Facebook Reports Efficacy of Platform Safety & Integrity Measures

Over the past few years, many users have worried about Facebook’s use of their personal data, as well as issues with transparency, hate speech, and misinformation.

While all of these issues are still in play and impacting users, the good news is that Facebook’s updated platform safety and integrity rules are making a positive impact.

In the first quarter of 2021, we saw the following improvements:

Violent and graphic content decreased to .03%, down .05% from the last quarter

Hate speech also decreased from .07-.08% to .05-.06%

The rate of content “actions” taken was 10x higher, and we’ve seen the proactive rate shift from 24% to 97%.

This is great news for brands because it creates a more positive and safe platform for all users.

New Instagram Insights for Reels & Live Video

Instagram Reels and Live are two exceptionally valuable features on Instagram. They’re currently both popular and capable of driving reach, engagement, and even brand awareness.

It’s great news, therefore, that we’re getting new native data for both to assess their performance and impact on our overall marketing strategies. This will be found under Instagram’s Insights, which you already have access to as a Business or Creator account.

• Reels will get the following metrics:
• Plays
• Accounts reached
• Likes
• Comments
• Saves
• Shares
• Live videos will get the following:
• Accounts reached
• Peak concurrent viewers
• Comments
• Shares

These metrics will also be added to the Account Insights, to get a better big-picture look at the campaigns’ impact.

And more good news: Over the next few months, Instagram is working to roll out new preset time frame options to let marketers view beyond 7 or 30 day periods. Insights will also be supported on the desktop. Stay tuned for that!

New Tools for Asian & Pacific-Islander Owned Businesses

A recent study showed that API-owned businesses have been the most harshly impacted of all demographic groups during the pandemic, seeing a 20% decrease in working business owners from February to December of 2020.

Starting on May 17th, Facebook invited users and businesses to support the Amplify API program. They offered content and training opportunities tailored to API-owned small and medium-sized businesses and committed to spotlighting and showcasing small businesses from around the API community.

Live Shopping Fridays Announced

It feels a little like QVC’s infomercials have come full circle, but we’re unbelievably excited about Facebook’s new announcement of “Live Shopping Fridays.”

Starting in mid-May and running every Friday through July 16th, beauty and fashion brands will go Live and showcase beauty and fashion products and tutorials in real time. You can find these streams on participating brands’ Pages or by browsing the Shopping tab.

Users will be able to buy products featured in-stream by tapping on them while viewing, and they can purchase without ever leaving the app.

These are the current topics and dates on the map:

Glow Up – May 21, June 11 and July 2, 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT

New Fashion Finds – May 28, June 18, and July 9, 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT

Self Care Spotlight – June 4, June 25, and July 16, 12:00PM – 1:30PM PT/3:00PM – 4:30PM PT

While only major brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics are participating this year, it will be interesting to see if more advertisers will gain access to live shopping features on a more regular basis. Stay tuned!

Final Thoughts

While this was a relatively slow month for Facebook updates overall, the information and new features that we have gained are valuable.

A breakdown of the ad review process is a good reminder for users who are unfamiliar with how it works and the consequences of trying to game the system, for example.

The biggest standout feature here for Facebook alone is the Live Shopping Fridays, and it will be fascinating to see how effective these campaigns are and whether we see a more semi-permanent shopping feature roll out to more advertisers over time.

In the meantime, this is also your reminder to check in with your ad campaigns since the iOS 14.5 and the ATT are in full swing. Watch those campaigns closely, and look at new ways to adapt if your campaigns take any hits outside of the expected reductions in efficacy of website and data tracking for reporting purposes. Learn more here.

What do you think? Which of these updates are you most excited about? What do you want to see next? Share your thoughts in the questions below!

Top Facebook Updates April 2021

The ATT Is Here

Apple’s AppTracking Transparency update has been the talk of the town for a few months now. Since the app would require that all apps obtained user consent to collect user data (instead of having users opted-in as a default option that they’d need to proactively opt-out of), we knew early on that this could have an enormous impact on Facebook Advertisers who use this information to serve better ads and on-platform experiences to its users.

On April 26th, the ATT was officially launched. Apps must get user permission to track data, and they also explain why you want to track additional user information (like their emails) when submitting your app to Apple for review.

This update is likely to impact custom audiences from site and app activity, and Facebook has acknowledged that it may impact the accuracy of both tracking and ad optimization. While this will only be true for mobile iOS users and their activity in-app, this may still have a wide-reaching impact. You can learn more about how to prepare here.

Facebook Addresses COVID-19 Misinformation

Unfortunately, misinformation on Facebook is nothing new, and it has potentially reached an all-new level of danger during COVID-19.

Last month, Facebook shared what it’s been doing to address misinformation about COVID. So far, they’ve created a global network of over 80 independent fact-checkers who review content across over 60 different languages, aided by AI advancements. AI tools have been removing COVID-19 misinformation flagged by global experts, removing a total of 12 million pieces of content about the virus and its vaccine.

