WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up: 4th – 10th Jan

Main Image of WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up: 4th – 10th Jan

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes new performance reports in Google My Business, engagement alerts for Facebook Groups being updated, Twitter acquiring podcast app Breaker and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

New Performance Reporting in Google My Business: New performance reports within Google My Business were first hinted back in August last year and they’re now live. The reports can be accessed from the “Insights” section from your My Business profile. They’ve been updated to show up to six months worth of data, rather than the three prior. However, important metrics such as driving directions initiated and website clicks aren’t included at the moment. You also don’t get insights into whether your profile was found on Search or Maps. For now, at least we have access to data from a longer period of time and hopefully, the key metrics missing are added shortly.

Homework Practice Problems Shown in Search Results: Google has been experimenting displaying homework practice problems and quizzes directly in the search results for subject-based terms like “physics”. The results appear to be pulled from a selection of after-school learning software companies. It’s currently just a test.

Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp

Public Figure Pages Get New Layout and Tools: Last year, Facebook started testing a new design for Pages, removing the ‘Like’ button so that the ‘Follow’ button is more prominent. This has now been launched for both creators and public figures. Additionally, new tools, including new options that make it easier to switch between your profile and Page, a dedicated News Feed to connect with fans and more have been added.

Engagement Alerts for Groups Updated: Engagement Alerts for Groups have been expanded to more group admins and there are now additional options for setting alert parameters. Also, admins are now able to switch on alerts for approved posts that are later edited by the original author.

Instagram Tests a New Layout for Stories on Desktop: Instagram has started testing a new way of displaying Stories for desktop users. In the test, they’re now showing Stories in a more engaging carousel format that makes it easier to flick through them. The test is currently active for a small user group at this time and there’s no news on whether it will be rolled out fully but stay tuned.

WhatsApp Privacy Policy Updated: WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy, prompting users to agree to the new update which is mandatory to accept to use the app. The changes take effect on Feb 8th and specifically relates to personal information that can be shared across Facebook’s suite of apps.

Other

Snapchat Partner Solutions Program Relaunched: Snapchat has relaunched its marketing partner solutions program in an attempt to provide additional assistance for advertisers. The program was originally launched 5 years ago and was split into Ad Partners and Creative Partners. With the relaunch and Snapchat continuing to evolve, the tiers are broken into Strategic Partners and Certified Partners.

Twitter Acquires Podcast App Breaker: Twitter further expands its focus on audio with the acquisition of popular podcast listening app Breaker. The acquisition will be used to help build out and enhance Twitter’s Spaces feature. As such, Breaker will be shutting down this Friday.

New Metrics Added to Bing Webmaster Tools Search Performance Report: The Bing Webmaster Tools search performance report has been given three new metrics – crawl errors, crawl requests and indexed pages. There hasn’t been an official announcement or any documentation from Microsoft just yet. While the new data doesn’t directly relate to Bing search performance, any new insights are always nice to have.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is public figure Pages being redesigned and getting new options. Putting greater emphasis on “Follow” makes sense all-round and from the new options, the ability to be able to have a dedicated News Feed for your Page where you can join in the conversation is great and will amplify engagement etc. Here’s hoping that Business Pages get the redesign and new options sooner rather than later!

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