March was no ordinary month when it came to digital marketing and industry news. Being aware of the updates and affairs occurring in the industry allows you to be best informed when making decisions that can directly affect your brand. With so many things going on in the world, we know it can be hard to keep up. Find some top highlights from this past month below!
Social Media Updates
TikTok is testing a ‘watch history’ feature to make it easier to uncover lost videos
A “watch history” feature is reportedly being tested for video content app TikTok. As refreshing a “For You” video by accident has led users to lose a video before getting to “like” or save it, this new feature will become a major problem solver for many. Users have revealed that this update will be in the “content and activity” setting of the app. Since TikTok has not shared additional information, it’s unclear if this test will be expanded.
YouTube is testing time-specific emoji reactions
Bringing forth a new way to react to videos on the platform, YouTube has begun testing time-specific reactions with emojis. Viewers will be able to respond with an emoji to a specific moment in a clip. To gauge how others are reacting, there will be a panel in the comment section that shows the various emojis other viewers have reacted with. Some emojis available for usage are the shocked face, the question mark, the heart, the light bulb, and face laughing emoji.
Facebook’s developing reactions for Reels
Similarly, Facebook is working on adding reaction emojis to Reels content. Currently, users are only able to respond to one of the videos with the “like” or comment feature on both Facebook and Instagram. This feature, in development, would enable users to choose from seven different emojis in response to a Reels clip. So far there is no information as to when this capability will begin full testing.
Instagram adds new tagging options to credit creators
Earlier in the month, Instagram unveiled a new tagging option, acknowledging that crediting is important to many underrepresented creators. Enhanced tags will display more detail about an account, naming the different roles of collaborators who go generally unnoticed as they may work behind-the-scenes. Under the “show profile category” after tagging an account when uploading content, users can display the role of a contributor.
In a mission to expand its advertising suite, TikTok is in beta testing of search ads. In ads run on search results pages, sponsored content will be shown above other results after a user performs a search query on the app. Although keyword targeting has not yet been made available to TikTok marketers, advertisers however, will learn which search terms led to user clicks on a campaign. It’s still unknown exactly what accounts will have access to the new feature.
Industry News
Google rolls out Search Ads 360 integration for Google Analytics 4
The tech giant has rolled out a new integration which will enable advertisers to combine Search Ads 360 data with their Google Analytics 4 data. This extension will be a time saver as they won’t need to spend time flipping back and forth on both platforms. Advertisers can expect to export Search Ads 360 campaign and cost data to G4; export G4 conversions to Search Ads 360, and view G4 engagement metrics in Search Ads 360 reports.
Google Launches New ‘Related Search for Content’ Ads to Help Improve On-Site Engagement
Joining the AdSense suite is a functionality that suggests content prompts for visitors when on a website. The aim is to direct users to other pages within the same site to discover topics like what they’re viewing, ultimately making users remain on the site for longer. Using “related search for content”, Google will be steering from utilizing user tracking data. This is one of the company’s first moves toward phasing out cookie tracking, and switching to a model that uses topics, to be privacy friendly.