising.

These changes likely won’t directly impact many businesses day-to-day, but hopefully, they’ll have a strong impact over time that can improve the platform for all users and businesses– especially those who need it most.

Facebook Shifts Commerce Eligibility Requirements

Instagram has announced that they’re adjusting their commerce eligibility requirements.

And this matters for this post because while it will impact businesses on Instagram first, they have stated that these requirements will eventually go on to apply to Facebook businesses, too.

Now, any eligible business or creator account with even one eligible product can use shopping features and tags. These will drive users to your site to make purchases, and for US businesses that are in the checkout test group, customers can purchase directly in-app.

You’re no longer needing to set up a Facebook store and wait for approval on both.

These new changes will go into effect on July 9th for Instagram where Instagram Shopping is supported and remember that eventually, this will move to Facebook, too.

Collections Lists Are Now Sharable Publicly

Facebook’s Collections list allows you to add “items” (including links, photos, and more) to a list that you can access later on, almost like archived content.

Now, these lists are going to be publicly shareable, allowing you to share the lists with just yourself, contributors, friends, or the public.

This could open the door for business partnerships and influencer collaborations.

Local businesses in a community, for example, could compile a list of “great events around Texas” that promotes an event at each business, and influencers and creators can promote each other’s content.

And if you’re looking to sell items on the marketplace, you can even create a list of what you’ve got for sale.

These lists are extending to all users, and we’re excited to start testing out some use cases soon.

New Fan Subscriptions for Game Streaming

Facebook is underway on a big push to get more gaming streamers on their platform.

(If anyone follows the gaming world, games like PubG are soon dropping Mixer as a streaming platform and starting up on Facebook, for what it’s worth).

They’re now expanding their streaming subscription options, allowing viewers to “support” gamers financially.

Facebook will soon be enabling more streamers to access this subscription option, rolling out to creators in Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the US. All gamers who see 250 weekly returning viewers in these areas can join the “Level Up” program to take part.

As they’re ramping up monetization for gaming streamers from supporters, they’re also looking at other methods of monetization, too.

They’ll be testing several different types of ads during gaming streams, including live ads that show up as pre-roll or midroll, or image ads that appear before the stream while it’s airing.

This will certainly offer up new placements, but since streaming happens live, it will be interesting to see how these ads impact engagement. Gamers and creators will likely get a cut of the ad revenue here, giving them even more incentive to build an audience here.

Final Thoughts

It’s fascinating to watch Facebook’s priorities and usage shift over the past year.

There have been big pushes for more transparency and more responsible and ethical business practices, but at the same time we’re seeing some great monetization and selling features rolling out to new creators and businesses, too.

As a reminder, we also know that Facebook is still working on full messaging integration with Messenger, Instagram Direct, and WhatsApp, so expect some changes there soon, too.

What do you think? Which features are you most excited about? What do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

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Top Facebook Updates May 2020

Whether you’re back open for business entirely, still waiting at home for the “all clear,” or hovering somewhere in the middle, we’re sure that you’ll love the new Facebook updates that were rolled out or announced this month.

We’ve got new shops, support for small business features, and so much more!

New Facebook Shops

We had to start with the biggest update that brands can start leveraging right away: Facebook’s new, native, mobile-friendly shops.

Facebook has had on-platform shops before, and if you’re familiar with them, the basic idea is the same. You can upload products and information about them onto your on-platform store, creating and featuring the collections of your choice.

The new shop features, however, go far beyond what the previous version ever offered.

You can customize the look of your virtual storefront, for example, with customizable fonts and coloring, and users can convert and checkout without ever having to leave the app.

The new shop is definitely an improved version of Facebook’s previous rendition, offering more control to businesses and more convenience to customers.

They’ve also announced that they have plans down the line to roll out additional features, like live shopping options and loyalty programs to incentivize additional purchases.

If you’re an eCommerce business or selling merchandise online, this is something to consider.

“Support Small Business” Hashtag Rolled Out

Facebook knows that small businesses everywhere are hurting right now, with many taking big financial hits. They’ve recently worked hard to roll out new features designed to promote and support small businesses that you can hopefully benefit from!

They’ve created a #SupportSmallBusiness hashtag on the app, encouraging users to show their love for small businesses. Similarly, creators can use “in support of” tags to promote small businesses to their followers.

