It’s been a busy time in the marketing world, and a lot of things have changed. We wanted to highlight what we think are the top 5 changes and talk about what that means for your business. So grab your favorite coffee or energy drink, and let’s dive into what’s going on in the marketing industry.
First up is Instagram. They actually have 2 pretty important updates/features that they are rolling out and testing.
- Instagram is looking at shares and views per send more than the likes and follows on an account. What does this mean?
- You need to create content that people want to share and send to others
- You shouldn’t just rely on who follows you to see your content
- Don’t worry about the growth of your account, but the reach of your content
There is less content on your feed from people you follow and more content the algorithm thinks you might like. So, if you see you aren’t gaining as many followers, but you see more views, shares, and a higher reach on your content then you’re going in the right direction!
- Instagram is testing a more vertical format for profile grids. The square 1080X1080 format was used way back in the beginning when you could only upload square photos.
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri said, “We’re actually testing a vertical grid, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, for your profile, instead of squares….. Now, I know this can be annoying for some of you who really spend a lot of time curating and making sure everything lines up, but I would really like to do better by the content creators of today. And the vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical; it’s either 4:3 in a photo or 9:16 in a video, and cropping it down to a square is pretty brutal, so I’m hoping we can figure out a way to manage this transition.”
While this might not affect you as much, it’s still something to keep an eye on as you strategize your social content.
Next up is Google. In the world of automation, Google made a big shift in dropping its Audience Recommendations feature from its insights tab. This means a couple of things:
- Advertisers will need to manually identify and select audience segments. This could lead to increased time and effort when optimizing campaigns.
- As an advertiser, you will need to have a good understanding of who your audience is and use other tools and data sources to identify and reach your target audience.
Why did Google do this? They didn’t give a specific reason, but the shift suggests Google wants advertisers to use more of a hands-on strategy when it comes to customizing audience targeting.
Are you already planning your holiday marketing campaign strategies? You should be. If CTV (streaming ads) aren’t in your plans, make room for it. In a release from EMarketer, a survey showed 43% of connected TV users say TV ads offer useful information for holiday shopping, and 72% would scan a QR code in a TV ad to make a purchase. Why should you run streaming ads?
- There are now more people who have “cut the cord” on traditional cable TV
- CTV ads run on TVs, phones, and tablets, so anywhere someone is watching, they’ll see your brand
- It’s more affordable than traditional TV advertising
At Hexcode Marketing, we are always learning and looking for the latest updates, trends, and happenings in the marketing world so our experts are up-to-date on the best practices across every marketing platform. If you want a team of creative marketers who are constantly pivoting with updates in the industry, give us a call or shoot us an email. We’d love to help your brand reach more people, increase your sales, and tell your story.
