December News - Digital Marketing Recap
December News - Digital Marketing Recap
Hi fam, we are here with this year’s last monthly update! This news blog contains everything you need to know about digital marketing updates and feature announcements that happened in December 2022. Here are the top stories:
- Helpful Content System Update Rolled Out by Google
- Instagram's Newest Sharing Features Include Notes, Group Profiles, And More
- With a Focus on Stars Donations option, Meta Offers New Creator Monetization Options for the Holidays
- YouTube introduces Chat Emotes, an Editing Tool for Shorts, and Automated Audio Dubbing
- Google Introduces New Add-On Prompts to Aid Discovery in Search
- Meta Now Offers Facebook and Instagram Audience Targeting
- Reddit Updates Selected Communities' Comments with Images
- For Gift-Giving Guidance, New Balance Combines Snap's AR And Voice Technology
Let’s get started.
Helpful Content System Update Rolled Out by Google
The first significant update to Google's helpful content system since its launch in August 2022 has started to roll out. The update became apparent on December 6, which is why Google made this announcement recently.
The helpful content update (also known as the system) is now a global update that affects all languages, not simply English. This will make it easier for Google's systems to identify new types of low-quality content produced primarily for search engines rather than for humans.
How The Helpful Content System Operates
The helpful content system seeks to reward better content where users feel they have had a positive experience, whereas content that falls short of a user's expectations would perform worse.
In addition to numerous other signals, the algorithm produces a site-wide signal that we take into account when ranking web pages. Our computers detect content that appears to have minimal value or is simply not very useful to users conducting searches automatically.
In the event that there is other content from the web that is better to display, any content—not only problematic content—on sites considered to have relatively high volumes of unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well in Search. The rating of your other material may therefore benefit from deleting unhelpful content.
A machine-learning model is used to fully automate the classification process. It operates universally and in all languages. Neither a manual nor a spam action has been taken. Instead, it's one of many factors that Google considers when ranking material.
In the next two weeks or so, if you see any ranking or visibility changes in Google search, especially if they're significant, you can probably blame this upgrade. Read Google's suggestions, implement the necessary adjustments, and wait for a turnaround in the ensuing months.
Instagram's Newest Sharing Features Include Notes, Group Profiles, And More
People use Instagram to connect with others, whether it's to check up with friends or discover common hobbies. Instagram is releasing a number of enhancements today to make it easier for you to feel connected to the people you care about.
Share Your Opinions
Instagram is starting to roll out Notes, a new method to communicate with pals and see what they're up to. Using only text and emojis, notes are brief posts that can be up to 60 characters long.
Go to the top of your inbox, choose the individuals you follow back or those on your list of close friends, and then type a note. It will stay at the top of their inbox for 24 hours. Responses to notes will show up in your email as DMs.
Make Memories with Your Friends
People enjoy posting various events from their days, from highlights to more routine ones, on Stories. To make sharing more spontaneous and enjoyable and to help people forge deeper bonds with friends, the platform is experimenting with new features in Stories.
Work Together and Stay on Top of Groups
On Instagram, group conversations are frequently created by users to exchange amusing content, discuss memories, and coordinate plans with pals. To give people more opportunities to work together and communicate with friends in groups, they are testing new features.
With a Focus on Stars Donations option, Meta Offers New Creator Monetization Options for the Holidays
Meta unveiled a new set of creator monetization incentives and tools that place a special emphasis on its Stars creator donation process. Meta is also working to improve its payout procedures to send money to creators more quickly and increase their use of its platforms.
First off, Meta is attempting to promote increased use of Stars during the holiday break by offering a variety of recent incentives and gifts for this system.
From now until the end of the year, Meta will be offering limited-edition, holiday-themed digital items to increase the appeal of Stars donations. Meta has also added new Stars Get together bonus incentives for producers to help them increase their income from Stars promotions.
To be able to include top expertise in its next-level experiences, Meta must therefore work to improve its creator monetization tools and forge closer relationships with up-and-coming talent.
About Advertisements
Regarding advertisements, Meta is still looking at Overlay and Publish Loop ads in Reels in an effort to monetize Reels more and give creators and kinds new options.
On a different front, Meta is attempting to streamline its payment process and pay authors sooner by lowering the threshold for US-based creators to receive a commission from $100 to $25.
This could help smaller, earlier-stage creators to be paid sooner. The new compensation level will be available for other Facebook monetization products in the coming weeks and will apply to Stars and Facebook Subscriptions.
The current focus is on instant monetization and participating in the greater "Creator Economic system," but the bigger picture, as always, is how Meta can translate its core characteristics into the metaverse experience.
Lastly, if it can forge closer ties and encourage creators to rely more on its platforms, it will be in an excellent position to utilize these connections to market its metaverse experiences.
YouTube introduces Chat Emotes, an Editing Tool for Shorts, and Automated Audio Dubbing
YouTube appears to want you to record shorts in a better way by offering you more control as the New Year approaches in a few short weeks.
