?? Action Needed: Meta and Instagram Updates

Hello,

Happy New Year! Hope you've had a productive start to the year.

Now I am well aware that this is being shared on LinkedIn and we're talking about (whispers) 'Meta' but hear me out - if you are serious about marketing your business then the likelihood is you're sharing quality content across multiple platforms (if you're not let's talk as I can help with this).

Right onto the updates - it’s been a week of changes over at Meta! These updates are being rolled out quickly, and they are affecting many business accounts.

Let’s start with Meta (Facebook + Instagram) advertising. If your business has a Facebook page that falls under the Health & Wellness category, it's time to prepare. Meta is phasing out tracking for key actions like "Purchases" and "Add to Cart" in campaigns, impacting these industries:

1?? Health & Wellness Brands

2?? Pharmaceutical or Medical Services

3?? Personal Injury Law Firms

4?? Fitness & Lifestyle Apps

What Does This Mean for Your Ads?

?? Ad Performance May Decline: Campaigns relying on restricted actions like "Purchases" or similar goals may show a drop in performance.

?? Rebuild Campaigns: Active campaigns won't be paused, but you'll need to update objectives to maintain results and avoid ad issues.

?? Explore New Channels: Platforms like Google, Pinterest, and TikTok may be great alternatives.

Here’s What To:

?? Audit Campaigns: Identify campaigns relying on restricted events and adjust as needed.

?? Refocus Objectives: Focus on brand awareness and traffic through video view campaigns, website clicks and engagement. Examples of non-restricted events you can use are "Landing Page Views," "Search," "View Content," or "App Install".

?? Explore Alternatives: Consider alternative ad formats, such as Lead Forms and Messenger campaigns.

If your business falls into these categories and you have concerns, please feel free to reach out. We can guide you through this transition and optimise your advertising strategy.

As for Instagram, here’s what you need to know:

? New Look for Your Grid: A refreshed layout to showcase your brand in style. Square is out. Portrait graphics and grid are in.?

Why is Instagram changing the size?

Instagram and Facebook apply compression algorithms to images to save storage space and improve loading times. Until now, Instagram’s grid has been square-shaped. But to enhance the visual experience, they're now shifting to the portrait format for posts in the profile grid.

Here’s What To:

Create new graphics using 1080 x 1350 px (portrait size not square). If your previous posts seem to look squashed, here’s how you can update them on Instagram:

• Go to your Instagram profile grid and check if your account has been updated. If it is still square, you will need to wait until the update comes through.
• Click on an image you’d like to adjust.
• Tap the three dots in the top right corner.
• Scroll down to ‘Adjust Preview’ and click.
• Select ‘Fit’ for the image to be adjusted.
• Adjust the background colour to suit. Your choices are black or white.
• Hit the tick at the top of the screen to save.

?? Longer Reels: From only 90 seconds to now 3 minutes! That’s more time to tell your story and connect with your audience.

Brand New Features:

?? Check out the Activity Bubble feature. It lets you see which posts your followers have engaged with. Understanding what other accounts your audience is connecting and engaging with will help you with your targeting, and messaging and also possibly help you refine your content strategy.

?? Instagram launches a new editing app called Edits. You can now edit your video using a range of editing tools, trending music and audio on Instagram! Preorder the app now on the iOS App Store—available to download next month! Coming soon to Android, too!

? Highlights will be moved and added as a tab. They will be next to your posts and reels, so now people can see them more easily.

???? Coming real soon - Be able to drag your posts from the app and rearrange your feed to create a visually cohesive and engaging feed that reflects your business and brand rather than posts being shared in order of the date they were originally posted.

Whew! Was that a lot to take in? Iho pe we’ve got you fully up to speed and feeling excited about all the updates. Please make sure you’re following Puzzle Media over on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, where tahe team and I share updates as they come in.

If you need help refining any of the above or perhaps you want a Marketing Strategy session to kick off your 2025 with a plan - get in touch and let me help.

Until next time,

Tina