Facebook Launches Group Chat “CatchUp” App

Knowing that more users have been forced to shift to entirely or almost-entirely online communication, they’ve been working to keep up. In response to this, they’ve just rolled out their new sister “CatchUp” app, which was designed to facilitate group chats.

This is basically Messenger Rooms for voice calls, allowing you to call users one-on-one or in groups.

Overall, this is one app that won’t affect marketers much at the moment, but it’s good to be aware of. It will be interesting to see if it takes off; many users are already using other tools to have one-on-one calls and group calls, so we’ll keep an eye on this one and see how it does over time.

Warning Prompts Added to Messenger Threads

Scamming has unfortunately run amock on the platform for over a decade now, and Facebook is making clear efforts to try to stop this (or at least significantly reduce it).

This includes new warning prompts that pop up with Facebook’s algorithms flag suspicious activity from someone contacting you through your inbox.

They’ll ask if you know the person, and if you say no, they’ll go over steps you can take and inform you about common scams. They always encourage you to refuse requests for money.

The algorithm uses machine learning and looks for common signals that indicate fraudulent or scamming behavior. The signals include the user sending out a large number of messages to people they hadn’t interacted with before or using specific keywords in those messages.

In addition to general safety measures, there’s a big focus on protecting minors. They’re using machine learning to watch for behavioral signals that are questionable, like adults sending a large number of messages or friend requests to people under the age of 18. This new feature will work alongside protections the platform already has, working to educate the underage users to be cautious. It also allows them to take action before ever responding to a message.

Facebook does want users to be safe, knowing that if they’re not, the platform could be in trouble.

15 New Courses on Facebook Blueprint

We’re big fans of Facebook Blueprint, especially since many of our advertisers and clients are learning how to run successful, engaging campaigns themselves. This is a native and outstanding resource, and it’s free!

Blueprint just rolled out 15 new courses, including the following:

• Decide Who You Want to Reach
• Map the Customer Journey
• Set Marketing Goals
• Select Your Marketing Channels
• Tell Your Business Story
• Create and Manage a Content Calendar
• Create Authentic Messages
• Stay Connected to Customers Online
• Bring Your Business Online with Instagram
• Attract an Audience on Social Media
• Engage with People and Build an Audience
• Plan What to Post on Instagram
• Communicate with Customers on WhatsApp
• Set Up Digital Gift Cards for Your Business

If any of these new courses sound like they could be beneficial to you, we strongly recommend that you check them out! Learn more here.

Final Thoughts

Facebook’s new shop feature is the big highlight of this month’s updates, and we can’t wait to see how our customers here at AdEspresso start using it. (The feature has slowly started rolling out, so many of you will start to see it and have access relatively soon!)

Facebook’s additional, moral-focused features that support small businesses, educate advertisers and protect vulnerable users from scams and potential harmful individuals are also great and shouldn’t be overlooked.

These are all positive changes that impact users and advertisers in great ways.

That’s always something to be excited about, especially since the better the user experience, the more we get to interact with them on-platform moving forward.

What do you think? Which of these updates was your favorite? What are you most excited about, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

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Top Facebook Updates April 2020

This month’s Facebook Updates won’t disappoint you.

We got new accessibility tools for live streaming, the updated Messenger interface, “quiet time,” and a new download data tool that will impact the user and marketer experience alike.

Let’s take a look at all of these new changes and what they mean for you.

New Live Streaming Accessibility Tools

Online content has had a huge push for inclusivity and accessibility in recent years, and it’s great to see this now crossing over into Facebook’s live stream.

So far, Facebook has only had video live stream options, where video content is shot and broadcasted in real-time. While most users loved it, this content provided a huge barrier of entry to those who are hard of hearing and or those who rely on screen readers.

Now, Facebook has announced that they’ll be releasing an “audio-only” live mode that will come with the option for automatic captions. They’ve also shared that they’ll offer new ways to access live streams outside of Facebook itself, though we don’t know more about that yet outside of the fact that even those who aren’t logged in will be able to see the content if they choose.

This is great news overall. Automatic captions can have a strong tendency to be less than reliable (especially if there’s mumbling / a background noise/ even the slightest accent involved), but they’re still allowing hard of hearing users to be able to follow along with the basic conversation. Brands should consider taking advantage of this new format and testing it out to see how well it works for them. When in doubt, you can treat it like a short podcast, and we all know how popular podcasts have been in recent years!

