Weekly Marketing Rundown - February 6, 2025

Weekly Marketing Rundown - May 2, 2025 Hi everyone! In this week's edition of Kavanah Media's Weekly Marketing Rundown we discuss weak Meta's potential breakup, Open Ai's new foray into social media, Government censorship on Bluesky and more. Enjoying the Weekly Marketing Rundown? Support our work and keep it free for missions teams worldwide: https://www.kavanahmedia.com/donatetoKM Government Censorship on Bluesky and Türkiye Bluesky, at the request of the Turkish government, has restricted 72 accounts on the platform. This development raises concerns about freedom of expression and the potential impact on user content. What this means for mission teams: This is a good reminder to always be prepared to shift strategies and highlights the importance of implementing cybersecurity measures. Government censorship could affect how you share your message and engage with your audience, making it important to stay informed and adapt your strategies accordingly. Kavanah Media Founder and CEO Jon Ralls discusses risk management in missions in a 3 part series of the Christian Media Marketing Podcast. Listen here. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/23/government-censorship-comes-to-bluesky-but-not-its-third-party-apps-yet/ OpenAI Explores New Social Media Platform OpenAI is exploring the development of a new social media platform to rival X, following a $40 billion funding round. This move aims to create a competitive alternative in the tech industry, potentially reshaping the landscape of digital platforms. What this means for mission teams: This development is significant as it could offer new opportunities for outreach and engagement for missions teams to integrate into their digital strategies. https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/openai-explores-platform-to-rival-x-following-40b-funding-round/ Meta Breakup Threat: What Marketers Need to Know Meta is facing a potential breakup due to antitrust concerns, which could lead to the separation of its major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This situation raises questions about the future of digital advertising and the impact on marketers. What this means for mission teams: Changes in Meta's ownership of it's platforms could SIGNIFICANTLY affect digital engagement strategies and how teams use these platforms for outreach. https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/meta-breakup-threat-what-marketers-need-to-know/ Meta Advantage+ Tools and Ad Performance In their latest update Meta claims that their Advantage+ AI ad tools are showing impressive results across various campaigns. AI-generated backgrounds have increased click-through rates (CTR) by 11%, and advertisers using Advantage+ earn $4.52 for every $1 spent, which is a 22% increase compared to standard campaigns. The new sales setup has reduced the cost per action by 9%, and opportunity score recommendations have cut the cost per result by 5%. What this means for mission teams: While most mission teams likely are not utilizing Meta's systems for sales ads Advantage+ ads and utilizing AI content tools could improve your results. Members of the Kavanah Media team have experimented with these AI tools and did see similar performance improvements and lower costs. It should be noted, however, that any targeting parameters advertisers set when using Advantage+ Audiences (i.e. age, gender, location) are merely suggestions and the algorithms can and will ignore them if it believes it can achieve your performance goals elsewhere. In these scenarios it is best to utilize Original Audience targeting. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/meta-advantage-plus-ads-overview-ai/746042/ Branding in Ads Manager: AI-Generated Text and Images Meta has rolled out another update to it's Branding tools under the Identity section of Ads Manager. Previously users could upload logos and select font and colors choices. However, now they can ad text tone and visual style. These selections help guide the AI content tools in ads manager. What this means for mission teams: These AI tools can significantly improve your content creation process. Meta claims they can lead to lower engagement costs and higher performance. It should be noted, however, that these tools - especially the text specific ones, do not always function well in languages other than English. Teams should experiment in their context before utilizing the new features. http://jonloomer.com/qvt/branding-in-ads-manager-ai-generated-text-and-images/ WhatsApp Adds AI Tools Without Sacrificing Privacy WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature called Private Processing, which allows users to use AI features like message summarization or editing suggestions—all without breaking the app’s end-to-end encryption promise. The messages will be processed in a secure environment where neither WhatsApp nor Meta can access the content, even as AI is applied. This move aims to balance privacy with the growing demand for helpful AI features, and Meta plans to open the system for feedback, bug bounties, and security audits. What this means for mission teams: This is a positive move for user privacy, especially as concerns grow about LLMs being trained on scraped user data. If Meta follows through with these features missions teams could feel safer when experimenting with WhatsApp's AI integrations in their digital strategies. https://therecord.media/whatsapp-in-app-tools-secret-messages Stay Equipped for Digital Engagement At Kavanah Media, we’re committed to helping mission teams use digital tools to make God known around the world. