Instagram wants to know how old you are... in order to keep people safe they say.  They say that the changes are being made in the hopes of making the platform safer for younger users and that birth dates, while not visible to the public, will be used to recommend different privacy settings and features. And the new information will also be used to provide more accurate targeted advertising apparently... "While we expect ads targeted by age to be more accurate on Instagram following this update, this isn't the reason we made these changes," Instagram said in an email. "Our focus is on developing new, age-appropriate experiences for young people using this information." Reaction to the change was mixed with some thinking it doesn't go far enough because they won't verify the age and people can lie, while others were concerned about giving more information to the social media company.

As of November 7, 2019, Facebook advertisers must set up new disclaimers to continue running ads about social issues, elections or politics in the U.S.  Facebook has provided a collection of video tutorials to guide users through their new product updates, which have already made a significant impact on the way political advertisers are using the platform. Click here to learn more or start setting up your new disclaimer so you can be approved right away.

It looks like lots of people went shopping after eating their turkey and according to Techcrunch, the trend of not setting for in a brick and mortar store helped to drive overall sales: Following swiftly on the heels of a Thanksgiving that broke records with $4.2 billion in online sales, Black Friday also hit a new high, although it just fell short of predictions. According to analytics from Adobe, consumers spent $7.4 billion online yesterday buying goods online via computers, tablets and smartphones. The figures were up by $1.2 billion on Black Friday 2018, but they actually fell short of Adobe’s prediction for the day, which was $7.5 billion.  And it wasn't like they were just going online at home either: A full $2.9 billion of Black Friday sales happened on smartphones. These conversions are growing faster than online shopping overall, so we are now approaching a tipping point where soon smartphones might outweigh web-based purchases through computers. Continue reading

This week, Facebook launched a new feature in the U.S. to help voters meet the people running for office. Political candidates can now create a series of 20-second videos answering the following questions: Introduce yourself to voters and tell them about the office you're running for. What is your top policy priority, and why are you the right person to work on it? What makes you most qualified to represent your district? What is the most important goal you hope to accomplish in office and how do you plan to get it done? This feature was developed for the purpose of helping voters to understand their local candidates’ views and messages. The videos will be grouped by each race for office and shown to voters on the top of their News Feed. If you’re running for office and want to start uploading your campaign videos, click here!

I talk regularly with clients about the importance of an integrated communications strategy across all platforms, new and traditional to ensure your audience sees a consistent message wherever they look.   Over at B2Community, they take a look at the digital marketing trifecta in terms of an integrated strategy and what is included. They make sure to include the breakdown of paid, owned and earned media and begin to look at where they intersect for to realize the best possible results for your digital efforts. When we talk about owned media, they are looking at your web properties including blog, website, mobile and social channels. Earned media refers to the more organic sharing, commenting, liking and crediting of your social content. And paid media incorporates digital advertising efforts to complete the trifecta. Continue reading