August News - Digital Marketing Recap

We know you have been eagerly waiting for this month’s digital marketing news updates. Our research experts have brought very exciting news for August. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

August’s Top Digital Marketing News Updates

These are the top news updates that marketers must know!

• Google's Recent Helpful Content Upgrade: Prioritizing People-First Content
  
• Snapchat & HBO Max: AR Experience for "House of The Dragon" Series
  
• Google to Update Its Product Review Algorithm
  
• Creators Can Now Share TikTok Stories on Facebook and Instagram
  
• The New "Buy Through DMs" Feature on Instagram
  
• Microsoft Outlook Ads: Problematic for iOS and Android Users
  
• Twitter Says It Is Trying a Badge for Phone Number Verification
  
• Meta Introduces New Reels Features: Improved Analytics & Stories to Reels Conversion
  

Let’s start with the most significant one.

Google's Recent Helpful Content Upgrade: Prioritizing People-First Content

Google's recent helpful content upgrade prioritizes websites that produce information for search engines.
The helpful content update, a new and significant modification to Google's search algorithm, is ready to go live.
The upgrade for helpful content will target websites with a disproportionately large volume of unsatisfactory or unhelpful content that was written for search engines rather than people.

This upgrade will significantly affect the search results.

Things to Know for People First Content  

The helpful content upgrade intends to reward content more favorably in which users believe they have had a pleasant experience. In contrast, content that falls short of a user's expectations will not do as well.
If your response is ‘yes’ to the following inquiries, your people-first strategy is undoubtedly on the right track:

• Do you have a main goal or emphasis for your website?
  
• Will someone who reads your content come away from it feeling satisfied?
  
• Does your company or website have a target audience that would benefit from the content if they visited you directly?
  
• Does your content deliberately show first-hand experience and depth of understanding (for instance, experience gained from using a good or service or going somewhere)?
  
• Will someone who reads your content believe they have learned enough about a subject to aid in achieving their goal?
  
  

Avoid Making Content Primarily for Search Engines

If you answered "yes" to any of the following questions, you should rethink how you produce content for your website:

• Do you use a lot of automation to create content across a variety of topics?
  
• Do you restate what others have said without adding much to the conversation?
  
• Do you create a lot of content on various subjects in the hopes that some of it would do well in search results?
  
• Do you write about topics merely because they appear to be trendy rather than because you would otherwise write about them for your current audience?
  
• Does your writing make readers feel like they need to conduct additional research to find more accurate information from other sources?
  

According to the update, if the machine learning algorithm finds that a sizable portion of your content is unsatisfactory or unhelpful, your entire site may be affected and labeled by this classifier.

Snapchat & HBO Max: AR Experience for "House of The Dragon" Series

 

To provide customers with access to in-app AR experiences, Snap and HBO Max have partnered. 
On August 21, Snapchat and HBO Max released new selfie and worldview lenses, as well as Landmarker Lenses, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the show's fantastical setting. 
Using the selfie lens, you can become a dragon that can breathe fire.  
The Lens uses sky segmentation technology in the worldview mode to release soaring, fire-breathing dragons above you, giving you the impression that you are a part of the Game of Thrones universe.  

Snap has facilitated a new, global partnership with various Lens makers to enable new forms of localized engagement with these Lens activations. 
This partnership could be a new consideration for large-scale launches or even for smaller brands looking to collaborate with a range of creators in different regions.
The Middle East and Northern Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, India, and other countries can use the Lens.  

Google to Update Its Product Review Algorithm

   

Google's release provides scant details regarding the upcoming change to the product review system.
From one update to the next, Google's rhetoric regarding its product review system hasn't altered.  

What are the effects? 
Google stated that although the initial rollout will only affect "English-language product evaluations," this modification "may affect people who create product reviews in any language" in the future. 
Google noted that this update had previously had "good consequences" and that it "plans to open up product review support for more languages" in the future.

Could It Be Linked to The Helpful Content Upgrade?

Our best assumption is that the helpful content update will make it easier for Google to recognize customer reviews that are particularly valuable or show first-hand experience.

Creators Can Now Share TikTok Stories on Facebook and Instagram  

Content creators can now post their stories on Facebook and Instagram, two of Meta's social media platforms, through a new function on the popular video-sharing app TikTok.
The function has been in testing since last year, but it will soon be formally introduced to compete with social networks.
As the business strives arduously to surpass and outrank TikTok's videos in Reels, it might provide the app with greater visibility on Meta's platforms.
Instead of posting their content on Reels to reach their audience on Meta platforms, TikTok content producers may now distribute it directly through the TikTok app.

