Greg Sterling says, “This past week, Facebook introduced a new small business “channel” in its broadermarketing partner program. AdRoll and Constant Contact are the first two announced providers. Each will gain the ability to use an official Facebook partner badge as part of their marketing. AdRoll offers retargeting, while Constant Contact provides email marketing as its core product. The two companies will offer their respective solutions and Facebook integrations to their small business (SMB) customers. Facebook’s Steve Irvine, who runs the Facebook Marketing Partner program, indicated... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Facebook’s slow rollout of animated GIFs has finally reached Pages. In August, the social network started testing GIF support for a small number of brand Pages, extending access beyond personal profiles which got GIF-posting ability last May. Now, as reported today by The Next Web, all Pages have been given the ability to post animated images. Facebook confirmed that the feature has been rolled out globally in an email to Marketing Land. We’ll pause while Facebook Page admins celebrate the news“. GIFs Are Now Working For All Facebook Pages Marketing Land  [...]

David Nield says, “Facebook is going big on video, including 360-degree VR-lite video. Now, in a new blog post, the company has explained a little more about what’s going on behind the scenes with its new support for immersive video clips. For the uninitiated, 360 video is filmed in all directions at once and lets the viewer experience the action in front, side to side or from behind. You don’t get depth perception and the ability to move around as you do in true virtual reality, but it’s a start. It’s also the most accessible form of VR right now: If you don’t... [...]

Mark Thompson is known for his excellent software tools that help online marketers build their businesses. His latest tool, Social Kickstart, is no exception. Social Kickstart finds the most engaging content on the web, content that people are discussing online and sharing with their friends. Once it finds this content, it automates curating a post about that content on Facebook (and other social sites) that will bring you traffic. Social Kickstart allows you to research, post (or schedule a post for some later time) your curated content and monetize your Fan Pages with just a few clicks. Thompson... [...]

Kim Walsh-Phillips says, “Businesses should be measuring their social media activities, but many still don’t. According to this year’s Industry Report from SocialMediaExaminer.com, only 42 percent of businesses surveyed said they were able to measure their social activities. Related: How to Save at Least 2 Hours Per Week on Social-Media Marketing As for measuring ROI, 37 percent in 2014 indicated they could do this; and in 2013, the percentage was only 26 percent. Contrast those numbers with the 87 percent of businesses surveyed reporting that they planned to increase... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “On Thursday, Facebook launched a new marketing partner track specifically aimed at providing small business solutions. The specialty track launches with retargeting platform AdRoll and email marketing provider Constant Contact receiving the Small Business Solutions badge. The badge spotlights marketing partners that offer technology solutions geared specifically for small and local businesses that can also be leveraged for Facebook campaigns. Steve Irvine, global head of the Facebook Marketing Partner program, pointed out in a phone conversation yesterday that most... [...]

Ben Davis says, “The bare numbers show how far Facebook has come and the size of the opportunity that still remains. There are approximately 1.9bn smartphone users globally and 1.31bn of them are monthly active users of Facebook (June 30th, 2015). Facebook Lite was launched this year so users with poor or unstable connections can use a simplified version of the platform. Where connections are good, content discovery is no doubt now the focus. Numerous social networks have been making changes designed to create opportunity for publishers and advertisers and increase media consumption in-app“. Facebook... [...]

Adario Strange says, “Facebook is preparing to launch its own real-time news notification app in a bid to lure people away from Twitter. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Mashable that the app is indeed in development, although a specific launch date has not been revealed. Rumors surrounding the app surfaced earlier this week on The Awl, which stated the app would be called Notify. The report also showed screenshots of the app on what appears to be iOS. Instead of focusing on aggregating the news itself, the app appears to pull together the next best thing: headline notifications... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Facebook will soon start looking more and more like an online shopping mall. The social network said Monday that it is adding a new mobile “shopping” tab where you can buy clothes, electronics and other items without ever leaving Facebook’s confines. The company is also rolling out new ad formats that let customers buy things directly from retailers’ pages and making its “buy” buttons more widely available. For example, click on a shirt featured in a Target ad and the site will immediately direct to Target’s shopping page where... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “If your Facebook News Feed isn’t already filled with videos, that may soon change. A series of new experimental video features, which Facebook announced Tuesday, include a dedicated feed for videos and a new picture-in-picture player for multitasking. The new features are meant to “give people more flexibility when watching videos,” according to Will Cathcart, VP of product management for Facebook. The company is in the early stages of testing a dedicated section for videos within its app and website, which will ideally help users “discover,... [...]