Although YouTube has implemented a number of new adjustments and changes, one of the most notable ones allows users to select a frame from their clip as their thumbnail throughout the video creation process. Yes, the business has developed a Shorts editing tool that is really time and effort efficient.
The Shorts Editing Tool's Thumbnail Frame Selection Process
- Record or upload the previously recorded video, then go to the upload screen's last page.
- A pencil icon will be visible at the top of the thumbnail for your video.
- Select the thumbnail, then click Done.
- Post your Short now.
The preceding week saw the debut of this functionality for all users, which is wonderful news.
Additionally, YouTube has launched Aloud, an automated dubbing technology. The YouTube content will be dubbed in other languages using it. Users will be able to record videos in English and translate them into several languages to reach a wider audience.
Google Introduces New Add-On Prompts to Aid Discovery in Search
Google has released a new upgrade for Search that will deliver similar topics to help you refine your question as you go. As AI technology develops, it is changing how users use different apps by offering more recommendations and ideas in the process.
As you can see from the above image, Google now displays a list of similar subjects in your search results, giving consumers a quick and simple way to tap on each one and narrow their results.
In fact, Google has already duplicated Guided Search on numerous occasions for shopping, photos, and recipes. As a result, while functionally speaking, this is nothing new, it is intriguing to contemplate in the context of the overall Google Search process and how it might contribute to influencing future discovery trends and enhancing the app's functionality.
According to Google, the related topic listings are dynamic and change based on your actions. As previously said, AI and machine learning-based systems are increasingly used to influence user behavior online.
Newer systems like ChatGPT may even outperform Google in providing users with more detailed responses to their questions, based on multiple web-based inputs.
It's not very unexpected to see Google trying to add more guided aspects to search in order to lean into this transition because some people think that these systems could actually undermine Google's control over the Search ecosystem.
Meta Now Offers Facebook and Instagram Audience Targeting
The ability to run Facebook and Instagram advertisements that are targeted at your Instagram followers is now being rolled out by Meta. This might be a very useful option for social media managers.
You can target your advertising to those who follow your Instagram account within your campaign setup, as shown in the image. This gives you a completely new audience to take into account when planning your promotional strategy.
You have been able to establish a bespoke audience of your Facebook followers up until this point, but not your Instagram audience. Because of this, it has become nearly impossible to concentrate on your Instagram followers in particular, who are typically very different from Facebook followers for most firms.
In order to reach people who have expressed interest in your items on Instagram with discounts and promotions, you can now utilize this as a targeting option for your ads. You can also use it as a source for a lookalike audience.
Reddit Updates Selected Communities' Comments with Photos
With the addition of photos in comments, Reddit is expanding its options for involvement across its 1,500 subreddits.
As it sounds, some subreddits will now have the option to enable image posting within comment threads, giving users in these communities even another avenue to communicate and share. Back in July, Reddit introduced GIFs in a few chosen subreddits.
Reddit explains:
"Ever wanted to share a raw kitten photo in the most recent r/cats thread? Maybe assist a friend who enjoys crocheting on r/crochet? Or perhaps even realize a father's want to receive a sasquatch embrace on r/photoshoprequest? This functionality is for you if so!”
Here is how it appears (on a desktop): 
Images marked as "not safe for work" are prohibited and will be removed immediately, according to Reddit. However, at this moment, only a limited number of subreddits have been granted permission to utilize the tool.
You'll see an image icon at the bottom of the comment box in SFW subreddits that enable the feature. On mobile devices only, tap the image icon to access your desktop files or camera roll, make any necessary modifications, and upload.
It's a straightforward and perhaps interesting feature change that could encourage greater participation on Reddit.
For Gift-Giving Guidance, New Balance Combines Snap's AR And Voice Technology
Although AR purchasing is nothing new to mobile marketers, this holiday season there is a lot of interest in it, with New Balance's activation being just the latest example.
Users of Amazon Fashion's Fashion Store may now try on thousands of eyewear brands thanks to Snapchat's Shopping Lenses. Shoppable Snapchat experiences are a crucial part of American Eagle's holiday marketing plan.
According to recent stats, more than 100 million consumers globally are utilizing augmented reality (AR) this year when purchasing both online and in-store.
Additionally, 80% of consumers reported feeling more secure about their purchases after incorporating augmented reality into their experiences.
When using AR, two-thirds of customers are less inclined to return their goods, and Gen Z strongly prefers the strategy.
According to Sharon Silverstein, head of U.S. Verticals at Snap Inc., “consumers continue to purchase online and, more crucially, on their smartphones, so we know they are eager for fun and practical touchpoints for Christmas shopping.”
Sadly, only accessible on iOS and Android in the United States, the Gift Concierge service will only be operational until December 31, 2022.
What’s More?
If you missed our November digital marketing forecast, here it is.
Furthermore, consider going through our trendy topics to keep yourself up to date with the latest social media marketing trends:
- How to choose the right name for your brand?
- What is creative marketing? Explore interesting brand work
- Five easy steps to grow your business
So, what do you think of these latest digital marketing updates? Stay tuned to our blog for crisp updates coming to the digital marketing industry.