As Meta has been striving to de-rank re-posted TikTok videos in Reels, the move may boost the exposure of TikTok content on its platforms.
In particular, Meta informed its creators that original content would be given priority on Reels on Instagram and Facebook and that its algorithms would be on the lookout for watermarks, such as the ones TikTok uses on its videos.
This sharing option will contain a list of well-known social media platforms as well as a button to copy a URL to the video.

The New "Buy Through DMs" Feature on Instagram

 

The way to online shopping has just transformed thanks to Instagram! 
Users are now able to make purchases and follow orders through the convenience of direct chats, thanks to the company's new "payments in chat" functionality.
Also, users can now track orders via direct messaging on Instagram in the US and buy goods from small businesses thanks to this new feature. We expect that this feature will soon be made available worldwide.  

You will be able to choose your favorite product, place your order, and use Meta Pay—all from the convenience of your Instagram DMs while speaking with a qualified business.
With the help of this new feature, customers and brands can effortlessly connect and transact business. 

• Simplified checkout: By sending a business a DM, customers may transition from browsing to chatting to purchasing.
  
• Businesses have a new method of generating revenue. The feature gives companies an additional channel for customer interaction and direct sales.
  
• Individualized attention: Because DMs are personalized messages, clients receive individualized attention from a company they adore.
  
  

Microsoft Outlook Ads: Problematic for iOS and Android Users

Users of Microsoft Outlook on iOS and Android will now notice more ads inside the software. 
Over the past few months, Microsoft has introduced more advertisements in Outlook, including ones in the email app's default inbox.
According to a Microsoft official, "For free users of Outlook, ads are visible in their inbox, and they may select to enable the 'Focused inbox' functionality if they would like to see ads exclusively in the 'Other' inbox."

The advertisements are plainly marked, however other than that, they display in the general inbox feed and appear to be regular emails.
Whether or not a user uses Focused Inbox, they will still see advertisements.
The advertisements will be shown at the top of the inbox and will look like actual emails. It's difficult to escape ads, even if they just show up in "Other."

How To Make the Microsoft Outlook App's Advertising Disappear

• Tap on your profile photo in the top left corner to do this. 
  
• To access the Outlook settings, tap the gear symbol right now. 
  
• When you reach Focused Inbox, scroll down and press it to activate the feature. 
  
• After that, the Focused Inbox tab will be available on the app's home screen.
  
  

Twitter Says It Is Trying a Badge for Phone Number Verification

For users who have verified their phone numbers, Twitter is testing a new badge for their profiles. 
The business stated that the purpose of this initiative is to “enable consumers to add context to their accounts”.
This could essentially be used to confirm that a user who has a phone verification badge is a real person. 
This is one of the ways that consumers may discover reliable information and learn more about various types of accounts.  

Only one step of the procedure, phone number verification, is presently being tested, and that step only has an opt-in setting. 
The company withheld information on who will see the badge and the scope of the test.
The announcement of the feature coincides with the ongoing legal dispute between Twitter and Elon Musk, with some guessing it will take the form of a grey label on a user's Twitter bio.
The Tesla CEO is trying to cancel his multibillion-dollar acquisition because he claims the app misled him about important aspects of the company, including how many accounts were false or automated "bots" instead of real people.

Meta Introduces New Reels Features: Improved Analytics & Stories to Reels Conversion

 

In the mid of August, Meta announced that it would be introducing a variety of fresh Reels features across Facebook and Instagram.
More particularly, the company described how the features will incorporate a cutting-edge "Add Yours" label to the Reels update.
The biggest change is the extension of the "Add Yours" sticker from Stories to Reels, which gives users another method to participate with Reels footage.
You'll now be able to post 'Add Yours' queries via Reels clips, as you can see in these sample photos, and you'll also be able to browse all the different video responses to any prompt in each app.
It might be yet another approach to pique interest and tap into the trend's more participatory ethos for short-length videos. 
The collaborative aspect of TikTok expands meme involvement by making it easier for users to offer their own interpretations, which is part of what makes the app so appealing.

The Creator Studio app will soon enable users to gain more information about their Facebook Reels. 
By doing this, they will promptly inform which Reels are succeeding and which ones are not.
Not to mention, Meta has announced the introduction of a ground-breaking Remix tool for its Reels on Facebook. 
This enables creators to combine older videos with more recent ones, resulting in a fantastic product where old and modern collide.

In case you missed it, here is our crisp blog about July 2022 digital marketing news.
If you are an influencer or a marketer, you can benefit from our detailed rundown on Instagram Evolution History.  

Or if you are a social media manager, these detailed guides will help you:

• How Social Media Can Make Your Brand Go Viral
  
• How to Increase Your Social Media Audience in Few Days
  
• How To Sell More Products Via Social Media Marketing
  

For more digital marketing news and updates, stay tuned to our blogs.