Meta platforms are always going through major updates that might impact your marketing. Well, that’s life, things change. Important part is being aware of those changes.

 

In my newsletter “The Social Juice”, I track those marketing changes and Facebook (Meta) updates. It’s very rare to not have a major update announced in a week or two.

 

From the read, You can see I am trying to have a small talk before sharing the initial Meta updates with you. I believe this is enough, You can read the updates now:

 

Meta Updates (July)

 

• Meta releases First Responsible Business Practices report. (view)
• Proposing new Industry Principles on AI development. (SMT)
• The platform is planning to launch a commercial AI model. (DIW)
• Facebook rolling out new parental control tools for teens to be more protective. (TC)
• Meta verified is going global after launching first in Australia and NZ. (FB)
• The platform must face discrimination claims over former Ad-targeting options. (mp)
• Facebook is still not reviewing content reports consistently. (Axios)

 

New Insights (July)

 

Meta shared 4 new tips to create standout Video Ads.

 

1. Use Slow Motion for Dramatic Effect.
2. Get creative with Stop-motion Ads. Suggests use of quick storytelling & keep the Ads product focused.
3. Tell a story with slideshow Ads. Meta tells to use existing creative inventory to utilise this format of Ads.
4. Add Animated Text to your Ads. The best usecase mentioned is using this text to highlight new offers.

 

These insights are from Meta Business team. Yes, these are very basic but useful for newbies.

WhatsApp Updates (July)

 

• WhatsApp working on filters to find important chats. (Axios)
• WhatsApp business crosses 200M Monthly active users & launches new personalised messages feature. (TC)
• New WhatsApp advertising tools and features introduced for businesses. (biz)

 

Jaskaran’s Take

 

You will find my monthly review here, once we reach August. Till then, You can bookmark this blog or scroll below to find updates of June 2023.

 

Meta Updates (June)

 

• Facebook tests new music optimisation in reels, App Promotion Reels Ads & More. (FB)
• Meta agrees to July “stress test” on new EU content rules. (Reuters)
• The company to pull news from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. (cnbc)
• Meta says they have seen 24% more time spent on Instagram since reels addition to the platform. (FB)
• The algorithm changes on FB has caused Web traffic to Plummet. (giz)
• Facebook to launch an inspiration hub for reels creators to find new content ideas & trends to post about. (Reuters)
• Meta also expands reels bonus program to more creators & adds new monetisation rules. (FB)
• Meta and Microsoft sign a new pact to responsibly use AI. (POAI)
• The company rolls out new Bot called Metamate for employees. (Abc)
• Third-party dev tools get access to more reels publishing features, your social media schedulers will get better. (Devs)
• Meta plans new overview for Facebook & Instagram in EU to comply with regulations. (Reuters)
• The platform will be adding Gen AI to all their product offerings revealed by Mark zuckerberg. (FB)
• The verified plans arrives in India, Brazil and other countries. (TC)

 

Insights: Meta Ad Formats

 

This month, Meta shared on Instagram their guide to all Advertising formats. You can read it here with visuals. I have created a TL;DR list below:

 

1/ For Images: Use 4:5 for Feed Ads & 9:16 for Stories Ads.

In Pixels: 4:5 is usually either 1080 x 1080 px or 1080 x 1350 px.

9:16 is 1080 x 1920 pixels.

 

2/ For Videos: Use 9:16 same as Instagram Stories

 

3/ For Carousels: Meta recommends the same format sizing. The additional insights shared were using upto 10 images. And enhancing the campaign with Carousel Optimizations In Facebook Ads manager.

 

4/ For Instant Experience Ads: Use pre-designed templates from Ads manager.

 

5/ For Collection Ads: Meta recommends using 1:1 aspect ratio for feed placement.

 

That’s all. For further Facebook & Instagram Ad formats knowledge. You can check my instagram post on social media image sizes.