New Desktop Messenger App Rolls Out

Facebook’s Messenger app for desktop is brand new, and it allows users to engage in group chats and group videos from their computers and laptops.

This is a new standalone Messenger app designed specifically for desktop. You can still use Messenger in the browser as you currently do; this is separate.

This app rolled out largely because Facebook wanted to find new ways to help their users connect with each other while also potentially weeding out information. The idea is that the more connected people are, the easier the shelter-in-place orders will be, and why not keep them connected on Facebook and in Messenger (especially since they can make profit with Messenger placements).

You can see what the new app looks like here:

This feature will be most valuable for personal uses, but businesses can use it to communicate with small groups of clients on the platform if they choose. They can also use the feature for internal communications if needed.

New “Quiet Mode” Rolled Out

Facebook recently started rolling out “Quiet Mode,” which simply allows users to silence all notifications. The idea is to encourage them to actually walk away from their screens (phones and desktops alike).

For many, this is a relief. When users are stuck at home with shelter-in-place orders, it’s easy to get sucked into Facebook and social media sites a little too often. And while it doesn’t seem like it’s in the platform’s best interest to encourage those to turn away, it’s actually a very good thing. There have been concerns over social media’s impact on users’ mental health in general, and these concerns have been elevated during times of crisis. Facebook encouraging users to limit their time on the platform can result in the user experience improving, meaning that they’re happier to engage with great content (like that from your brand!) when on the site.

As a business, be prepared for some users to take longer to respond to you both publicly and privately if they’re using this feature.

Right now, it’s still rolling out on iOS, and it will likely be available for Android users starting in early May.

Updated Data Download Tool

If you read last week’s Instagram Updates post, this section will look a little familiar.

This month, Facebook worked to offer even more transparency to users in terms of why they’re seeing the ads that are showing up in their feeds. They released an updated version of their existing data download tool that allows users to download three new sections of information on their own activity.

The new reports show:

• Interactions on both Facebook and Instagram from the user, including their own profile updates, Page content, post likes, comments, and more.
• Inferences on how Facebook is pairing up the user’s specific behaviors with content it deems relevant.
• A list of categories assigned to Instagram accounts you interact with, showing users specifically what types of content Instagram thinks they’re interested in when determining what to show in the Explore section of their app.

Once again, brands aren’t necessarily benefiting from this nearly as much as users are. That’s okay; building trust with users so they can understand what they’re seeing and why is important right now, especially when so many users are distrustful of ad targeting capabilities amidst privacy concerns. This could actually help build more trust between consumers and advertisers by shedding some light on the process.

While not an official intended use, advertisers can check out their own data and see if they get any new ideas for how to target users based on their own interactions with the platform. Many brands happily view content related to their own industry, for example, so you may get some new inspiration for categories on Instagram to consider.

Final Thoughts

Right now, it’s not surprising to see a number of social media platforms shifting their focus quickly to try to offer new ways to support users, brands, and marketers during the time of the crisis, especially since nobody knows exactly how long it will last. It makes sense that we’ll continue to see features geared towards this purpose in the immediate months, especially as many small businesses struggle, misinformation continues to circulate, and users are looking for more meaningful ways to stay connected.

During the next few months, it may be more important than ever to stay up to date with what’s happening on your primary social media platforms, especially since these new features may be so valuable. Social is a crucial platform right now for businesses working hard to stay connected with their customers, so take the time to keep investing into your social strategy and management. It will absolutely be worth it.

What do you think? How do you feel about these new updates? Is there anything you were hoping to see that got pushed back? What are you hoping gets released next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

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Top Facebook Updates March 2020

This month, Facebook has made a few changes on their platform as a result of the coronavirus (which we’ll take a look at first), but they’ve also been hard at work on a number of different features that will impact how users and brands alike are interacting with the platform.

We can expect that as we’re all dealing with the coronavirus and its impact to see some shifts in marketing best practices, a slight slow-down of the release of in-testing features, and some adjustments to the platform (particularly ad campaigns) that may somehow be related to the virus.

We’re here to discuss all of it, so let’s get started.

Facebook Announces Changes Related to COVID-19

This is one thing we see people asking about a lot, so let’s get it out of the way: How the virus might impact Facebook marketing?

Right now, there are a few ways COVID-19 could impact your campaigns.