While this is controversial amongst some users, it’s interesting to see how Facebook has responded to misinformation and understand the process behind it. We can assume that this is how they will handle misinformation regarding objective, science-based information in the future.

New Business Suite Features

Facebook’s Business Suite launched last year, and it’s like a central hub for your Facebook and even Instagram marketing.

Last month, they rolled out new features to the business suite, including the following:

• The ability to schedule and post Stories to both Facebook and Instagram, which is fairly groundbreaking
• The option to edit scheduled posts
• The ability to create, edit and manage albums
• Saving posts in a draft mode

The Stories posting and scheduling feature is the biggest standout here, as that’s something that most users don’t have access to just yet.

New Dynamic Ads for Streaming

If you did a double-take when you read “dynamic ads for streaming,” you aren’t alone, but it’s a really exciting new feature.

These ads are meant to help video streaming brands show off their content to their target audience. When they see the ad, they can swipe through the slides to see different personalized suggestions that are relevant to them. They’re similar to Facebook’s traditional dynamic ads, only they show off different media titles instead of products.

Here’s why this is a big deal: Before this update, streaming creators typically had to promote different media titles separately.

Hulu would create entirely separate campaigns, for example, for The Handmaid’s Tale than they would for Shrill. Now, however, they can create a single campaign if they choose and let Facebook’s incredible optimization features do the heavy lifting (ATT’s impact notwithstanding, of course).

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

Top Facebook Updates March 2021

March of 2021 was another exceptional month for Facebook updates, giving us three great new changes: more IGTV ad expansions, additional brand safety controls, and online courses for community managers were all released.

IGTV Ad Expansion

IGTV ads were first announced and rolled out on a small testing basis last year, and in March it was announced that they’d be rolling out to more users across the globe. These ads use a revenue-share model and have been slowly improved over the last year. The mobile-first and immersive ads appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed, helping to capture more high-intent users who will sit through the ad.

Now, select creators in Australia and the UK will gain access, which is a good sign for even more significant expansions soon to come. This opens up more ad placements for users, and can allow creators to earn passive income on the platform, making it a win-win for everyone. The fact that it’s so high intent by capturing users who already clicked to watch the video will likely help boost video completion rates, too.

Updates to Brand Safety Controls

Brand safety controls have been a cherished feature for many advertisers on Facebook for some time, and in March we got a few new great options to help with this.

First: With the Rights Manager, copyright owners can opt to claim and collect ad earnings on copyrighted content that’s published by other Pages, as long as both align with the partner monetization policies.

This means that when someone shares your content, you can still profit accordingly instead of automatically having it blocked for copyright issues.

Second: They’re integrating “publisher allow” lists and inventory filters into the Ads Manager’s reach estimator. This can help you assess what your campaigns’ reach is after you’ve narrowed down which creators your ad content can appear in.

Third: There are new IP protection tools, to help protect your intellectual property across all of the Facebook suites of tools. This will help protect your brand and combat the promotion and sale of counterfeit items.

This is exceptionally great news, as this has been a problem for hot products for some time. The new measures include a notice-and-takedown program to machine learning investments that will help identify and suspend counterfeits.

As part of this program, they’re working on updating their Commerce and Ads IP tool. You can apply to access this tool here. The updates include image search functionality and more expansive search results.

Community Managers Online Course Expands Globally

Facebook has outstanding courses to walk businesses, brands, and social media marketers through the marketing and advertising process. Facebook Blueprint is an excellent example.

Their online courses for community managers are no exception, and these have now expanded globally. The program, which details how managers can build and grow their communities, was originally released last October only in English. It’s now available in additional languages, including Thai, Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Indonesian, and Portuguese.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

Top Facebook Updates January 2021

February was a slow month for Facebook updates, so we’re rolling straight into January 2021! Here, we’re going to look at topic exclusion testing, the new Instagram professional dashboard, and new tools to disclose partnerships.

Since Instagram is closely tied into Facebook as its sister app, we’re going to cover these changes here so you’re up to date across both platforms.

In Testing: Topic Exclusion Controls for Advertisers

Facebook is currently building and will soon be testing new advertiser topic exclusion controls, which is an extension of their brand safety measures. The goal is to allow advertisers to prevent their ads from appearing in the Newsfeed next to certain topics, based on their brand suitability preferences.

A vegan company, for example, might not want to have their ad displayed next to a post from a Page that offers bulk orders of meat. Seeing the two back to back could create an association the brand doesn’t want.

This isn’t entirely unlike how brands can choose to have their video ads excluded from showing in the content of certain creators or creators in certain industries to prevent associations they want to avoid.

The idea here is that advertisers can select topics like “Crime and Tragedy” to avoid.

The building and testing of these features are complex, and it will take some time to get it right; expect to hear more later on this year.

New Instagram Professional Dashboard

Have you noticed that Instagram’s dashboard for business and creator accounts looks a little different?

