Digital Debrief | December 2023

We've arrived at the final Digital Debrief of 2023. Welcome to the new year! The Digital Debrief is a monthly newsletter of skimmable digital marketing news and insights to help you run and market your business. Headlines from the last month include updates to direct messaging and reels from Instagram, Threads gets its own domain and we've officially entered the era of GEO - generative engine optimization. Are you ready for it? Let's dig in.

LinkedIn?

New newsletter tools ?

LinkedIn Newsletters have gained substantial traction, with newsletter readership tripling year-over-year, surpassing 500 million total subscriptions. LinkedIn introduces new tools to enhance newsletter creation, including duplicate draft templates for streamlined formatting and improved consistency. Additionally, updated analytics provide insights into content consumption trends and audience demographics. LinkedIn aims to empower creators by enhancing content creation and customization features within its newsletter platform, offering potential opportunities for businesses to integrate newsletters into their 2024 content strategy.?

TikTok?

2023 Year in Review?

TikTok published a 2023 “Year on TikTok” to highlight creator and engagement trends. From girl dinners to cottage cheese creations and Roman Empire musings, the platform recaps the highs and hilarious moments. The report features top U.S. clips, including mesmerizing food ASMR, makeup routines, and DIY Iron Man suits. TikTok also dives into global highlights, breakthrough stars, music trends, and even promotes educational content. In China, they're emphasizing enriching videos alongside fun content, aligning with societal benefits. Check out the summary for a trip down memory lane and insights into what clicked with TikTok users.?

Instagram?

Facebook and IG Reels outperform TikTok ?

A recent Emplifi video analysis found that Instagram Reels, especially longer ones, outperform shorter clips on both Instagram and TikTok. Notably, Instagram Reels surpass TikTok in view counts. On Facebook, Reels get over three times the median views compared to other video content, aligning with Meta's emphasis on Reels. Despite Reels' success, brands still post more Stories on Instagram, hinting at changing user preferences. While individual results may vary, this data signals a shift in content trends, urging a reconsideration of your strategy, particularly with Reels gaining traction across Meta's apps.?

New “Add Yours” engagement option for Stories?

Instagram's latest feature rollout lets users craft their own "Add Yours" templates right in the app. By crafting reusable Story formats with tailored quizzes or prompts, users can increase interaction using existing in-stream tools. This means pinning GIFs, text, and gallery images to customize templates, opening doors for creativity and personal expression. To create your template, add your desired elements to a Story, select "Add Yours Templates" from the sticker tray, and pin the components. You can also use Instagram's templates as inspiration by tapping the dice icon. Once posted, your Story will prompt viewers to contribute their take. With this update, Instagram's looking to tap into new trends and encourage users to invent unique prompts for increased engagement. ?

New third-party live-streaming options ?

Instagram has introduced new updates aimed at facilitating live-streaming, particularly when utilizing third-party tools on desktop PCs. For professional accounts, the platform now supports live streaming through streaming software such as OBS or Streamlabs via a designated stream key. Creators can access the stream key through the "Create" menu on the desktop version of the app. Additionally, the Live Producer viewer allows users to preview their video setup before initiating the live stream. This enhancement simplifies the connection process, potentially prompting increased participation from creators seeking to deliver high-quality broadcasts on the platform. Given the robust engagement associated with live streams, this update should be a strategic consideration in content planning for 2024.?

New Notes Features ?

Instagram is introducing enhancements to its inbox Notes feature to cultivate more spontaneous interaction within the platform. Notably, users can now incorporate a 2-second looping video when creating a Note in their IG Direct display. This visual element is visible to mutual followers or Close Friends for a 24-hour period, potentially augmenting engagement with updates. Responding to Notes is now more dynamic, offering users the option to reply with audio, photo, video, GIFs, and stickers. Recognizing the appeal of the Notes feature, particularly among younger demographics, Instagram is strategically emphasizing it as a key engagement avenue. ?

New link URL to track Threads referral traffic ?

Instagram has launched a dedicated domain for Threads, separate from its main platform, simplifying the tracking of referral traffic from Threads posts. Social media managers and web admins can now access specific referral traffic insights through their preferred analytics platforms, typically found in the "Acquisition" section in Google Analytics. This update is crucial as Threads gains prominence among brands, offering valuable insights for optimizing strategies, such as reposting links and determining optimal posting times. This sets the stage for Threads to release a full API in the future, allowing expanded functionality, including post-scheduling within the app. ?

Hype option ?

Instagram is testing a new "Hype" option in Stories, allowing users to post comments that are visible to others viewing the same Story. The feature aims to enhance direct engagement and interaction within the platform. Over the past year, Instagram has shifted its focus toward Stories and direct messages, acknowledging users' increased preference for these formats. This move aligns with the platform's broader strategy to encourage original content sharing and boost engagement. ?

