Weekly Marketing Rundown - May 31st, 2024

Weekly Marketing Rundown - March 28, 2025 Hi everyone! In this week's edition of Kavanah Media's Weekly Marketing Rundown we discuss WhatsApp's security flaw, Meta's new branding tools for Ads Manager, important metrics for advertiser to monitor and more. Enjoying the Weekly Marketing Rundown? Support our work and keep it free for missions teams worldwide: https://www.kavanahmedia.com/donatetoKM WhatsApp Patches Critical Security Flaw WhatsApp has fixed a serious vulnerability that allowed hackers to install spyware on devices remotely. The flaw, which involved specially crafted video calls, could have exposed users to surveillance and data theft. Meta has urged all users to update their apps immediately to stay protected. https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/whatsapp-patches-security-flaw-which-let-hackers-install-spyware Facebook Stops Using Personal Data for Ad Targeting After Lawsuit A UK woman, Tanya O’Carroll, successfully sued Meta to stop Facebook from using her personal data for targeted ads. She argued that Meta’s advertising practices violated direct marketing laws under GDPR, allowing individuals to object to their data being used this way. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office supported her stance, disagreeing with Meta’s claim that its ads target groups, not individuals. For mission teams using Facebook ads, this case signals growing scrutiny over personalized advertising. It may lead to stronger privacy regulations and more user control over data, impacting how ads reach specific audiences. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1en1yjv4dpo Meta Introduces Branding Definition in Ads Manager Meta is rolling out a feature allowing brands to define brand colors, fonts, and even upload logos. Previously, this was possible through Overlays, but the system was buggy and often did not function at all. For mission teams, this could make adding branding to ads a much more efficient process, potentially replacing burning logos onto creatives prior to uploading them into ads manager. https://www.jonloomer.com/define-branding-in-ads-manager/ Why Brand-Owned Communities Are the Future of Growth Some brands are shifting toward building their own online communities rather than relying solely on social media platforms. These owned communities allow direct engagement, better data control, and long-term customer loyalty without the risks of algorithm changes or platform policies. Companies are using forums, apps, and exclusive groups to nurture deeper connections. For mission teams, this highlights the importance of creating dedicated online spaces for seekers and disciples rather than relying only on social platforms. Private groups, websites, or apps could provide more stability, deeper engagement, and better discipleship pathways. It is worth some experimentation. https://martech.org/why-brand-owned-communities-are-the-future-of-growth/?utm_source=tldrmarketing   CPM, CTR, and CPC- What Metrics Are the Most Important? Metrics like cost per mille (1000 impression), click through rate, and cost per click are important metrics in digital marketing, but marketers should be careful to not ONLY focus on those metrics. It is very easy for these metrics to look good, but not reflect reality. In the world of sales, your most important stats are actual conversions, or sales. It is possible to have an incredibly high click through rate, for example, but have no sales. Even though mission teams may not have sales, they do have conversions such as messages, leads forms and more. It is a reminder that we need to look deeper when trying to determine if an ad was successful. If a team's goal is messages, and their ad has a high CTR or lower CPC, it still may not be considered successful if it brings no messages or all negative messages. Teams should look beyond their ads metrics to determine if an ad strategy or campaign is successful, and let that data drive adjustments. https://www.jonloomer.com/qvt/the-most-important-ads-metrics/ Intentional - Kavanah Media's Newsletter Subscribe to Intentional, Kavanah’s monthly newsletter, and stay inspired by stories of lives transformed, ministry milestones, and the latest business updates on how we’re intentionally leveraging digital platforms to make God known across the globe. Join us on this journey of purposeful digital engagement and global impact! For more on this, click the link below: https://www.kavanahmedia.com/sign-up  Christian Media Marketing Podcast Looking for more in depth information regarding all things digital engagement? Look no further than the Christian Media Marketing Podcast. For 5 years Kavanah Media CEO Jon Ralls has gone in depth on everything from websites to online messaging. Subscribe here ( https://www.kavanahmedia.com/podcast) or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks for reading this edition of Kavanah Media's Weekly Marketing Rundown! For more up-to-date insights in digital marketing, make sure to follow us on Instagram @kavanah_media and stay connected through all our social media channels via the link below. https://linktr.ee/kavanah_media Authors: Cody Adams and Cherry Messimer Article Published: March 28, 2025

