The Latest Meta Updates: Q3 Edition

Meta has been releasing a relentless rollout of updates throughout Q1 and Q2 this year including algorithm tweaks and major platform changes, and now Q3 is here, we don’t see any signs of them slowing down… 

Keeping up with these changes can feel like a full-time job in itself, so we’ve pulled together everything you need to know about the most recent Meta updates and what they mean for your campaigns.

3 Recent Meta Updates To Keep On Your Radar

Instagram TV on majority of Smart TVs in US

In June, Instagram continued to push ‘Instagram TV’, which was rolled out to Samsung Smart TVs in the US, making it accessible on the majority of connected TV devices. Along with the release, Meta is testing a few features designed to make TV social:

• Interest-based channels – instead of scrolling to find something everyone agrees on, channels group content by category (comedy, sports, favorite creators) to make group viewing easier.
• Casting Reels from phone to TV – available now on Google TV and Fire TV, including content from a user’s Saved tab.
• Stories on TV – so people can catch up on friends’ and creators’ Stories without huddling around a phone.
• A dedicated home for horizontal video – giving creators more ways to reach TV audiences with content built for the format.

Meta is also exploring longer-form and episodic content, plus live creator experiences on TV, though these haven’t rolled out yet. 

Could this have an effect on how you run your Meta ads? Eventually! 

Esther, our Paid Analyst thinks:

‘It could be an indication of where the platform is heading. If Instagram viewing on TVs becomes more common, there may be opportunities for ads to reach users in a shared viewing environment. This could change creative best practices, with a greater emphasis on high-quality visuals, larger text and content that engages across the room‘. 

This could affect the quality of ad creatives leaning more towards a higher production ad similar to a TV commercial rather than just static images or reel formats.

Meta Business Agents Launch

A new feature Meta announced last month was their Meta Business Agent, which they have shared ‘will let businesses of all sizes increase their output and deliver personalised experiences for customers using AI’. Here are some of the features the Business Agent will offer:

• Deliver morning briefings to catch you up on chats you missed and insights from your Meta accounts.
• Answer questions specific to your business
• Qualify incoming leads and book appointments
• Help close sales
• Respond to customers

Along with this feature, Meta will be launching a new Business Agent Platform, giving users the ability to build, customise and deploy their agents at any scale. It will also connect to hundreds of systems such as Shopify to help business owners with their daily tasks. This feature is now available to users worldwide.

Our Senior Paid Social Manager, Caitlin said of the launch:

‘This could have a significant impact on Paid Social, as we could move from Meta just acquiring new customers, to helping manage the entire customer journey. When used, the sales funnel will become shorter (ad > conversation > purchase), and first-party data will become even more valuable as a result. Clicks will also become less important, with more meaningful engagement taking the lead instead. Perhaps most significantly, it could unlock scale for businesses where relying on manual sales calls has previously caused a bottleneck.’

Muse AI Controversy 

This month, Meta launched their new feature Muse Image, which can generate images from conversational prompts, edit photos exactly how it has been asked and so much more. But instead of a positive reaction, users have not been happy due to one of the features that was launched alongside it.

One of the key features of Muse AI was the capability of generating AI images from users’ content. Using the AI chatbot, users were able to tag public accounts and create and manipulate their own images from theirs. Users were horrified due to privacy concerns as it meant anyone could have their likeness used without knowing or giving permission. Notifications wouldn’t be issued once someone has used their content to generate AI images, with the potential for deepfakes being generated and used for harassment rising significantly. 

Meta quickly removed this feature only a few days after its launch, but users can still use Muse AI to generate images, and will soon be able to use Muse Video, their new AI video generation tool.

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