In the world of social media & online advertising, things change in the blink of an eye. Many marketers get frustrated at the constant algorithm and functionality changes, but if you look at things from a different perspective, you’ll find that all of these changes can often make your life easier.

In fact, I think that it’s our job to stay on top of trends.

Favorite Facebook updates for summer 2017

So without further ado, here are my favorite Facebook updates for the summer.

1. Event RSVP Ad targeting

Yes, you read it correctly: you can now retarget ads based on RSVPs received on various events you’ve hosted. How’s that for targeting effectiveness?

Think about it: when someone RSVPs “Going” or “Interested” to one of your events, you already know that there is a high chance they may be interested in what you have to offer.

Being able to retarget them is a marketer’s dream.

You’ll be able to run ads directly to those who have RSVP’d to your event and create a lookalike audience from your RSVP list.

Let’s review a dream scenario: You’re hosting a workshop in your city and created a Facebook event to help promote it. You shared it with your friends, family and your network, and ran a local ad to drive traffic to your event ad. You had a great turnout. Now you’ll be able to run an ad (re-target) directly to those who RSVP’d  “Going” or  “Interested” in your previous event.

Chances are, if they had a good time at your event, they are now more likely to share this event with a friend. This is a win – a share is extra advertising for you without you having to spend extra marketing dollars. On top of this, you can also run the ad to a lookalike audience of your previous event.

2. Messenger Ads

You may have been the recipient of one of these ads and wondered what they were all about.

Facebook tested this feature for over a year in specific countries only, and it’s now available to all! How do you place an ad in Facebook Messenger? You’ll select this as the placement of your ad.

What would be some benefits of Messenger ads? Although it may not be for everyone, this could seriously benefit others.

From a consumer’s perspective, getting an ad in my Messenger inbox would be very enticing if this was regarding a product of interest.

For example, since I am a dog lover written all over my Facebook page, if an ad appeared in my Messenger inbox about the latest dog toy or treat, I would be much more likely to buy it than if I came across the ad on my Facebook wall. I see lots of potential here. What do you think?

3. Putting GIFs into comments

This summer, Facebook allowed users to insert GIFs into their comments.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the hype about it. It makes it fun and engaging for users. GIFs are GIFs, simple as that.

Although Facebook has become a powerful business tool, it never fails to keep users entertained and enhance the features available to them. This is one of the reasons I am such a Facebook fan.

What were your favorite Facebook updates this summer? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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