The dashboard got a big update in January of this year. These are the three big changes and key features to know:

• You can track performance by measuring trends and insights with a core focus on vital data
• You can gain access to tools that help you grow your business account more efficiently, including assessing monetization status and eligibility, setting up branded content, and giving out badges to loyal and engaged followers
• Get access to everything you need for an Instagram education, including resources that share tips, strategies, guidance, and inspiration to grow your account further

While some of these resources were already available across Instagram, they were now brought to one central location. The hope is that it will be easier for business accounts to access and discover tools that are well-suited to assist them. And Instagram did note that they plan on adding to this tool over time, so keep an eye out.

Business Equality Resources & Tools Announced

In 2019 and 2020, business equality, diversity, and inclusion were cornerstones of discussion in America. Facebook, like many other companies, has made steps to improve the inclusivity of the platform by creating a new resource center focused on Business Equality.

This resource center features the following:

• The most up-to-date pieces of training, programs, resources, and tools that all businesses can use to foster business equality in day-to-day operations
• Programs like SheMeansBusiness and Boost with Facebook, which may include spaces for diverse or minority people to gain resources they need and network
• Advertising tools like Ads for Equality are meant to eliminate harmful bias in advertising
• Examples of businesses and organizations who have started on the journey, so other businesses can follow suit

Keep in mind, though, that these resources are not the end-all-be-all; there are limitations to what they can do, so consider consulting a specialist to help your business and marketing team in these areas if needed.

New Tools for Partnership Disclosure Released

Partnerships on Instagram is practically a core part of the platform at this point, but that comes with needed regulations to help everyone stay above-board both in terms of following Instagram’s guidelines and standard promotional laws, too.

It’s important that a creator’s audience knows when a brand is involved in creating that #sponsoredcontent. Transparency builds trust and promotes transparency. The branded content tool helped with this, and in January, Instagram rolled out a few new features to enhance it further.

These include the following:

• Branded content tags that have been expanded to Reels and Live content on Instagram, allowing every type of content to have that lovely “Sponsored” tag to identify paid content. Keep in mind that all branded content on Instagram must use these tags. You can learn more about how to use it here.
• Encouraging disclosure and communication with creators, including through direct messaging on the platform if needed.
• A Trademark Reporting Channel, where creators can report content that they believe infringes on their rights. This may include untagged branded content if it violates a trademark.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!

Top Facebook Updates December 2020

There were three core updates from this month: New features for car dealers, social good resources, and the original announcement of iOS 14 and how it would impact business ads.

New Features for Auto Dealers

Selling cars is no easy task, especially when you’re trying to generate demand. The good news is Facebook has created some hyper-niche on-platform products to make it a little easier. If you sell cars or work with a client that does, this is great news.

Right now, US-based dealership Facebook Pages will get access to:

• A new “Manage Inventory” tab on their Pages, where they can create and promote vehicle listings on-platform
• A streamlined process to create auto industry ads (AIA), where you can promote your current inventory quickly through on-platform catalogs and pre-filled templates
• A new “Vehicles” tab on the Page, which will show your existing inventory through a standard Facebook shop interface

Especially now, as COVID-delays may cause a shortage in new cars hitting the market, this is something auto dealers and their marketers should take advantage of.

Business Resources for Social Good

December can be a time of great joy for many, but it can be incredibly difficult for those who are struggling. With a greater emphasis on social good in recent years, Facebook created a website designed to help businesses advance their social impact. We’re well past the holiday season now, but most information is still relevant. You can see the site here.

The site features purpose-driven brands to give you some inspiration for new directions your business could take, whether it’s hosting a fundraiser or doing “buy-one, give-one” deals on products.

The site has resources for the following:

• To help businesses build communities around causes using native platform-tools
• See how to build your brand awareness while promoting social good (not in a self-serving way, ideally)
• Connecting with communities and customers more meaningfully, especially when working with key moments like Giving Tuesday, Pride Month, or Ramadan

Facebook First Announces The Impact of iOS 14

Anyone else remembers the feeling of panic that set in when we first learned about iOS 14? While I am thrilled about users having more control over how their data is used, there’s no denying that this can directly impact Facebook Ads.

Facebook first confirmed the expected impact of iOS 14 (which eventually morphed into the ATT) in December of 2020.

They spoke out about the iOS update vehemently at the beginning, saying it would have a harmful effect on small businesses who relied on Facebook advertising and the free internet. They said it was about profit, not privacy, forcing businesses to turn to subscriptions and in-app payments for revenue while free services will have to start charging to stay on the market.

They have since updated their original post on April 26th and stressed that Facebook will be providing an education screen before Apple’s prompt to explain how tracking is used before they decide to opt out. For more information about how the changes are expected to impact businesses and advertisers, see here.

What do you think? Which of these Facebook updates are you anticipating most? What were you hoping we’d see, and what do you want to see next? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below!