Facebook’s annual developer conferences showcases their latest changes and gives a glimpse into what is next for the social media giant. The 2018 conference was held this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Things happen so quickly at Facebook that it takes dedication to keep up, and this conference is no exception. There was plenty of talk about data, security, online dating, messaging, and more – these conversations are important because they hint at what’s to come for marketers. If Facebook is investing millions of dollars into a product, chances are it may soon takeoff.
Our digital team has dug into the information released so that we can share what we anticipate will impact your business; here are the top three things to have on your radar:
Messenger
Messenger is going to be more powerful. Many brands have discovered the power of Facebook Messenger to connect with customers around the world, and Facebook took notice. The company is launching a long list of new updates to improve the Messenger experience for businesses. Depending on your business model, this could be beneficial to your team.
VR
A number of revelations show the promise of VR starting to come to life. Though not many brands have figured out what to do with this technology, a number of new features hint that you might want to start exploring how virtual reality can support your business goals.
Stories
Facebook is gunning to make its Stories more engaging to steal some thunder from Snapchat. If you’re not leveraging Stories as a business, you should consider integrating it into your social media strategy.
Possibly unrelated to your business, but interesting nonetheless, are these additional takeaways:
- Facebook is launching a dating app, and will leverage the data it has collected about you to match you with your soul mate.
- Instagram is getting a new tool to filter out bullying comments.
- Facebook is re-opening the app review process. This process was paused in the wake of the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, where they were not allowing any new apps access to their platform. As of yesterday, this was re-opened.
- There will be a new Clear History feature, allowing users to wipe their history from Facebook servers. In theory, this will show you a fresh look at your Facebook newsfeed since the platform will no longer know your preferences.
Facebook may not be perfect, but it is exciting to watch the tech giant shift the digital landscape every year. Keep an eye on some of these technologies; if you can implement them into your business processes you may be able to reap some serious rewards and get a leg up on your competition.
And if you aren’t sure where to start, let’s connect.
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