Will everyone have to pay for X?
How do you feel when you suddenly have to pay for something that’s always been free?
I think most people feel resentful or re-evaluate their need for the service. I think a lot of people have been feeling that way this week.
In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk suggested he may start charging everyone a small monthly fee to use X. Apparently it’s a bid to combat bots.
The problem is, whilst it may help get rid of bots, it will definitely help get rid of humans. It reminded me to cancel my premium account.
However, who thought people would pay for verification? Could this be a new era in social media?
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66850821
Paid Meta Businesses Verification
I’m not sure if the Meta paid verification programme for profiles is popular because people want the verified mark, or because being verified apparently gets you better customer service.
But now Meta is about to launch verified for businesses. Once again the customer service element could make it popular.
It will reportedly be
priced at $21.99 per page/account or you can get a combo deal of $34.99 for both Facebook and Instagram.
That makes it more affordable than X’s business verification. But will it come up against the same problems X verified has with accounts masquerading as businesses?
https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/meta-verified-for-business
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WhatsApp flows
What if you could complete a more complex sale on WhatsApp?
For example what if you could book a train journey and book your seat, all without leaving the chat?
Or what if you could book your flight and your meal all within a WhatsApp conversation? Or what if you could book an appointment and add all the options you need?
WhatsApp just announced the launch of Flows which will enable this new functionality. Apparently, it will be available in all regions.
It sounds convenient, there’s even a part of me that’s excited by this but it smacks of WeChat, the Chinese app that does everything.
No need for websites or other sites when one tool can do it all.
Budget Scheduling For Meta Ads
If you know your business makes more sales on a Friday and Saturday than the rest of the week combined, it makes sense to advertise more on those days, knowing that people are ready to buy.
But to do that on Meta ads would mean either:
Manually changing your daily budget on those days (and changing it back afterwards)
Or
Creating 2 campaigns that run on a departing schedule.
Neither solution was ideal so Meta fixed it. Soon you will be able to schedule your daily ad budget to increase or decrease for specific time periods.
Link history on Instagram
Have you ever visited a website on Instagram, got distracted by something and when you return you just can’t find it? It happens to everyone and I imagine businesses lose leads and customers as a result.
But a new feature from Instagram could help you find the links you’ve previously visited. Link history will appear every time you open a link in the Instagram browser. It will show you the links you’ve recently visited. You will also see it in your activity log in your profile settings.
If it works, this could be great for consumers and great for businesses.
WhatsApp to remain ad-free
It seems like ads are invading our online spaces far more frequently than they used to. But one space is set to remain ad-free.
That space is WhatsApp. When Meta initially floated running ads on the platform, there was outrage from users. Uncharacteristically Meta decided to keep ads off WhatsApp. And it’s sticking to that decision.
A rumour circulating that suggested ads were about to appear on the platform was immediately debunked by WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart.
WhatsApp has been investigating other ways to monetise its platform including a suite of business tools so maybe we could see this network remain ad-free forever.
Trending text on Reels?
Sound is big on Reels, if you use trending sounds in your Reels you stand a chance of getting more reach and engagement. And people who create the sounds get some love too. Could the same be about to happen with Text?
Instagram is working on an option for users to use text from Reels that was created with the Instagram text tool in your own Reels. Just like sounds.
This could be amazing for brands and businesses that have solid tag lines. Not just the likes of ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ from McDonald’s, this could be big for personal brands too. If you use catchphrases in your content this could offer the opportunity to go viral in other people’s reels.