Here are the basics:

• Facebook has announced that due to changes in the moderation process and with staff out of office, there may be delays and errors in ad reviews.

Make sure that you’re creating your ads and submitting them for approval long before you actually need them so you have time to adjust, edit, or appeal them if needed.

• Facebook has created a ban on any ads and commerce listings that seek to capitalize on fears related to the virus.

Any supposedly magic cures, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and test kits cannot be advertised at this point in time. Absolutely no face masks can be advertised. This is really about preventing exploitation more than anything

• Facebook is currently testing new features to reduce misinformation about the virus on both WhatsApp and Messenger.

Some of these misinformation campaigns (including “cures” and rumors about government actions) have gained incredible traction in messaging apps, so giving users the ability to quickly research claims seen in Messenger online before believing it and resharing it may be effective.

You can see what this would look like here:

Facebook Releases New “Mood” for Stories Frames

The Facebook Stories camera has a new “Mood” mode, which enables users to create a GIF-centric frame for their Stories.

Users can look up a GIF, select it, and it will be framed with statements like “mood” or “LOL” underneath them.

Here’s how Facebook’s NEW ‘Mood’ creation mode for stories works… pic.twitter.com/YbU4l8Ih8d

— Matt Navarra 😷 (@MattNavarra) March 18, 2020

These are designed to be quick and easy to create, and they’re utilizing the popularity of GIFs in Stories right now.

We recommend that brands use them to explain their feelings or excitement about the news they’ve already discussed in a Story immediately leading up to it, like an announcement of a new product or a share of a customer review.

Facebook’s Rolling Out New Design for Messenger

Messenger is getting yet another overhaul.

Facebook is rolling out a new update for Messenger which looks to simplify and focus your messaging experience.

After first announcing its intention to simplify Messenger back in 2018, Facebook is now close to launching the next stage.

The biggest change, according to TechCrunch, is that the new update will eliminate the in-app Discover section. All that’s left will be “Chats” and “People” for your main navigation options.

Overall, this likely won’t impact most brands too significantly, though some did benefit from the Discover section’s potential boost in visibility.

Stories also seem to be missing.

Facebook Allows You To Convert 2D Images into 3D Images

Facebook’s 3D photos feature now has a new capability that many marketers may want to take note of. The system is now able to evaluate any image and simulate depth within it.

Static, flat, VERY 2D pictures can now have the appearance of 3D graphics.

These pictures aren’t truly 3D, but it does make them more attention-grabbing in the feed and can look higher quality.

Users can also use their mouse to “tilt” the image, almost like they could with a 360-degree photo.

While you can use Facebook to create actual 3D posts (and these will be a superior quality), this is a good smart answer for brands who want to change up their images quickly.

Facebook Testing the Ability to Cross-Post Facebook Stories on Instagram

We already have the ability to create Stories on Instagram and then share them to Facebook, too. All you’ve got to do is hit the little Facebook icon and boom, shared; you don’t need to recreate the Story on both interfaces, and it’s a great time saver.

Until now, this feature has only worked one way.

Facebook is now testing the option, however, to create Stories with them and then share it by cross-posting to Instagram. This was recently spotted by the incredible Jane Manchun Wong, who noticed the coding in the backend of the app.

While this may not necessarily be an enormous game-changer, it will be a great asset and increase potential convenience for brands and marketers.

Since more heavy integration is expected between the messaging apps, this cohesion makes sense.

Final Thoughts

Facebook marketing is always rapidly evolving. Right now, the coronavirus has us all on edge and taking precautions, and even if it’s slowing down other development even a little, it’s good to see that Facebook is taking its role and responsibility here seriously.

The company knows that their platform has been used (both intentionally and unintentionally) to spread misleading information and potentially take advantage of people, so they’re doing their part to ensure that this isn’t happening now.

As we move through the next month, remember to focus on valuable, empathetic marketing on Facebook, and look for shifts in consumer behavior.

Your audience is likely to be online more, so this isn’t a time to slow down the messaging, but they may respond more to certain types of content than others now, so be on the lookout for that.

What do you think? How have recent world events and these latest updates changed how you’re marketing on Facebook? Which updates are you most excited about? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

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Top Facebook Updates February 2020

This month, Facebook celebrated its 16th birthday, and it’s a powerful reminder of how much marketing and the platform itself has evolved over the last decade and a half. A lot has changed since Facebook first rolled out and resembled the original Myspace in concept almost more than it resembled its current iteration. This isn’t surprising since so much can change on Facebook even on a month-to-month basis.

