🗝️ Marketing Round-Up, July

& Threads usage dips / Elon claims growth / Meta preps AI chatbots / YouTube upgrades Shorts.

Author

Kole Ogundipe
August 03, 2023

Hello, Marketers.

Coming up…

  • Feature: ICYMI; here is a round-up of the major headlines from July, all in one handy deck.

  • Today’s headlines: Threads usage dips (while Elon claims growth), Meta preps AI chatbots, and YouTube upgrades Shorts.

Let’s jump in 🪂

FEATURE

Resource: Catch up on the headlines that matter from last month

HEADLINES

Threads has lost more than half its users since launch, while Elon claims record X usage. Mark Zuckerberg told staff the initial drop is "normal" and said improved features are needed to stabilize app retention. The first major upgrade since the comments are the separate ‘For You’ & ‘Following tabs’. (BBC ↗️)

Meta is planning to launch AI-powered chatbots as a new way to search and get recommendations. The FT reported (behind a paywall) that ‘AI Personas’ could be integrated into Meta’s apps next month. Zuckerberg has been open about their “focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways”. (Tech Crunch ↗️)

X is testing a switch of their ads marker from "Promoted" to a smaller "Ad" tag. It is thought that X might get challenged by the FTC whose guidelines say that ads must be ‘clearly and conspicuously’ signaled. (Social Media Today ↗️)

YouTube announced 6 new Shorts features to better challenge TikTok & Reels. The features include a vertical live Shorts feed and a tool to transform regular YouTube videos into Shorts. YouTube says 2 billion logged-in users are watching Shorts each month, and watch time and monetization are increasing. (YouTube Blog ↗️)

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back tomorrow with our weekly, visual, Friday Finds edition.

Kole