March 2018 Edition: The Social Media Updates You Need to Know
February is over! That was quick, huh?
Here are the top social media channel updates from the past 28+ days we thought you'd want to know about.
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RIP Facebook Power Editor – Now, just use Ads Manager
There's a new sheriff in town. Well, actually, now instead of two sheriffs there's just one?
For many years, Facebook's advertising dashboard has been divided between Power Editor, which was the most robust place to create new ads, and Ads Manager, where you manage and report on existing ads. This split was actually pretty confusing for a lot of people, and it appears that Facebook has tried to fix that confusion by sunsetting Power Editor and absorbing its functions into Ads Manager and its associated features.
These changes have been rolling out to ad accounts over the past few weeks.
Here are some of the features of the new Ads Manager:
- There are now two consolidated options for creating ads: Guided Creation (a simple, walk-thru style option for creating new ad campaigns) and Quick Create (for advertisers who are already familiar with all of the ins and outs)
- Publish edits to existing campaigns directly from Ads Manager, rather than going to Power Editor separately
- Changes to ads are automatically saved (Google Docs style)
- Reports have moved to a new menu called, wait for it... Ads Reporting
If you haven't already, you'll see a handy Tour of the new Ads Manager after logging in. If you ever want to see it again, just pop open the right-hand slider menu and click "Take the Tour." You can also explore Facebook's Help article about the new Ads Manager.
Also: Post Reach metric updates
While the above Ads Manager UI updates seem to relieve some confusion, this one has done the opposite so far: Facebook updated their post reach metrics, and some pages are seeing a 20% drop in organic reach data. The amount of people seeing your posts hasn't actually changed, but the way it's reported has.
Here's the key section from Facebook's explanation:
The new definition [of organic post reach] counts organic reach when an unpaid post enters a person's screen. Previously, organic reach was counted when a person had an unpaid post placed into their News Feed, whether it entered the screen or not.
Simply put: Facebook used to count an impression if a post or ad was loaded into a user's feed. Now, nothing is measured as an impression until the post actually enters the viewable part of the screen. (Some refer to this as "viewable impressions."
For more information, including how to run reports using the previous post reach definition, visit Facebook's Help Center article.
Snap Store offers Snapchat Merch... Air Jordans... and a potential new e-commerce platform
You may have noticed an entirely new e-commerce menu pop into your Discover feed in the past few weeks. This "Snap Store" offers Snapchat-inspired merch, like a plush dancing hot dog and a "streak" hat—a nod to the fire icon that shows up when "you and your friend have Snapped each other (not chatted) within 24 hours for more than three consecutive days."
As TechCrunch puts it, “the goal isn't to make money yet, but it proves the potential for an in-app commerce platform for other brands.”
This potential for commerce was actually also on display during the NBA All-Star Game, when the newest Air Jordans were sold exclusively through Snapchat. This interesting quote about the stunt was published in AdWeek and is worth a read:
“It also proves innovation in connected commerce more broadly is still in its infancy, and if brands aren’t investing in transforming how media activation and commerce intersect, they will be left behind.”
—Justin Marshall, VP of Emerging Platforms at Possible
The take-away? Keep your eyes on how Snapchat will continue to expand its ability to sell directly to users on the platform, as well as whether or not big brands buy into the concept.
New Instagram “Type Mode” for Stories
Updated typography options were recently rolled out for Instagram Stories. "Type Mode" expands on color and size options by allowing users to choose between a handful of text treatments for their Story captions.
Type Mode lets you play with different styles, add a background photo, pick different background colors, and highlight words and phrases.
[vimeo 253524147 w=640 h=360]
This isn't major, but definitely worth trying out in your next Story! We recommend being careful to choose styles that do not clash with your overall brand and help enhance the message you're trying to send.
People aren’t so thrilled with “the new Snapchat”
Snapchat announced "the biggest redesign ever" back in December. Now that pretty much all users have access to the new setup, a lot of people are... not really feeling it.
sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad.
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
That one Tweet was reported to have "wiped out $1.3 Billion of Snap's market value," btw, though investors were already nervous. (Jenner later replied to the original Tweet, saying "Still love you tho snap.")
There's even been a Change.org petition with over 1.2 million signatures asking Snapchat to go back to the old design. Snapchat responded, acknowledging that the "new Snapchat has felt uncomfortable for many.”
If this seems familiar, you might be thinking of all the design changes from apps like Facebook that lead to an initial uproar from users. Eventually, improvements are made, we forget what the "old" version even looked like, and we all move on with our lives. Chances are good that's what will happen with Snapchat.
Still need to learn how to navigate the new app? Here's Snap's video walk-through:
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W79f9kG1lHw&w=854&h=480]
Check out Snapchat's redesign FAQ for more info.
Introducing Resume Assistant by LinkedIn + MS Word
Here's an interesting one. You might remember that Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for a casual $26 billion back in 2016. But if not, it's understandable. There haven't been too many obvious signs of the relationship from a user standpoint. That's now starting to change.
LinkedIn's new Resume Assistant is available to Office 365 subscribers who use Windows. With the stated purpose "to help showcase the best version of you and land the job you love," the tool integrates your LinkedIn data—such as skills and experience—with MS Word's resume-building templates, making it easier to update your resume and customize it for different jobs.
One of the coolest features of Resume Assistant is that it will actually show you relevant job opportunities directly within Microsoft Word. This is accomplished by selecting a role and a desired industry.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQ6K0o7IiM&w=854&h=480]
More Updates You Might Want to Check Out
Unilever to warn tech giants: Clean up your act or risk losing ad dollars – TBD on how real this threat is, whether Facebook and Google will listen—or even if losing advertisers like Unilever would make much of a difference.
New Weekly Webinars from Pinterest for Business – This could be for you if you're looking for new advertising strategies or if you've ever been interested in Pinterest ads but didn't know where to start.
Chat Replies (and more) coming to YouTube's live streaming – Now you can "follow the conversation even after a live stream is over." Replays of YouTube Live sessions will now display chats alongside the video, exactly as they appeared live.
What Facebook Isn't Saying About Campaign Ads – It seems the 2016 election saga is far from over. There is plenty to read on the subject of social media's influence (and manipulation) during the campaigns, and this article from Wired was one of the most interesting from the past few weeks.
Looking for More Social Media Help?
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