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July 18, 2016

Digital Marketing Industry Updates – A Roundup

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With platform changes occurring on a daily basis, it’s hard to stay up-to-date on the world of digital marketing. Massive amounts of news and content are produced every day and can be hard to sift through it all to find the really important information. So we’ve taken it upon ourselves to devour everything that has happened over the past week in the digital marketing industry and have rounded up the most important and interesting bits for easy digestion – take a look!

Google has begun testing My Business listing verification through email, along with the phone and mailed postcard options that have been the standard since My Business/Google Places began. There is no word from Google yet on whether this option will be rolled out to all businesses – but hopefully that is the case, as phone verification is often not a viable option for businesses and the mailed postcard often takes several days and can get lost.

Facebook is testing a shopping experience that allows users to buy items directly from a business’ Facebook page – turning their Pages into mini storefronts outside of their main websites. On mobile, the feature will appear in a new “shopping” section on the page, while on desktop it will appear as a new tab (next to Timeline, About, Photos, etc.). The checkout process will be similar to the one already in place on Facebook ads that use the buy button.

The company’s new PokéStop filter is a location-based tool that allows users to view which neighborhood shops and restaurants have a “PokéStop Nearby,” the same way that they would look for a restaurant that takes reservations or has outdoor seating. This is just the latest example of companies and platforms looking for ways to leverage the extreme popularity of the game.

Since its launch, Snapchat has not had an easy method of gaining followers – the app does not tell you who to watch, there are no suggested user lists, no leaderboards and no buttons for adding someone new – you’ve just had to find people to follow on your own. This is now changing (sort of). Alongside the recent launch of Memories, Snapchat quietly added a new feature: The option to suggest that a friend follow someone. If you go into the Stories list, then tap and hold on someone’s name, a new option appears. Tap the blue arrow on the right, and you can send the account to other people. They’ll receive it as a private Chat message. From there, the recipient can see the suggested account’s name, handle, profile GIF and a button to add them.

Facebook has updated its app-install ads to allow developers to select targeted audiences based on which users will most likely use an app and not just install and forget about it. According to Facebook, only 6% of people still use an app 30 days after installing it. The new targeting methods are designed to capture not just app downloads but qualified downloads that will lead to continued usage. App Event Optimization will allow advertisers to target users based on 14 user actions that might signal how likely a person is to play a game, make a purchase, book travel, etc. Advertisers can choose whether to pay less for an install or bid more for someone who is likely to use the app.