And this month was no exception.

In the past thirty days, Facebook has announced some new features, rolled out a few more, and set up partnerships with third-party companies to improve the user experience on the platform.

There’s a lot of updates to cover, so let’s start with one of the biggest announcements of the lot: the Clear History tool has now been rolled out to all users.

Facebook Rolls Out “Clear History” Tool to All Users Worldwide

We’ve talked a lot about Facebook’s Clear History tool for a while now and what it means for marketers, and it’s officially here in a big way. It’s been rolling out for a little while, and it’s now available to all Facebook users around the globe.

As soon as it becomes available to them, users will see a Privacy Check-Up, with one section explaining how to use the tool.

Users can see the data Facebook has stored about their off-Facebook activity and clear it if they choose, wiping it from Facebook’s system.

As we’ve discussed before, this can impact retargeting. If droves of users all over the world– and a large chunk of your target audience– decides to clear their history, cookie-based retargeting will become tricky.

Keep a close eye on your campaigns, and consider setting up ad funnels that leverage on-platform activity.

Facebook Releases “One Time Notification” API for Messenger

Businesses have 24 hours to respond to a user after that user has gotten in touch with their Page; they can’t message the individual outside of that period unless they’re using ad campaigns.

The exception here is if users choose to enable “one-time” notifications through Messenger for relevant updates from the business.

Businesses can now set up notification tools within Messenger that users can enable to receive relevant-to-them updates at a later time.

If customers are interested in a product that’s out of stock, for example, they can opt-in to in-stock notifications. You can also allow users to enable notifications for when their purchase ships, or before a coupon code expires.

There’s a lot of flexibility in how you use this feature, but it’s an enormous asset as it can keep you at the forefront of customers’ minds.

Facebook Expands Fact-Checking with Reuters Partnership

Almost everyone is familiar with the major transparency and misinformation issues Facebook has been known for within the past few years. Incorrect information is spread constantly on the platform, and though they turned a blind eye for years, they’ve taken an effort to change that since the 2016 election and all the fallout that happened with the platform since.

They’ve expanded their fact-checking efforts by establishing a partnership with Reuters, which will help Facebook attempt to detect, flag, and address any misinformation on the platform.

This is great news for marketers, because the more users feel they can trust the information they’re seeing on the platform, the better.

You want users to be able to trust what they’re seeing from your brand, and an overall improvement in authenticity on the platform can help.

Facebook Releases Creator Studio Mobile App

This month, Facebook released a new Creator Studio mobile app, which is a separate mobile tool designed to help manage your Pages on the go.

This mobile app will have many of the same features as the Creator Studio, just presented in a mobile-friendly package.

You can still manage, upload, and publish content, check your insights, and engage with your audience from a simplified, streamlined dashboard.

For brands who are using the Creator Studio to manage their Facebook and even Instagram campaigns, this is a must-have app.

Those who are already using third-party tools with mobile apps like Hootsuite may not rely on it as much, but it could still be valuable to download just in case it’s ever needed.

Audience Network Losing Mobile Web Placements

So much of Facebook’s updates seem to be about expansion, but sometimes the best thing the platform can do is let go of features that aren’t working anymore. That’s the case with mobile web placements from the audience network, which will be shut down as of April 11th.

Facebook has stated that:

These placements represented very small pieces of the audience network success”, and that “their removal will not have a material impact.”

By April 10th, make sure that your campaigns are changed over. Remove these placements from your campaigns to keep things simple, and focus on other placements instead.

Since most businesses focus more heavily on in-feed and more native ads, this won’t affect the majority of campaigns, but you may see a small fluctuation around mid-April in results if you were all-in on these particular placements.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! Another month is almost over, and Facebook certainly hasn’t disappointed.

As we continue to move forward through the year, one thing we know we’ll likely see a lot more of will be intentional efforts to increase transparency, authenticity, and accurate information on Facebook.

This was a major concern in the 2016 election and it’s proving to be an issue in the upcoming 2020 US election, too, and Facebook is taking it seriously this time. While many restrictions may only impact political campaigns, there will likely be a few that impact us all.

In the meantime, make sure you check out the new changes and check back in with us next month to see what else is new!

