Welcome back to another month of the digital roundup. I’d say things we’re busy this month, like they were in March…but let’s be honest -when aren’t things busy and always evolving in the our online industry!
Updates on Facebook: A Summary of the F8 Conference
Facebook held their annual global developer conference, F8, on April 12 and 13. Mark Zuckerberg’s ending address summarized the whole event quite well, where he expressed Facebook’s ambition “to connect the whole world; to ‘build bridges’ between people.” The 10 year roadmap presented at the event gave a good overview of where the company has been and an insight into where it’s headed.
Here are a few of the key highlights from F8:
- Messenger bots for the platform became official. Brands that develop the bots, can now automate customer service support, guide e-commerce, and provide interactive experiences to users.
- Facebook announced Surround 360 Camera; an open-source, 360-degree virtual reality camera that is capable of producing 8k resolution footage.
- Facebook is now allowing users to embed their Facebook videos on other sites. This shift in playing fields may cause fewer video uploads to YouTube, especially those more personal, home-style ones.
- LiveRail, an ad exchange that fills ad space within apps & sites to the highest bidder, will now support mobile display ads in addition to video. Additionally, LiveRail will be able to access anonymized Facebook data to determine which ad to show to a user.
- Facebook is now welcoming businesses to their Messenger app. They’ve released a new set of business-friendly tools to help foster communication with customers on the app.
“Facebook will also introduce new ways for users to start conversations with businesses. The first, Messenger Links, will enable consumers to quickly open a chat with the desired business by clicking a link in the form of short URLs with the format “m.me/username”. Codes will serve the same purpose, but come in the form of unique, Snapchat-like codes that users can scan in Messenger using their phone’s camera. The same codes can be used by businesses in ads, websites and other marketing materials. Messenger for business is about to get serious.” (marketingprofs.com)
Business user names will be derived from their page’s vanity URL.
- Facebook is launching a new analytics platform for apps so that developers can see who’s using their apps.
- Facebook-verified pages can now share any type of sponsored content they’d like (text, photos, videos, Instant Articles, links, 360 videos, and Live videos), with a couple exceptions (persistent watermarks, pre-roll ads, and sponsored profile pictures or cover photos) as long as the sponsor is tagged.
What do these updates from the F8 conference mean for your business? Communication with customers & fans online is key…in case you haven’t caught on yet. Facebook is creating more ways for businesses and their customers alike to communicate with one another; whether in real-time or automated. Further, Facebook isn’t above monetizing anything that they own. This means more ways and locations for businesses to reach to their target markets and get creative with new technologies.
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Release of Google Analytics 360 Suite
Google has finally released their new 360 Suite. According to Google, the Suite is all about delivering “the customer and advertising insights you need to set your marketing strategy, drive sales, and ultimately outperform the competition.” The Suite includes 6 robust platforms, as described below, that’ll allow enterprise businesses to gather, test, and analyze data at a whole new level.
Google’s Top 3 Search Ranking Factors
We already know that RankBrain is the 3rd most important ranking factor according to Google. What about numbers one & two though? There are over 200 ranking factors that Google’s search engine takes into account, but there has been strong speculations within the industry on which factors top the list.
Now it’s official and straight from the mouth of Google! In a Google Q&A with Andrey Lipattsev, a Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, he said the other two factors were links and content:
“I can tell you what they are. It is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.”
This recent admonition by Google only further strengthens the need for businesses to generate stellar content that is valuable and relevant.
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Questions about anything in this month’s roundup or wondering how it’ll affect your business? Leave a comment below and let’s chat!
In closing, don’t forget that Instagram had some recent changes too. Be sure you’re up to date on what you need to know for that social platform. Also as a reminder, for those of you who don’t yet have a responsive website, Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm gets its boost in a couple weeks. Your mobile rankings will more than likely definitely feel the effects of this algorithm change if you haven’t made the upgrade to a redesigned website that’s responsive.
Until next month, stay on top of those KPI’s and keep an ear open for industry changes.
