June 2018 Digital Marketing News Updates

We sort through the latest and greatest in digital marketing news updates each month so you don’t have to! Below is a list of changes relevant to digital marketers, along with explanations of why they matter.

Members of our Digital Marketing Insiders program get a first look at these updates, as well as answers to their questions every month. This small investment keeps them at the top of their professional game month after month. Ready to do you job better? Learn more!

Facebook News Updates

• Facebook is testing an ad-free version where users pay – While this isn’t something that has planned rollout, it is in testing. This could seriously limit the mass reach that businesses can get on Facebook. It is only being researched but we will keep you posted.
• Facebook disabled 1.3 million fake accounts – They continue to try to make Facebook as spam and bot-free as possible.
• Facebook April Topics to Watch in the US shows trends – Check out the topics to watch released from Facebook – an interesting and surprising list of some of the top trending and growing topics people are talking about on Facebook.
• Facebook enhances ads reporting – Rolling out over the next month you’ll be able to customize reports to see what matters most to you. The update also includes enhancements to creative reporting – which could be very powerful.

Twitter News Updates

• Twitter will increase prominence of news in the feed – And also group together Tweets linking to the same article. This shows Twitter is looking to promote more news and could mean more link clicks and visibility of articles.
• Klout is shutting down ;-( – Once a social media darling, Klout scored social media users based on their influence levels. Today Klout is no more, signifying that influence online is not as simple as a score.

Pinterest News Updates

• Pinterest is growing faster than Snapchat and Twitter – While it is an often neglected network it is still a tremendous source of reach and results.
• Pinterest gaining popularity with Dads and opening up new opportunities – Pinterest has long been thought of as a female-driven social network, but now it is increasingly gaining popularity with Dads. This could be a new untapped market for the platform and marketers.

SnapChat News Updates

• Snapchat has a new lens that responds to sound – We have already seen a number of lenses that respond to motion but Snap has launched the first lens to respond to sound. The animal movements pulsate based on sound – this could be interesting (and fun!!!!).

Instagram News Updates

• Instagram testing more fun new features – These features include slow motion, mute, reactions and more. Instagram continues to innovate to earn more social time and attention from consumers.
• Instagram allows you to reshare other posts in Stories – Finally regramming…we sort of. You can now share another users post directly in Instagram – but only in Stories.
• Consumers respond more to hashtags vs handles – A new analysis report shows that consumers are more responsive to # vs @ or hashtags vs handles. Consider this in your word-of-mouth focused social media efforts.

Search News Updates

• The May Google Webmaster report shows all the Google Search changes from the month – Check out the changes and enhancements that may be impacting your results.
• Google My Business will notify users when a business responds to their reviews – So make sure that you respond to Google reviews!!! Set up tracking and monitoring.
• Google launch GMB Google My Business) API, Dashboard and Multi-location management – YES!!! Big improvements to local listing management in Google.
• Google shortens length of search snippets – There is no set length for search snippets, but Google has confirmed that snippets are getting shorter. Make sure you have the most relevant information first in your snippets to maximize results.
• Google updates image search guidelines – Make sure that your images are optimized for search as this can dramatically improve your results.

Digital Advertising News Updates

• Video spending is growing as is social media – As you look at where to invest and what is driving growth in the sector think video and social.
• Digital ad growth is dominated by big players – Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent are where the growth is. Strategically big bets with big players will help you to capitalize on this growth. Not familiar with Baidu and Tencent? They are Chinese where Google and Facebook are blocked.
• E-marketer projects digital ad spend growth – This is no surprise, but e-marketer recently announced their digital ad spend predictions and it shows digital continuing to grow quickly.
• Time spent with media is almost = to total time awake – Blame it on the smart phone but people now spend almost every waking moment with media.

Industry News and Research

• Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report 2018 – This is one of the most anticipated reports annually. A lengthly report on key internet trends. Grab a coffee (or your beverage of choice), clear your calendar and absorb. Or read our summary 
• Podcasting might be bigger than you think – According to new research 26% of US adults listen to Podcasts. If you have interesting content to share this could be your outlet.
• Where do social media marketers spend their time? – This chart shows where time is invested – Instagram has overtaken Facebook with YouTube and LinkedIn not far behind.