What do you think about this month’s Facebook updates? What are you most excited about, and which updates do you think will be most significant to the platform? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

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Top Facebook Updates January 2020

Facebook slowed down a bit towards late December when it came to major updates, but that doesn’t mean they left us empty-handed for January!
Even though no highly-anticipated features dropped so far this month, they still quietly rolled out some great new Facebook updates that positive impact brands.

We’ve also got some news on policies moving forward, so in this post, we’re going to look at everything that’s changed on Facebook since our last post and what it means for you.

Messenger’s New Policy Start Date Delayed

If you’re asking yourself “What Messenger new policy,” then count yourself lucky.

Facebook has announced new policies for the Messenger platform that directly impact how business Pages can interact with customers. These include the following:

• There’s a revised standard messaging window, which is now 24 hours. 

Facebook wants businesses responding to messages within 24 hours since it’s what users expect, and now the pressure is on to do so.

• We’re getting streamlined message tags 

This will allow for personalized one-on-one messages outside of the standard messaging window in four specific use cases: post-purchase updates like shipping notifications, event reminders, account updates, and personalized responses from a human agent. The latter is currently in beta.

• The News messaging is here (beta)

This new feature will allow registered news agencies to set up subscription messaging in a way that other businesses can’t.

• Launch of a new API for one-time notifications 

Some users want notifications on Messenger that they’ve opted in for, including one-time notifications for price alerts, back-in-stock alerts, and an alert that tickets or products are now available for sale. These are obviously beneficial for businesses, too. There will be a new API that will support these use cases, but only if the individual has explicitly requested the specific, relevant-to-them notifications.

NOTE: This policy was originally scheduled to go live on January 15th. It has since been pushed to March, with the “one-time notification” API likely rolling out sometime in February, so be ready for that.

You can read more about these policies here.

New Page Management History Tool Available

Matt Navarra recently flagged a brand new feature for Facebook Pages which is currently called “Page Management History.”

This tool is particularly useful for Pages being managed by multiple individuals, because it will show every single action made on and by your Page, when the actions were taken, and who enacted them.

Want to know who was a little bit rude to a customer, or who doled out wrong information? Looking to see who your shining stars are in terms of engaging customers? This tool can help you do that at a glance.

You can find this tool on your Page under the “Settings” tab, with the “Page Management History” all the way at the bottom of the menu. Right now, the history dates back to November 2019.

Updated Political Ad Policies

Tired of seeing so much content discussing politics or social issues on Facebook and Instagram?

While you will have to unfollow your aunt who shares political articles six times a day on your own, Facebook is now offering a control that allows users to reduce the number of political and social ads. They simply need to go to their “Ad Preferences” and opt to see fewer ads on these topics.

This won’t affect most of our readers as marketers, but it will likely impact you as a Facebook user.

Facebook has recently updated their policies on political ads by giving users more control of what they see. They have stated that they will not limit the targeting on political ads, but that they’re giving more control to users when it comes to what they want to see.

And if users want to check up on any political ads that are being run, they pushed out an improved version of their Facebook Ads library to make it a little more user-friendly in terms of search. It’s easier to find content based on keywords and key phrases now.

Special Category Ad Requirements Take Place in February

When you’re creating ads on Facebook, U.S.-based advertisers see an option to mention that you’re running ads in a “Special Ad Category.” These ads include those related to housing, credit opportunities, and employment.

Starting on February 11th, Facebook will require all U.S. advertisers to categorize their ads accordingly as well as to identify any active campaigns created before December 4th, 2019 if they belong in the Special Ad Category.

At this point, impacted advertisers are also going to need to update their targeting settings to meet current compliance standards.

All other businesses will simply ignore this, and make sure that they have the “Special Ad Category” option unchecked for all your campaigns.

Conclusion

Facebook didn’t drop any insane, out-of-this-world features over our break; they released one useful new update, and mostly focused on fine-tuning their policies and adjusting timelines.

This is what we expected to see, and with all the new changes we’re starting to see brew under the surface, it won’t be long before we’re writing about more substantial new features and changes happening on the platform.

In the meantime, please make sure that you’re up to date with all of the policy changes happening on the platform, and that any social teams you’re working with are as well.

These will impact how your business is marketing on the platform, so you need to be ready, because they’re coming quickly.

What do you think? Which of these policy changes and updates will impact you most? Do you think the Page Management History feature will be useful to your business? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!