Weekly Marketing Rundown - July 31, 2026 Welcome to this week’s edition of Kavanah Media’s Weekly Marketing Rundown! We’re diving into the latest updates you need to know including Meta's new Seller app, CV Global's latest resources, shifting social media trends and more. Enjoying the Weekly Marketing Rundown? Support our work and keep it free for missions teams worldwide: https://www.kavanahmedia.com/donatetoKM Meta's New Seller App Meta has launched a new standalone app called Seller, designed specifically for merchants using Facebook Marketplace. The app includes AI-powered listing creation, inventory management, and a unified inbox to streamline the selling process and better compete with platforms such as eBay. For Mission Teams While primarily an e-commerce update, the new Seller app highlights Meta's continued push toward dedicated, feature-rich platforms. Although Meta's long-term plans for the app remain unclear, its launch suggests the company is continuing to expand its ecosystem of specialized business tools. If the app gains widespread adoption, it could eventually become another platform where advertisers, including ministry teams, can reach their audiences through paid campaigns. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/technology/meta-facebook-marketplace-seller.html Equipping Churches with CV Global Activation Hubs CV Global has added Activation Hubs to its new website to provide churches with practical tools and training for digital ministry. These resource centers equip believers to confidently share their faith and connect with people searching for answers online. For Mission Teams These hubs provide proven strategies to help teams find digital seekers through social media advertising and guide them into local disciple-making groups. By using these specialized tools, teams can strengthen their digital engagement efforts while helping protect ministry accounts from online security threats. https://www.cvglobal.co/en/activation-hubs Maximizing Digital Outreach Using Google Ad Strength Google Ads uses a helpful tool called Ad Strength to grade your ads from poor to excellent based on their overall quality. Getting a high grade means your ads will perform better and show the most effective messages to your audience. For Mission Teams Testing multiple ad assets allows your team to securely reach specific audiences without raising red flags on digital platforms. This strategy improves your online engagement so you can easily find local seekers and turn them into disciples. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9142254?hl=en Understanding Bid Multipliers for ChatGPT Ads ChatGPT Ads now include a new feature called bid multipliers that allows advertisers to increase or decrease bids for specific audience segments. This tool provides greater control over who sees your ads, but it currently works only with custom audience lists containing at least 25,000 users. For Mission Teams Using these multipliers allows your team to strategically adjust your ad spend based on your target persona. https://www.jonloomer.com/qvt/bid-multipliers-chatgpt-ads/ Meta's New AI Text Swap for Ad Images Meta has a new tool called Advantage+ Creative Text Generation that uses artificial intelligence to automatically rewrite the text within your ad images. This feature creates multiple variations while preserving your original fonts, colors, and overall design. For Mission Teams This time-saving feature allows mission teams to generate more diverse creative variations directly within Meta's platform. Additionally, all content generated by this tool requires approval from the marketer, helping ensure that poorly generated or inconsistent copy is not published without human oversight. https://www.jonloomer.com/meta-rewrite-text-ad-images/ Social Media Shifts From Sharing to Viewing People are posting less about their own lives and treating social media more like television. While they share fewer personal updates, they are actually spending more time watching short videos. For Mission Teams Social media usage habits are changing. While users may be scrolling for different reasons, they are still spending significant time on social media platforms. Mission teams are encouraged to adapt to these changing trends by creating more short-form video content to meet potential seekers where they are. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/social-media-is-becoming-less-social/825125/ UAE Launches AI-Powered Judicial Platform The United Arab Emirates just launched a new computer system that uses artificial intelligence to speed up their court cases. While this smart tool organizes files and researches laws, human judges will still make all the final choices. For Mission Teams As governments use powerful artificial intelligence systems to process digital data and manage staggering caseloads, these tools may help address overwhelming workloads, but they also raise important questions about the role of AI in legal proceedings. A larger question remains: if governments are using AI in this way, what other applications may exist? Nation-states are increasingly leveraging these tools to monitor missionaries, national believers, and even mission websites and platforms. Mission teams, churches, and agencies are strongly encouraged to audit their systems for cybersecurity risks, educate workers and teams on best practices, and explore secure platforms for communication, logistics, and other operational needs. https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-launches-worlds-first-fully-integrated-ai-powered-judicial-platform-1.500622338 Google Expands Lead Form Access for Smaller Advertisers and Rolls out AI Labels Google Ads has removed its high spending requirement, allowing smaller organizations to collect user contact information directly through search ads. The platform has also expanded these lead-generation features to additional countries and provided updated guidelines for labeling AI-generated image assets. Additionally, marketers can now apply their own "AI-generated" label to ads that contain AI-generated content, helping promote greater transparency and authenticity. For Mission Teams Lowering these budget requirements allows smaller mission teams to strategically run ad campaigns that engage online seekers directly. To maintain security, teams must carefully manage seeker contact data within Google's data storage timelines as they build discipleship connections. Regarding AI labels, these can be helpful for teams operating in contexts where users have grown fatigued by AI-generated content and may have increased distrust or concerns about its use. Clearly disclosing that content was AI-generated may help address those concerns. However, teams are still encouraged to test the feature before fully adopting it. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/google-ads-news-week-30-adriaan-dekker-gcjme/ Facebook Launches Free Profile Verification Facebook is introducing a free verification badge that uses a short video selfie to prove you are a real person. This new tool helps users know they are talking to actual humans instead of fake accounts created by computers. This only works for personal accounts, however. For Mission Teams Knowing an account belongs to a real person improves authenticity because teams can confidently connect with genuine seekers. This verification also boosts security against fake profiles, making our social media strategy safer for finding and discipling new believers online. For teams operating in more secure contexts this may not be an option. https://about.fb.com/news/2026/07/introducing-facebook-verified/ New Ask Advisor Tool in Google Analytics Google created a new chat tool in Google Analytics to help you understand your website traffic more easily. You can simply ask it questions to learn how many people are visiting your pages and why they leave. For Mission Teams Teams can utilize this AI agent to help analyze and understand their app and website data. It reviews your outreach securely within your specific account, allowing you to safely track engagement and grow your digital evangelism. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/16675569?hl=en Stay Equipped for Digital Engagement  Looking for ways to use digital tools to grow evangelism and disciple-making? Check out our other resources: Kavanah Media Blog – Learn from our experiences serving hundreds of mission teams worldwide. We share practical lessons, real stories, and best practices to help your team avoid mistakes and grow in digital outreach. Subscribe here. Jon Ralls' new book–  Check out Jon Ralls' new book The Reluctant Whisper on Amazon, where he talks of evangelism from a sales pitch into an authentic act of presence—sharing faith through story, not scripts! Check it out here. Ad Resource Store- Stumped on what ads to run next? Check out Kavanah Media's Ad Resource Store for ideas, templates and more! Digital Strategies got you stumped? Reach out anytime—we’re ready to help. Contact Us Church GAP Analysis Tool- Uncover hidden risks before they become problems. Use our Free GAP Analysis Tool to evaluate your church or non-profit’s cybersecurity, compliance, and governance today.  Kavanah Analytics- How is your digital content truly impacting lives? We created Kavanah Analytics to help churches and mission teams answer that question. Learn More Thanks for reading this edition of Kavanah Media's Weekly Marketing Rundown! For more up-to-date insights in digital marketing, make sure to follow us on Instagram @kavanah_media and stay connected through all our social media channels via the link below. https://linktr.ee/kavanah_media Authors: Jon Ralls, Cody A. and Cherry Messimer Article Published: July 31, 2026