2024 “Trend Talk” ?

Instagram has shared insights from its "2024 Trend Talk," identifying key rising trends based on a survey conducted in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, India, and South Korea in partnership with WGSN. In the social media category, the data indicates that "meaningful connections" will be a priority in 2024, with Gen Z users planning to use social media primarily to stay connected with friends and family. The report also highlights emerging fashion trends, such as modest dressing, thrifting, vintage, and DIY fashion. These insights provide valuable considerations for content strategy and planning in 2024, offering a glimpse into the preferences of younger audiences.?

Facebook?

New generative AI features ?

Meta has unveiled new generative AI features for the holidays, enhancing in-app creative tools. The "Imagine" text-to-image tool is now available on the web at imagine.meta.com, allowing users to create images. The "Reimagine" feature lets users re-process AI images for variations. Chat personas of celebrities, real-time discovery via Bing, and "long-term memory" in AI bot chats are also introduced. Smaller AI tweaks include generative AI responses, AI ideas for Facebook Dating profiles, and AI tools for creative composition. Safeguards like invisible watermarking for transparency are added. Users can access these tools in Messenger, WhatsApp, or IG Direct. The move aligns with Meta's interest in AI, though the practical application of these tools remains to be seen.?

Goodbye cross-app chat ?

Meta has announced that starting mid-December 2023, users will no longer be able to chat with Facebook accounts on Instagram. This move contradicts Meta's broader messaging integration plan, which aimed to create a universal inbox across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Existing cross-app chats will become read-only. Some speculate this change may be related to a coming clause in the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), requiring large messaging apps to be interoperable. Meta is yet to provide clarity on the reason for this decision, and it prompts strategic considerations for businesses in connecting with their audience on Meta's platforms.?

Pinterest?

2024 trend predictions ?

Pinterest has released its annual "Pinterest Predicts" trend report, highlighting rising trends based on search activity and platform analysis. The report, known for its 80% accuracy rate in predicting trends, features a new format with detailed information on various topics. Predictions include "Western goth," jellyfish-inspired design, vintage jazz, and more. Pinterest notes increased engagement from Gen Z and Millennials with trends, and brand partners can now sponsor a Pinterest Predicts trend. The report offers marketers valuable insights for strategic planning on the platform, given Pinterest's 482 million users.?

X?

More media tab updates ?

X has introduced a new grid display format for its Media tab, changing from a list of posts to provide a better view of an account's various video and image uploads. While the feature is not available for all profiles yet, it is gradually rolling out. Soon, users will also have the ability to filter content based on specific media types and engagement, allowing for a quicker and more organized search experience. This change aligns with X's emphasis on video content, potentially encouraging creators to upload episodic content more easily searchable through the thumbnail approach. ?

Search Engines ?

Video mode requirements ?

Google is extending its video requirements to include "Video mode" in search results. Now, only pages where the video is the main content will display video thumbnails in both general search results and Video mode. This update aims to connect users more effectively with relevant video content. Google's change may impact video reports in Search Console, where videos not constituting the main content will be labeled as "No video indexed." This alteration emphasizes the importance of aligning video content with the primary focus of a page for optimal visibility in Google's search results.?

Bing introduces Deep Search ?

Microsoft has launched Deep Search, an optional generative AI feature designed to assist users with complex questions that lack straightforward answers. Built on Bing's web index and ranking system, Deep Search uses GPT-4 to understand multiple intents and variations behind a query, offering a more comprehensive set of results. The feature considers factors such as relevance, credibility, freshness, and popularity in ranking results. However, Deep Search may take up to 30 seconds to load, limiting its suitability for users seeking quick results. The feature is currently being tested among randomly selected small groups of Bing users globally.?

Google Analytics 4 exploration feature and updates to retention settings ?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has introduced updates to its explorations feature and data retention settings. With the explorations update, when saving an exploration with a preset date range, GA4 will now display data from the last 28 days from when the exploration is opened, not from when it was initially created. Regarding data retention, if a GA4 property becomes large, event-level data retention will automatically reduce to two months when exceeding specific billable event thresholds. These updates aim to provide marketers with more accurate reporting and insights while managing data retention for large properties.?

Enter GEO ?

A recent research paper titled "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" reveals that adding relevant statistics, quotations, and citations can enhance content visibility in generative engines by up to 40%. The study explores Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a new paradigm for improving content visibility in generative engine responses. Nine optimization tactics were tested across 10,000 search queries, including authoritative content, keyword stuffing, statistics addition, citation inclusion, quotation addition, language simplification, fluency optimization, the addition of unique words, and the incorporation of technical terms. The findings suggest that website owners should make domain-specific adjustments for higher visibility, with different optimizations proving more effective in specific categories such as Facts, Debate, and History. GEO could potentially fit smaller websites struggling for visibility in search engine results pages.?