The Internet is a complex, constantly changing environment, and social media platforms must be continuously updated to keep up. This month, Facebook has started testing four features that will affect digital marketers and users alike. 

Read on to find out more about these Facebook updates and why they are important to brands, advertisers and users.

Story Highlights

Just a few weeks ago, Facebook updated the look of the News Feed to include a Stories archive that allowed users to go back and look at past stories and their performance. (Want to learn more about this? Click here.) Now, the social giant is testing out another feature for stories: Highlights. This new feature, mimicked after Instagram Stories (which was originally copied from Snapchat), allows users to save stories to their profiles beyond the 24-hour live period.

AR Ads in the Newsfeed

Currently being tested out by a select group of advertisers, augmented reality (AR) ads will allow users to “try on” the products being advertised using their phone’s camera and then engage and take action using the included CTA that is incorporated in the experience. While only certain brands can access this feature currently, a full roll out to all advertisers is expected to take place over the course of 2018.

Image Via TechCrunch.

“With the introduction of AR ads in Facebook News Feed, people can experiment with your brand’s AR camera effects in just one click from your ad. And by incorporating calls-to-action within the camera experience, people can seamlessly go from engaging with your product — such as trying on a lipstick shade or exploring a new game — to making a purchase or installing an app,” says Facebook on their Business blog.

Labels for Branded Content Partnerships

In attempts to continue improving the transparency between the platform and its users, Facebook is testing out informational labels on sponsored content. Similar to the labels used to identify political posts, clickable branded content labels will appear on the image in the post and, once clicked on, will expand to give users information on the partnership. Check out what this looks like below.

Image via SocialMediaToday.

Mobile Ad Building Made Easier

To make creating ads on mobile easier, Facebook rolled out Ads Manager app update that gives advertisers creative tools to upload and edit images for their campaigns.

Image via Facebook.

Included in the creative toolset are the following:

• Text Overlay and Text Policy Checker: Lets users design text on top of the image and notifies the creator if the amount of text in the ad exceeds Facebook’s policy.
• Image Cropper: Allows users to crop their photos to the correct dimensions based on what kind of ad they are running.
• Templates: Lets users create their ads using customizable ad templates (including stickers, text and shapes).
• Shapes, Stickers and Logos: Allows users to add stickers, shapes and brand logos to create customized ads that convey important information.
• Color Filters: Easily allows users to adjust the color of the image included in the ad.

Which Facebook updates and features are you most excited to start using in your digital marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments below!