Which New Tools and Features Will Change Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

Welcome to the WASK’s Weekly Newsletter! Your reliable source for digital marketing, social media, and Artificial Intelligence updates. Stay informed, and stay inspired with us!

Google Added New Tools to Help Retailers Take Advantage of Shopping Trends

As Google gears up for the holiday season, it’s rolling out a series of new updates to Google Shopping listings for businesses using Google Merchant Center. The new features include insights into popular product trends, product performance summaries, and conversational queries.

These updates aim to help retailers track the most popular products and trends, better plan their marketing campaigns, and make their campaigns more effective.

Instagram Chief Shares Tips to Improve Content Performance

Instagram’s chief, Adam Mosseri, shared some tips for improving Instagram content performance during his weekly Q&A session on IG Stories.

Mosseri noted that resharing Reels videos to Stories can increase reach and that collaborative posts can be better when the account with the larger follower base requests the collaboration. While these tips aren’t huge changes, they can be useful for increasing your Instagram reach.

X Introduces New Analytics Tools for Verified Organizations

X introduces new analytics tools for Verified Organizations users, enabling in-depth analysis of keyword and topic trends. Updated features include the ability to track conversation volume, measure trends over time, and analyze conversation velocity.

These tools provide advanced insights that can help large organizations develop strategies. However, these advanced features are only available to Certified Organization subscribers and are expensive—$200 per month for basic access and $1,000 for full access.

These tools, combined with X’s other analytics tools, could present a significant opportunity for social media marketers and analysts. However, given X’s current reputation, the impact of this update may be limited.

TikTok Lets Users Create Their Own AI Voice-Overs

TikTok is rolling out a new feature that lets users simulate their own voices with AI. With this innovation, users will be able to use their own digital voices in their video voiceovers.

The feature is a result of research into AI voice reproduction by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. Users can create AI voices by speaking into their devices and use them in future videos. The generated audio can also be translated into other languages.

However, there are also concerns that this technology could lead to more realistic fakes and scams. While social media platforms are integrating AI tools to increase user engagement, it remains unclear whether users will accept the true value of such features.

Threads Explore Ad Formats for the App

Meta is planning to launch ads on Threads, but hasn’t set an official launch date yet. Meta has shared some examples of sponsored posts that will appear on Threads.

Ads will be marked with the word “Sponsored” next to their usernames and will be shown to interested users. It’s been reported that there are currently no tests of ads on Threads and there’s no definitive timeline for monetization.

With Threads growing, Meta is expected to implement its plans for ads in the coming period.

YouTube Expands AI-Powered Comment Categorization to More Languages

YouTube is expanding its “comment summaries” feature, which uses AI to categorize comments, to more languages. The feature was first introduced in November of last year and filters video comments into separate categories for easier sorting.

The feature was also introduced in Shorts videos in June and is now rolling out to more languages to reach more users. YouTube says the feature will be tested in all languages.

Creators can also use these comment summaries to get content ideas and delete comments on specific topics.

Instagram Aims to Increase Engagement with Stories Comments Feature

Instagram is adding a comment feature to Stories to increase user engagement. Comments on Stories will now be visible to anyone viewing that Story. Comments will appear at the bottom of the screen, above the controls and viewer details, allowing for more engagement without disrupting the content.

Instagram is looking for new ways to encourage users to engage more in the app instead of private messages. Stories comments could increase engagement for creators, but users can opt-out.

X Prepares to Launch In-App Video Conferencing Feature

X is preparing to introduce Zoom-like video conferencing within the app. This new feature will offer full video streaming functionality for participants and will be located in the right sidebar under the name "Conferences".

X owner Elon Musk has stated that they already use this video conferencing platform for internal meetings. However, it has not been announced how many participants the feature will support at this time.

This move is part of Elon Musk's vision of making X "the app for everything" and aims to make the platform meet all of users' interaction and transaction needs.

However, it is still unclear how effective X's video conferencing feature will be compared to existing platforms like Zoom or Google Meet, and whether users will adopt the feature.

X Could Be Banned In Brazil

This week, the platform X is facing a ban in Brazil. Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes issued a warning to the company after X failed to comply with orders to close certain accounts. In April, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered X to close accounts that allegedly spread misinformation and hate speech.

X refused to comply with these orders and closed its office in Brazil and evacuated its employees. Brazilian authorities have requested that X appoint a legal representative for the region, and if this order is not followed, the platform could be suspended from operating in Brazil.

This would be a serious loss for X, which has 21 million users in Brazil. Furthermore, the ban could have a negative impact on the platform’s financial situation as X’s advertising revenues and user base continue to decline.