Throughout April, Instagram and Twitter focused on launching new content features for creators, rolling out updates to IGTV and a calendar full of weekday Tweet prompts, respectively, while Facebook released a timely, interactive COVID-19 map on the platform. Learn more about the latest updates in the industry roundup below!
Social Media
Facebook Just Released an Interactive COVID-19 Map
Facebook’s new interactive map shows how many people have reported symptoms of COVID-19 in a particular US county. The platform primarily gathered data from a survey of over 1 million Facebook users that was conducted by Carnegie Mellon University researchers over two weeks, Zuckerberg wrote in a statement. Facebook continues to carry out daily surveys to keep the map updated for its users.
LinkedIn Engagement Up 76% for ‘Work from Home’ Content
Unsurprisingly, the number of posts mentioning COVID-19 are rising with about 1 in 4 company posts mentioning the coronavirus. LinkedIn published a recent report about how content engagement trends have shifted since the pandemic began. Trending posts about employees working from home have seen an even more dramatic increase in engagement. Key takeaways from the LinkedIn data shows that empathetic employer branding is resonating the best with audiences.
Instagram Spotlights Creators with IGTV Redesign
Instagram updated its IGTV video-streaming app with a focus on content creators. IGTV’s redesigned homepage features a customized selection of creators at the top of the screen, based on users’ interests, and the accounts they follow, The Verge reported. In addition, a Discover tab has been added to help users find new content, rather than only seeing trending content from accounts they may already follow, as the previous layout provided.
Twitter Gives Marketers a Content Calendar Full of Tweet Prompts
For brands and businesses in a creative rut for new content, Twitter has outlined a month’s worth of weekday Tweet ideas to help marketers plan what to post every day. With 20 different prompts, there is sure to be some inspiration for brands to remain visible during the pandemic! Twitter has also published a monthly calendar highlighting popular dates that have historically generated high levels of engagement on Twitter.
What to Know About Facebook’s Reversal of the Campaign Budget Optimization Requirement
Facebook will no longer be shifting to campaign budget optimization, as previously reported, after the forced migration has been pushed back numerous times. Facebook Ads experts reached a consensus that campaign budget optimization, also referred to as CBO, consistently works well for eCommerce, but not as well in other verticals, halting the platform’s mandatory enforcement.
Industry News
Amazon Reportedly Planning Drastic Cuts to Affiliate Commission Rates
Those who once received a cut of revenue from Amazon sales will be seeing a significant drop in their commission rates as of April 21st, according to CNBC. This change will affect digital media organizations the most, as many have made a large profit from recommending products that are largely purchased on Amazon. Some product categories that were once used for referrals, have seen drops of more than 50 percent.
In Major Shift, Google Shopping Opens Up to Free Product Listings
Amid the coronavirus crisis, Google is opening up its Shopping search results to unpaid, organic listings. The Google Shopping tab results will consist primarily of free product listings and opening up to all merchants will enhance Google’s offering and its appeal to both sellers and consumers. “For retailers, this change means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs. For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, this means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings,” the company announced.