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, practical insights, or in-depth strategy, we’ve got resources to help: Intentional Newsletter – Be encouraged each month with stories of transformed lives, ministry milestones, and the latest updates from our team. Subscribe here. 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. Christian Media Marketing Podcast – Tune in for weekly deep dives with CEO Jon Ralls on everything from digital strategy to cybersecurity. Subscribe here or on your favorite podcast app. Digital Strategies got you stumped? Reach out anytime—we’re ready to help. Contact Us 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: May 2, 2025

Weekly Marketing Rundown - December 12, 2025 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 deal with news publishers, Reels dominance, India's attempt at surveillance, and more. Enjoying the Weekly Marketing Rundown? Support our work and keep it free for missions teams worldwide: https://www.kavanahmedia.com/donatetoKM AI Chatbot Gets Real-Time News Data Meta has signed deals with major news publishers, like CNN and USA Today, allowing its AI chatbot to offer up-to-the-minute information. This means that when people ask the Meta AI questions about current events, it can now provide very recent answers with links back to the original news articles. For Mission Teams With moves like this Meta continues to solidify it's market dominance. Every missions team considering digital engagement should not discount Meta's viability for evangelism. Additionally, as AI tools continue to change SEO, teams should take steps to ensure their own evangelism sites are optimized. https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/05/meta-signs-commercial-ai-data-agreements-with-publishers-to-offer-real-time-news-on-meta-ai/ Reels Ads Drive Greater Action Meta research shows that short video ads made specifically for Reels can make people over five times more likely to consider acting on an ad's message. Ads that share a clear, helpful story or main idea see the biggest increase in a viewer's desire to act. For Mission Teams This powerful digital engagement data means that short, compelling Reels videos should be a key strategy for reaching seekers. Since Meta's algorithms prioritize these formats, mission teams can see increased engagement in their efforts if they include this format. https://searchengineland.com/meta-native-reels-ads-can-lift-purchase-intent-5-3x-465615 India's Mandatory Security App: A Failed State Surveillance Attempt The Indian government, through its Department of Telecommunications (DoT), attempted to mandate the pre-installation of a state-owned cybersecurity app called Sanchar Saathi on all new smartphones. The initial, undeletable nature of the app, intended for fraud and theft prevention, quickly raised serious alarm bells about potential state surveillance and the erosion of citizens' privacy. For Mission Teams This situation provides a crucial security lesson: mandates that compromise user choice are often seen as threats to privacy, which affects digital engagement and trust. The government's quick reversal, driven by opposition from tech giants like Apple and public outcry, underscores the power of both industry resistance and public concern over surveillance. Mission teams operating in similar environments must recognize that government attempts to mandate software can create significant security implications and a loss of trust, demanding the use of secure communication strategies and heightened awareness of data privacy to protect seekers and team members. https://www.esecurityplanet.com/threats/india-mandates-undeletable-security-app-on-all-smartphones/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-india-scraps-mandatory-app-preinstall/ Consumer App Accused of Covert Spying The Attorney General of Arizona has sued the shopping app Temu, alleging the platform secretly collects extremely sensitive data and behaves more like spyware. The complaint claims the app accesses users’ precise location, camera, microphone, and other app activity while using encrypted code to hide its actions. For Mission Teams This report is a serious warning about the security risks posed by high-risk consumer apps, especially those subject to foreign surveillance laws, which can severely compromise staff and seeker data. Mission teams should avoid installing high risk apps and platforms on their devices. Mission agencies, churches, and others should also consider their risk appetite and things such as Mobile Device Management (MDM) and EDR to help mitigate cybersecurity risks that do not align with their risk appetite. Ignoring this risk could compromise the security of mission efforts to find and disciple seekers. For any inquiries related to cybersecurity and risk mitigation, please feel free to Contact Us. https://www.esecurityplanet.com/threats/arizona-sues-temu-over-covert-data-harvesting-claims/ AI Answer Suggestions for Lead Forms Meta is testing a new feature where its AI automatically creates answer suggestions for short-answer questions on lead forms within