CiT October Roundup of Marketing News & Updates 

by Fred Warner | Oct 29, 2021 | SEO

Bad news first, chilly weather is here to stay for a bit, the good news is that the season of festivities is beginning. Yay! Before you don your fancy dress, we’ve got a roundup of the best marketing news and straight off-the-shelf marketing updates for you! 

Not a week goes by without a change to social media or Google, it’s exhausting, we know! It is vital for your business to stay up to date though on all the latest shenanigans so that you and your business can thrive – not just survive.  

First up; 

Instagram Merges IGTV and Feed Videos 

In early October, the Instagram account @creators announced Instagram is merging IGTV and Feed videos into a single format: Instagram Video.  

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has been hinting at a more “simplified video experience” on the platform for a while. By merging IGTV with Feed videos, Instagram has a single destination for longer form video content – providing a clearer distinction between Instagram Reels. To support this change, Instagram is introducing several new features for Instagram Video:  

• A new Video tab on Profile 
• Trimming 
• Ability to upload video captions 
• People and location tagging 
• 60-second Feed Previews 

You’ve probably already seen it by now, but the new Video tab will replace the old IGTV tab on users’ profiles, with a new “play button” icon. 

CREATIVE in TiME say:  Don’t know about you, but we likey the sound of this one! 

Goodbye Facebook? Facebook changes name to ‘Meta’

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook is changing its name to ‘Meta’. The parent company will now be known as “Meta”, he said. It will also get a new logo, with a blue “M”.

In a presentation at the company’s annual Connect conference, Zuckerberg detailed how his company aims to build a new version of the internet, he said, “We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, we’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are”.

On Twitter, Meta announced, “The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It’s a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You’ll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what’s possible today.”

The move comes after a tumultuous time for the social media giant. They’ve been battling criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services. Not only this, but we cannot forget about the six-hour outage, on October 4th affecting all its platforms. What a crazy month for Facebook. Wait…we mean Meta?  

CREATIVE in TiME say: Things must be bad when you change one of the biggest company names in the World! 

More than Half of Marketing Emails are Threatened by iOS 15 

Apple’s popularity as an email service, and the company’s push into data privacy, means that advertiser’s ability to understand the performance of their email marketing campaigns is being challenged. This is according to data from email marketing company Litmus. 

Apple recently launched iOS 15 and as part of this Apple says the Mail Privacy Protection feature “hides your IP address, so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your location. And it prevents senders from seeing if and when you’ve opened their email”. 

More than half of all emails opened are at risk – the iPhone Mail app is the market leader and is responsible for 40.3% of all email opens, with the Apple Mail app on Mac devices third (11.3%) and the iPad Mail app seventh (1.4%).  

This comes at a time when email marketing has grown in importance for many brands – it can be a cost-efficient way of enhancing first-party data and can allow personalised messaging in the absence of third-party data. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Although e-mail still one of the most effective direct marketing tools out there, do we really need more challenges to getting them past the gatekeeper!? Sigh! 

Facebook tests option for Cross-posting Facebook posts to Instagram 

Users are currently able to cross-post their Instagram stories and posts to Facebook but in this new feature, cross-posting can flow the other way. The feature is yet to be formally announced by has begun to roll out this month to a small group of people. 

Facebook has begun to interlink their multitude of apps in recent months.  Allowing cross-communication between Instagram and Messenger users is one of the ways Facebook is connecting apps. By interlinking apps, they make it more difficult to fully leave Facebook. 

With this new feature, users will be able to cross-post: 

• Up to 10 photos 
• Single photos  
• Single videos  

Currently other imaging formats such as GIFs and text-only posts are not able to be cross shared. This may be in a bid to keep Instagram relevant and popular amongst young users in response to growing popularity of other social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Meh. Not sure this is the best rollout idea ever. We will reserve judgment though. 

Potential Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update between October 15th – October 18th

Google is known for updating its search algorithm ranking frequently and October was no exception.  

A flurry of chatter in the SEO community revealed that within this timeframe, many people noticed changes in their rankings, and most were not positive. Huge ranking changes were experienced with some people revealing 20%, 30% and higher drops in their traffic and ranking for their keywords! 

Did you experience a drop in your SEO within this period? Due to quiet changes in the algorithm, many businesses will feel the negative repercussions. If your SEO rankings and your traffic dropped, this may be why! 

Do you even know where you can find your analytics? Have you got them but don’t know what they mean? Fear not, we are here to help. Get in touch to discuss your analytics with the experts. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Yup, some of our customers definitely felt this in the gut, some were absolutely fine. Either way we always knew what was happening because we monitor results weekly. #brushesshoulder 

Bonus: Instagram Stories Link Stickers Are Now Available to Everyone!

News just in, every Instagram account will now have access to Instagram Stories Link Stickers. Yes, even those with less than 10K followers!

Instagram Stories link stickers were first introduced last month for accounts with 10K followers, replacing the “swipe up” link.

According to Instagram, “We made this decision based on feedback we heard from the community about how impactful it would be for creators and businesses of all sizes to benefit from link sharing to grow in the same way larger accounts do.”

So how do you add it?

1.  Head to the Instagram Stories sticker tray and select the link sticker (if you don’t have access yet, sit tight. It’s coming don’t worry!)
2. Paste your link into the link field.
3. Switch the text and color by tapping on the sticker.

And hey presto! You’ve just added your first story link! You’re welcome.

CREATIVE in TiME say: We’ve been waiting on this one for a looooong time. If you’re a business, you NEED to utilise this feature!

We hope you enjoyed our monthly roundup, check back in next month for our November roundup! You can even have it delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter! Just send your email over to [email protected] (subject to iOS 15 🙈 of course).  

Whilst you wait, does your business need a hand staying up to date? Maybe you’re struggling to keep on track with all of the new marketing changes? We’ve got your back!

Book in now for a discovery call and our marketing business can help you with all the latest strategies and changes.