Facebook continues to update its newsfeed preferences section, giving users much greater control. What does this mean? As an individual using Facebook you’re going to love it as you see more from the people and pages you care about. As a business you may be concerned as your business page reach decreases further. Average page reach is now less than 5% (and often more like 2%) leading to a lot of decrying of Facebook.

Source: Facebook

The reality? It’s all about the paid advertising features. Facebook has been heading this way for a while – it’s where they make their money and it’s where business owners get the best results. Done properly, Facebook advertising is brilliant. Targeted, affordable, with a measurable ROI – if you get the magic balance of the creative (the right copy, the right picture) and the technical (advanced advertising settings, custom audiences) you’re on to a winner.

Source: Yik Yak

Anybody marketing to students? No doubt you’re using Yik Yak (you should be!) and you’ll be pleased to hear they’ve enhanced their photo settings for much better ways of exploring the local area. There are a few guidelines to bear in mind – nothing inappropriate (if you wouldn’t show your mum, you’re not going to be allowed to show it on Yik Yak), no faces and no illegal content will be allowed in local feeds.

And finally, Google are testing ‘Purchase on Google’ buttons so people can buy as they search in a more seamless process. For retailers, opting in to Purchases on Google is likely to improve mobile conversions thanks to a simplified checkout process.

What do you think? Will you be trying Facebook advertising now? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

By Kate Tyler