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In Today’s Issue:
🎬 Facebook launches A/B testing for Reels, allowing brands to optimize content with different thumbnails and captions
🌐 Meta introduces a new API for sharing to Facebook Stories from desktop and web apps
🤖 LinkedIn adds AI summary tools for feeds and job posts
🔍 HubSpot acquires B2B data provider ClearBit
📉 Social media trust remains shaky; platform use steady except for a decline on X
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🎥 Facebook Introduces A/B Testing for Reels
Facebook Reels gets new A/B testing feature.
Creators can test thumbnails, captions on Reels.
Extended insights now offer 90-day performance view.
Facebook will soon let you conduct A/B testing on Reels, providing valuable insight into what your brand’s social media audience responds best to.
It will let you test up to four different thumbnails and captions for a single video. These variations are shown to different audience segments for 30 minutes, with the most-played version declared the winner. This is currently mobile-only.
And Meta has also enhanced the professional dashboard for creators — they can now view performance data for all posts, hide or delete posts directly from the dashboard, and access an extended 90-day view of their content's performance.
New metrics have also been introduced, including comparative performance data, viewer retention rates, and view counts that factor in replays.
📲 Facebook's New API Eases Story Sharing
Meta introduces API for direct Facebook Story uploads.
Aimed at professional creators using desktop, web apps.
No more downloading and re-uploading for Story creation.
Facebook is making it easier for brands to share content as Stories. Meta’s launched a new API that allows direct uploads of Facebook Stories from third-party desktop and web apps.
Previously, marketers had to download their creations and then upload them to Facebook. Soon, provided your third-party social media platform adopts this, you’ll be to send that media to Facebook directly as a Story.
Instagram Stories were a direct copycat of Snapchat Stories, and were introduced in 2016. Facebook added Stories to their app a year later.
The new API also includes the option for a one-tap “share to Facebook Stories” button directly inside their app, but they’ll have to offer Facebook Login authentication so that the user gives access to their personal or business accounts.
🤖 LinkedIn’s New AI Gets Lukewarm Reception
LinkedIn adds AI tools for Premium subscribers.
AI to summarize feeds, job posts for quick insights.
But should we let AI do this kind of reading?
LinkedIn Premium members will soon be able to have AI summarize their news feed for them.
Yes, rather than going through the laborious process of, you know, reading — AI will do that heavy lifting for you and present a quick brief on your friend’s promotions and how they learned a valuable business lesson by being nice to a barista.
Perhaps more problematically, they’re also adding that summary tool to job listings.
From seamlessly assessing if a particular job is a good fit for you to identifying the best way to position yourself for it, we’ll help you find your dream role and build your confidence. With this experience, researching roles, companies, and even preparing for interviews become part of a seamless, delightful interaction on LinkedIn.
I mean, sure? I guess?
As Andrew Hutchinson at SocialMediaToday.com noted in his coverage of this:
If you don’t understand the job ad, or if you can’t even be bothered reading it, it’s probably not for you, right?
I don’t know, it seems like LinkedIn’s trying to wedge AI tools into places where they probably shouldn’t be, but I can also see the potential time saving benefits for job seekers who are applying to a lot of jobs at once.
Gaining knowledge is important, and using AI at this stage of the process seems to be guiding people towards using it for even more elements, even beyond this, and feigning expertise that they don’t have.
Andrew Hutchinson, SocialMediaToday.com
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💼 HubSpot Acquires B2B Data Firm Clearbit
HubSpot to acquire B2B data provider Clearbit.
Deal includes 400,000 users and 1,500 business customers.
Concerns over industry price increases as data firms merge
HubSpot is acquiring Clearbit, a B2B data provider.
The acquisition will bring more than 400,000 users and 1,500 business customers to HubSpot. While the financial terms have not been disclosed, Clearbit was valued at $250 million in early 2019.
Once the deal is completed, Clearbit will operate as a subsidiary of HubSpot and its offerings will be integrated into HubSpot's AI-powered customer platform.
But the merger might raise some concerns about market competition. MarTech.org in its coverage of this noted that as Clearbit's independent data source will no longer be available, this could lead to higher prices in the data space.
📉 Social Media Trust Dips, Platform X Loses Favor
Trust in social media platforms remains shaky.
Platform X sees a decline amid political ad changes.
News is still important to users.
Social media's grip remains firm, but trust is wavering. A report by Why Group indicates that while overall social media usage has remained stable, trust in these platforms is declining, particularly for X (formerly Twitter).
The number of study participants who said they’ll maintain or increase their use of X in the next month fell by 12 points from April to August.
While almost all the platforms say they’re deprioritizing news on their site, the number of people who said they used social media for news and learning about current events grew 7% from last year.
Securing your traffic has become Essential
Recent studies show that over 27% of internet traffic is invalid, costing advertisers billions annually. And it's only getting worse!
CHEQ Essentials operates advanced algorithms and real-time monitoring capabilities to detect and block all fraudulent sources.
Implement CHEQ Essentials to protect your ads and websites, divert your resources towards human traffic and unlock your marketing activity's full potential.
Click here to enjoy an extended trial AND a 10% discount exclusively for our readers.
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