advertisements. This feature aims to make filling out forms faster and easier for people by giving them clickable button options. For Mission Teams While this tool can boost digital engagement by increasing the number of completed forms, it risks lowering the quality of seeker leads by generating nearly identical answers. Lead-form ads are typically a high-intent strategy, but they do not always work in every context. Mission teams must test whether both lead ads and these generic suggestions are viable options in their respective fields. https://www.jonloomer.com/qvt/answer-suggestions-instant-forms/ Meta Ads 2025: AI Overhaul and 83 Key Changes Jon Loomer has documented 83 changes that Meta has implemented in advertising this year. The most significant change is their shift toward full automation, with the biggest focus on AI-driven tools that find audiences and create content automatically. For Mission Teams This comprehensive list of 83 changes is essential reading for mission teams to strategically audit and adapt their entire digital approach, especially given that the largest push is full AI control. Check out the full list below: https://www.jonloomer.com/meta-advertising-changes-2025/ Russia Bans Western Communication Apps Russia has banned Western communication services, specifically Snapchat and Apple's FaceTime, claiming the platforms are being used to organize crimes and terrorist acts. This move is part of a broader, ongoing effort by the Russian government to cut off access to foreign social media and messaging platforms since the start of the war in Ukraine. For Mission Teams The ban underscores the high risk of using popular Western communication tools for finding seekers. Teams must understand that such government actions can significantly hinder digital evangelism efforts and be prepared to adjust their strategies. https://archive.is/BOjJA Instagram Carousels Drive Highest Engagement Instagram carousel posts, which allow up to 20 swipeable images or videos, consistently achieve the highest engagement rates on the platform by encouraging users to pause, swipe, and interact longer. They are an excellent format for visual storytelling, presenting multi-step guides, or turning long content like sermons into simple, bite-sized, and shareable takeaways. For Mission Teams This format is a powerful strategy for increasing digital engagement and the visibility of evangelistic content, as the algorithm favors posts that drive user interaction and often shows carousels twice. Mission teams could leverage carousels to break down complex topics and evangelize. https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-carousel/ Free Icons for Consistent Branding Are you looking for free, high-quality social media icons to enhance the professional appearance of your evangelism website, app, or other platforms? Explore Buffer's curated list of the best free resources below: https://buffer.com/resources/free-social-media-icons/ Tourist Social Media Disclosure at US Border The US Customs and Border Protection has proposed a new rule that would require nearly all international visitors, including those from visa-exempt countries, to disclose up to five years of their social media history. This major security proposal, along with other data requirements like past phone numbers and email addresses, is intended to enhance the vetting process for national security purposes. For Mission Teams Social media and device searches are increasingly becoming standard practice for customs agencies in many countries. Missionaries traveling from their home countries should be prepared for the possibility of being asked to allow authorities to search their devices and social media profiles. In some contexts, a lack of social media presence can raise suspicions just as much as openly posting religious content. Depending on the risk appetite of mission teams, churches, or agencies, it may be necessary to scrub social media accounts, privatize profiles, delete certain apps, and take other precautions. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/travel/social-media-tourists-visa-border-patrol.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7k8.Jytd.OxeH-dyCBD-p&smid=nytcore-ios-share For any inquiries related to cybersecurity and risk mitigation, please feel free to Contact Us. Foundations of Digital Engagement Strategy Course May 13-16, 2026 (Pre-EMDC Training) Chiang Mai, Thailand This course is for you. Digital permeates virtually every aspect of people's lives and it should be present in every stage of your mission and ministry strategy. Join Kavanah Media staff during the Pre-EMDC training week for a time of practical training in digital engagement. This course is designed for you to examine your end to end strategy and find ways that digital components can be added or improved whether you are just ready to begin or an experienced practitioner. Follow the link or contact us for more details. https://emdcon.org/ 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. YouVersion Reading Plan– Jon Ralls, CEO of Kavanah Media, just launched a powerful 4-day devotional on YouVersion called "Love Where You Are." Subscribe here Digital Strategies got you stumped? Reach out anytime—we’re ready to help. Contact Us 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 A. and Cherry Messimer Article Published: December 12, 2025