 

 

WhatsApp Updates (June)

 

• WhatsApp launched two new privacy features. (blog)
• Launching WhatsApp Channels, A new innovative feature for businesses. (WA)
• WhatsApp tests filters to make channel discovery easier. (WAbeta)
• WhatsApp launches a security hub to showcase user control options. (FB)

 

Jaskaran’s Take (June)

 

Giving up on Facebook or Instagram? Meta continues to share that they are growing faster with the help of AI. Earlier this month Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will be introducing Generative AI to all of their platforms.

 

Last week, they bragged about the increase in time spent on meta platforms at their AI marketing summit. The stories on the publisher side are quite different, as web traffic from Facebook has seen a huge drop. The reason behind this is all the AI model recommendation systems.

 

Each content interaction is playing a huge role now and AI models are still in training. They do make mistakes, publisher and website content rankings are random due to this factor.

 

PS: This text was original shared in my monthly recap post. You can find insights about other social media updates there!

 

Meta Updates (May)

 

• Facebook introduces promotional ads for Ecommerce deals. (Adweek)
• Meta is about to limit how it uses Ad data in UK after UK antitrust forces them. (FB)
• They sold Giphy to Shutterstock. (TV)
• Meta slashes business teams in final round of layoffs. (reuters)
• The platform shares their new progress on AI development. (Meta)
• Meta adds Lead generation tools to Facebook. (SMT)
• They Started refunding advertisers for overspending glitch. (Blog)
• Meta announced Reels creators will be paid well with launch of new monetisation program. (Blog)
• Meta announced new AI powered tools to make the Ad processes faster and easy. (SEJ)
• Insights: Meta shares the process of how AI helping the Ad platform to do better job. (TB)
• The platform added new updates to Facebook Reels and added personalisation. (Blog)
• New Updates to Meta Ads location targeting. (FB)
• Meta is pitching AR to advertisers with new AR Reels Ads & Facebook Stories. (TC)

Insights: Creator Education

 

Meta added a new creator education section in the Platform Insights section where you will find new useful insights.

 

They have added more than 35 videos in that section to help creators with content creation. Those tips are actually useful for both sides of marketing: creators & brands.

 

Insights like finding trending sounds are quite useful. The education tab is rolling out globally with tips like below.

 

Finding Trending Sounds on FB: 

 

1. Researching work of other creators.
2. Following Relevant hashtags & researching audios from them.
3. Follow your favourite News creators & publications.

These are quite useful insights on finding new trending sounds. But the best tatic would be following creators that are always talking about new trending sounds.

 

For more insights, I would recommend to check the creator education section in facebook professional dashboard. In case you don’t have access yet I recommend following my  newsletter for new up-to date practices.

WhatsApp Updates (May)

 

• WhatsApp and stripe partner to help Singapore businesses accept payments in the chats. (Blog)
• WhatsApp added new Updates to Polls & sharing with Captions. (Blog)

 

Jaskaran’s Take (May)

Meta is stuck. Yes, because they have developed one of the best AI languages and structures to benefit marketers. For example, this new engineering blog showcasing its new AI content structure is golden. Link!​

 

At the same time, Meta is having huge issues in the EU & UK with their data usage. The platform Received a $1.2B fine and now UK representatives are limiting data usage for Meta. Good for privacy but points to a huge problem for paid media marketers.

 

Meaning Meta’s future is bright due to AI research & frameworks but data issues are like close friends showing up every single day.

 

Other than this, Meta is launching AI tools to help marketers create better Ad creatives. Link!​

 

In April, Meta increased its involvement in AI to push organic content and in May was focused on utilizing AI for paid media offerings.

 

PS: This Take from Jaskaran was originally featured in the one-page marketing update for May 2023. You can find more insights on social media changes there.

 

The End

Where are Instagram updates? I am working on a different blog for Instagram & Threads App updates.

This blog is updated weekly with new insights. In case, you are bad at revisiting important stuff. I recommend you subscribing to my newsletter. Every Sunday, One email to get you caught up on everything marketing.

 

My mission is to help you do better. Well, Why? I don’t know, may be one day we will discuss these changes together. To have fun & enjoy.

Meta (Facebook)  will change. Consumers will too. The value in the newsletter below will never drop, that’s promised.