As Facebook gears up for its earnings call, new features and announcements are rolling out fast. Here are four pertinent updates:
- Messenger Ads: Messenger is currently testing ads on the home screen. Remember the fairly new layout of Messenger that shows Birthdays, Unread, Active Now, Favorites? Well, even though users can hide these sections (tap the 3 dots), most won’t and this is where the ads will appear.
- Longer Video + Mid-Roll Video Ads: Longer videos get a bump in News Feed. Why is this, you might ask? Facebook is testing mid-roll ads in videos (including Live video) that are at least 90 seconds long. The longer people watch a video, the more eyeballs that can be monetized with ads! 🙂
- Privacy: Always striving to ensure users’ comfort and confidence around privacy, Facebook introduced a new Privacy Basics this week.
- Trending: The Trending feature got three new updates: 1) each trending topic now features a publisher headline below the topic (this is a good thing to add back in and hopefully spotlights accurate news!), 2) improved system to spot trends, 3) everyone in the same region sees the same topics.
On Wednesday, February 1st – Facebook will announce it’s fourth quarter and full year 2016 results. No doubt, there will be a ton of interesting stats to study! 🙂
Set Reminders To Publish On Your Facebook Page
A new feature that Facebook seems to have quietly rolled out is the ability to set regular reminders to publish posts on your Page. You could select Holidays and/or Custom. If you can, it’s best to have content scheduled ahead of time to ensure your content goes out regularly. However, these additional reminders could prove helpful!
This Week’s Top 3 Articles
Next, here are this week’s top three articles that my team and I selected for you!
1. The 5 Minute Guide to Facebook’s New ‘Time-On-Site’ Targeting Options via Shopify.com
Facebook already offers many options for targeting your ads, but this one in particular can be very powerful. The more time visitors spend on your site, the more likely they’re interested in what you have to offer and with this feature you can separate the browsers from the buyers. Love that!
2. Getting the Most from Facebook Ads: A #Bufferchat Recap via Buffer.com
Continuing on the topic of Facebook ads, I was delighted to be the featured guest expert on the #bufferchat tweetchat recently. Here’s a recap that includes all the information shared that day. We chatted about determining ad objectives, content types that are more likely to convert, strategies for A/B testing and more!
3. The Ultimate Social Media Roadmap: From Content To Conversion via BSquared.Media
A plan, a map, a strategy is the key to achieving any goal. We need to plan out how we’re going to get from point A to point B and so on. The same idea applies to social media. How do we get from content to conversion? The roadmap in this post explains the process step-by-step.
That’s a wrap for this week’s issue of The Social Scoop. I hope you have an amazing week ahead!
After a whirlwind week on the road, I’m back home in San Diego at my desk!
My two speaking engagements this past week were amazing! In Charleston, South Carolina, I keynoted the annual Bowling Summit and had a blast. What a great group. They graciously presented me with a gorgeous engraved crystal bowling pin! (Not for my bowling talents, haha! But, hey, you never know!).
Next, I flew to Sheboygan, Wisconsin to provide Facebook training to Acuity Insurance executive and management team. Wow – what a company! Their offices, culture and service are awesome. No wonder they are currently the #2 place to work in America!
Meet Neil Patel, HubSpot CMO and Mari Smith in San Diego!
San Diego Friends: Come see Neil Patel + HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar + yours truly at the HUG17 annual Inbound Marketing Conference in San Diego on 2/2/17. Enter ‘FRIENDSOFMARI’ to save $20.
Cheers
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is widely known as the Premier Facebook Marketing Expert and a top Social Media Thought Leader. Forbes describes Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” IBM named Mari as one of seven women that are shaping digital marketing. Mari is an in-demand keynote speaker, corporate social media strategist, dynamic live webcast host, and popular brand ambassador. She is coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, and author of The New Relationship Marketing.
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