There is a lot of noise in the marketing world, with algorithm changes, different aspect ratios for each platform, and consumers with new behaviours. With so much noise, it can be hard to know what to actually listen to and what all the noise means to you and your marketing strategy.
This month, we are pulling together the most important news and what it actually means for you. We understand that you are busy, so the TL: DR is
- Your social media strategy should be video first!
- Many platforms are showing that this is the most engaging form of content. If you’re posting content on Instagram, use the trial reels feature to expand your reach.
- Website content should be written for humans but optimised for LLMs, as AI is dominating search results and changing user experiences.
Contents
SEO Updates
We are still unpacking the news from Google I/O. The most surprising update is seeing people on LinkedIn posting that they have over 5 years of experience in Google AI and AI search, despite the update only happening last month. Whilst we continue to unravel the impact from last month, we can look at the top SEO news from last month and the changes these updates will have to your strategy.
- Google Search Console now has improved analytics, including clicks, impressions & position from AI Mode.
- Google launches Search Live, which lets you have spoken conversations with real-time search results.
- People Also Ask may be getting replaced. Google is testing (in a very limited manner) AI Mode as a replacement.
- It looks like Google has a plan to integrate AI Mode into more search features. It’s important that your content strategy is focused on answering the question for a human, but provides the structure that a machine can easily read.
Social Media Updates
We are seeing the social media world turn faster and faster with each passing month. One thing that is accelerating this speed is social media trends. Trends used to be much longer lived. Think about Barbieheimer, which was followed by Brat Summer. These trends lasted months; you could create content around them months after they first appeared in a feed.
This consumer speed is being mirrored by the platforms, with more news and updates. Here are the updates from last month:
Facebook updates in June
- Meta has told users to post links in their Facebook comments, rather than adding links to the captions themselves.
- Adding links to comments is something that social media managers have suggested for a long time, across all social media platforms. However, it’s not always the best option, so take this advice with caution! In reality, these small changes greatly impact the user journey, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, where comments with links are hidden.
- All videos now published on Facebook will be posted as Reels.
- Meta Ads Manager is still an absolute nightmare to use, however, their new feature ‘Opportunity scores’ should hopefully make it easier. This has been rolled out to all advertisers and will tell them what they can do to improve their ad performance.
Instagram updates in June
- Instagram is finally rolling out its reposting feature to more users. This feature has been in testing since 2022. It’s unclear if the feature just needs a lot of modifications and tests, or if Instagram just isn’t very confident in the feature itself.
- There is new royalty-free music available on Instagram.
- Trial Reels are continuing to be a big hit with both Instagram and content creators. 40% of creators started posting reels more often, and they also reported an 80% increase in reels reach from non-followers. You can post up to 20 trial reels a day.
- This is a feature that you should be using as much as your resources permit.
- Soon, you will be able to opt-in for your Instagram content to show in search engine results pages.
- Previously, LinkedIn has been the social media platform that performs the best in search engines. This update could mean that we see captions get longer to try and appear in search results, or that images become more optimised on appearing in image SERPs.
- Meta has announced a long list of new features being added to their CapCut competitor, Edits.
- In-app teleprompter
- More transition effects
- The ability to apply any volume changes to all of your clips at once,
- You should soon be able to rearrange your Instagram grid.
- Instagram Stories is getting an ‘expander’ feature, which will use AI extend a photo to fit the full screen.
LinkedIn updates in June
- First Impressions Ads are being launched on the platform, these are full-screen, vertical video format for single-day campaigns, where your ad will be the first ad shown near the top of the feed to give you better exposure.
- Users can now see how many profile views you’ve gotten from one post specifically, and link engagement.
- It’s no surprise that in a recent guide on B2B influencer marketing states that video (63%), social posts (55%) and webinars (53%) are the formats that influence B2B buyers the most.
- Your social media strategy should be focused on video first content. Across all platforms, we are seeing that this is the content engaging audiences the most.
TikTok updates in June
- In-stream shopping has increased by 120% this year alone.
- Ever felt like you’re posting on TikTok and nothing is working? Their new feature, Account Check tests your account to ensure everything is working correctly, and you have no violations, hopefully giving some social media managers peace of mind.
- Another new feature, Insight Spotlight, gives advertisers AI-powered ad suggestions based on what their target audience is watching and searching, plus associated keywords.
- We were also invited to demo a new AI chatbot feature that is in beta for TikTok ad accounts, this will let users ask questions about their ad account and campaigns. It was very easy to use, and gave very digestible insights into optimisation and next steps, etc.
AI LLM Updates
- Firefox (currently the 4th most popular browser globally) may be coming for Google’s search monopoly, they are testing Perplexity as a built-in search engine to help enhance the UX.
- ChatGPT can apparently now handle longer conversations contexts. It has the ability to run multiple searches for complex questions.
Want to know more?
‘Marketing Impact‘ is our monthly LinkedIn Live Show where we discuss the contents of this blog. Click on the image below to view and gain the extra insights:
Stay Up To Date With Marketing
Digital marketing is ever-evolving, with new social media channels, new forms of searching for content and updates to algorithms and consumer changes. It’s important to stay up to date with the latest information to ensure your marketing is moving towards hitting your goals and targets.
There’s a lot to keep up with in marketing, which is why we offer a range of online and face-to-face marketing training courses and 1-2-1 consultancy packages that cover the latest trends and best practices that your organisation needs in order to succeed.
Never miss what’s happening in the industry again, with monthly news highlights and tips from digital marketing experts delivered straight to your inbox.
