Weekly Marketing Rundown - April 18, 2025

Weekly Marketing Rundown - December 6th, 2024 Hi everyone! In this week's edition of Kavanah Media's Weekly Marketing Rundown we will discuss using Youtube's new creative tools, WhatsApp dropping of older devices, Reddit's international goals and more.  YouTube’s New AI Tools Aim to Beat Creative Blocks YouTube is testing AI-powered tools to help creators brainstorm video ideas, draft scripts, and generate image or voice assets. These features aim to streamline the content creation process and assist creators who may struggle with creative blocks or need to speed up production. For mission teams, these tools could be a game-changer for producing their own engaging, Gospel-centered content efficiently. By using AI to generate ideas and assets, teams can maintain a steady flow of content, especially when inspiration runs low. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/youtube-previews-ai-tools-to-overcome-creative-blocks/533862/   WhatsApp to Drop Support for Older iPhones in May 2025 Starting May 2025, WhatsApp will no longer work on iPhones running iOS 14 or earlier. Users with older devices like the iPhone 6 or earlier models will no longer be able to utilize WhatsApp. Mission teams that have integrated WhatsApp into their digital engagement efforts may see a large drop in messages from users with older devices. If older devices are common in the field they are serving, strategies may have to be adjusted. https://www.macrumors.com/2024/12/02/whatsapp-drop-support-older-iphones-may-2025/   Meta Shares How AI Tools Improve Ad Performance Meta’s data claims that ads using its AI-powered tools perform significantly better. For example, campaigns using Advantage+ shopping ads saw a 32% increase in return on ad spend. Additionally, advertisers using AI-powered creative tools noted a 7% boost in conversion rates. These features optimize ad placement and designs, making them more engaging and effective. In our own testing Advantage+ Audiences has indeed led to lower costs and better performance. It is possible that these Advantage+ creative tools could bring similar performance increases. However, we have yet to be able to confirm this in our testing. It should also be noted that tools such as the text improvements could heavily alter your ad copy and do not always perform well in languages other than English. Teams should test these tools before rolling them out at scale. Several of these tools were addressed in episode 270 of our Christian Media Marketing Podcast. You can watch/listen to that here. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/meta-shares-insight-into-the-performance-of-its-ai-based-ad-elements/734328/   Reddit Targets Global Growth in Key Markets Reddit is expanding in the UK, India, Brazil, and the Philippines to grow its international user base. It’s focusing on localizing content and increasing language support to better engage users in these regions. As Reddit improves accessibility with translations, it could be a valuable platform to test for digital engagement strategies, especially in regions with growing online communities. https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/28/reddit-looks-to-uk-india-brazil-and-the-philippines-to-spur-international-growth/ Meta Expands Traffic Campaign Options Meta now allows advertisers to target Facebook, Instagram, or both, in Traffic campaigns as a conversion location. Previously, one could only select an Instagram profile. This update is being rolled out slowly. https://www.jonloomer.com/qvt/facebook-conversion-location-for-traffic-campaigns/ 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, Cherry Messimer Article Published: December 6th, 2024

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