December 2021 Digital Marketing News Updates

Facebook News Updates

SnapChat Shows Follower Counts – Having previously resisted the urge, Snapchat will now display follower counts. You can turn this off for your account.

Instagram Shares Influencer Disclosure Guidelines – Instagram put out specific guidelines for businesses and individuals to make sure relationships are correctly disclosed.
More Branded Content Options – Instagram has improved their branded content options making it easier for brands to work with influencers.
Instagram Allows Keyword Searches – Previously you could only search hashtags, profiles and locations. Keywords won’t allow searches of all keywords and will be limited to keywords of general interest. This is still an interesting evolution to allow more visibility for your content.
Reels gets Integrated into Instagram – This is apparently annoying many users. Reels now shows up in the bottom navigation to integrate the apps and drive more people to Reels. This apparently isn’t popular with users.

YouTube Expands Ads – Ads will now be displayed on content that isn’t signed up to have ads. If you use YouTube to embed videos on your site, you may want to switch to Vimeo to maintain a strong user experience.
YouTube Shares Details on Algorithm – Curious how poor performance impacts your channel? The impact of subscribers not watching? Check out this Q&A on the YouTube Algorithm.

Core Web Vitals to Become Ranking Factor in May 2022 – Google announced core vitals earlier in the year. They will now officially be a ranking factor next year. Check how your website looks now to start making changes so you don’t have issues with the launch.
Microsoft Clarity Out of Beta – The free UX tool from Microsoft is out of Beta and ready to use. It includes features like heatmaps and more. Get robust data completely free. TIP: Google is expected to launch similar features next year (March or later)

Marketers’ Priorities for 2021 – Check out this report that shows what marketers view as digital priorities for next year.
New California Privacy Law – California passed a new privacy law. This is a great time to make sure that you are up-to-date on how you handle personal data.