Social Media & Digital Marketing January 2024 Roundup

They haven’t stated which options will be removed, but it’s thought they’re trying to move away from these micro-targeting options in favour of broader targeting and usage of their Advantage+ options instead. Those running campaigns using removed features will be alerted so they can make changes to the ad. 

 

Meta has said the following about these new measures: “Starting January 15, 2024, we’re removing or consolidating some detailed targeting options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive. Existing ad sets with impacted targeting options will continue to run until March 18 2024, but will require you to update your targeting selections. After this date, we will stop delivering ads to the discontinued detailed targeting options, and impacted ad sets may be paused.” 

 

 

TikTok will be increasing its text sizes to make system text easier to read in a move to improve the apps accessibility. To do this, users now can head to their settings and use a slider to change the size of text. Whilst this doesn’t apply to text in videos, the move still helps users who require larger text to use the app with more ease. 

 

The move comes as developers have been working on making TikTok more accessible to users, after implementing automatic captions on all videos last year. 

 

 

A/B thumbnail testing is set to come into force in 2024 after being previewed in June 2023. 

 

Creators will be able to upload 3 different thumbnails and run them in a test for up to two weeks, and choose the best performing one to become the video’s permanent thumbnail – helping to boost video engagement. 

 

YouTube creator liaison Rene Ritchie has said of the new feature: “Thumbnail testing is still in testing. As of late last year, the testing ramped up to 50K channels of various types, sizes, and regions across YouTube (which is still a tiny number given how many channels are on YouTube). That’ll continue until team feels like the product is delivering what it needs to for creators, and then it’ll start moving into launch mode. No timeline yet, because it’s hard to predict how fast or slow tests of this size will go, but as soon as it’s ready to launch, YouTube will absolutely let everyone know.” 

 

 

Threads continue to roll out new features, with drafts rumoured to be coming soon. 

 

Drafts are already being used across social media, with threads quickly implementing features to stay in competition. The new social media site is less than a year-in to it’s development since going public, but is still seeing a steady influx of users even with features missing and problems with rollout in the EU. 

Whether this new feature will draw more users to Threads is unknown, but when fully developed, it could become the go-to alternative for X users looking for a similar platform. 

 

 

Instagram has added in new engagement options for users on stories. The ‘add yours’ template provides users with the opportunity to create their own trend or get involved with others. The feature opens up possibilities for more audience engagement and creativity for businesses. 

 

 

Link History is set to become available for all users of Facebook, Meta have announced. They explained by saying: “You can choose to turn link history on at any time. When link history is on, any links that you’ve tapped inside of Facebook and visited in Facebook’s Mobile Browser will be saved here for 30 days.” 

Facebook therefore can keep track of links you’ve clicked and how that forms your interests, which can help businesses when targeting ads to reach more users who match with certain chosen ad categories. 

 

 

After removing link previews to make articles look like images, X has now decided to bring back headlines on link previews after users expressed concerns about the new move to Elon Musk. 

 

Musk’s plan was to encourage long form content to be posted on X itself, but with free users still limited by characters, the majority of Twitter users and business owners without premium still link to sources out of the app. Whilst previews haven’t returned to their original format, the “link images” now show the title of the website or article being linked. 

 

That’s all for January! Keep an eye out for more updates next month and have a great February. 

 

Finally, here’s your digital marketing tip for January: Is your social media a true reflection of you?  

 

Marketing you and your business on social media is one of the quickest ways to gain large scale visibility for you and your business  

 

But it can also be damaging... 

 

Presenting yourself in a different way or a different personality can be detrimental to your success 

 

Social media allows us to present ourselves any way we wish and some people do. You meet them in real life at an event or meeting and they aren't the same as they come across online. 

 

Suddenly an element of distrust has arrived... something no business wants or needed  

 

So think about how you present yourself and your business on social media and think 'is this a true reflection of me?' 

 

Get in touch to discuss your specific requirements and see how we can help you grow your social media presence 

 

Tel: 07963216248 

Email: chris@chrislondononline.co.uk 

 

Or join our online Facebook for Business Course by clicking here