This Week in Social (Week of October 26)
This Week in Social is a weekly digest of some of the biggest stories in social media marketing news. These stories are the show notes for the Brave Ad World Podcast. Each story is discussed at a deeper level on the podcast.
Facebook Overhauling Notifications (Read more at Vimeo)
Facebook Notifications are about to get a lot more personalized on iOS and Android. The social network announced that notifications are getting an overhaul to show users:
- Milestones friends might have like birthdays or life events
- Sports scores or TV show reminders based on pages you’ve liked
- Upcoming events you’ve accepted invitations to via Facebook
- Community events
- Movies playing nearby
- Weather updates
- Nearby restaurants
Users will be able to have more control over these notifications over time.
The idea of a Facebook Phone is all but dead, but Facebook doesn’t really need it, and this update to notifications is more proof of that. Facebook is becoming a user’s one-stop place for information and connecting with friends as it chips away at the reasons to leave the app. Things like nearby restaurants and weather are common reasons people turn to other apps, but if Facebook can offer that same kind of utility, users will have fewer reasons to close Facebook and open something else.
Facebook Makes It Easier to Contact Non-Friends on Messenger (Read more at Mashable)
Facebook is now allowing Messenger users to contact anyone as long as they have their name. When users receive a message from someone who isn’t a friend, friend of a friend or someone who has his or her phone number, they will see ‘message request.’ From there they can accept or ignore the notification.
Facebook is working for Messenger to be the all-in text replacement service and with the world on Facebook, it could do that. This removes some of the friction from doing so. If you want to message someone you just met, you would have had to submit a friend request before. Now, you can get straight to communicating.
Twitter’s User Numbers Disappoint Investors (Read more at The New York Times)
Twitter has a new CEO. It just launched Moments. Needless to say, the social platform has been through several changes as of late, and it’s third quarter earnings report did little to comfort investors.
The good news is total revenue and ad revenue are up by more than half, but the thorn in Twitter’s paw has been user growth. That appears to lagging behind hopes significantly. It grew users 11% over last year, but that’s slower than the 12% growth it reported in second quarter earnings. So Twitter has responded with an ad campaign to promote its new Moments feature that launched during the first game of the World Series. Along with TV, the campaign includes video and search ads.
Twitter is in a tough spot, but Moments is a compelling feature. Now, Twitter needs to tell people about it and get them to use it. A lot of people have tried Twitter, decided it wasn’t for them and left. Twitter needs to reset those perceptions and an awareness campaign like the one its launching starts to do that. This campaign will make its Q4 earnings report all the more interesting.
News Quick Hits
- Facebook will soon allow video to appear in its carousel ad units, which allow advertisers to include more than one piece of creative in a single ad unit that users can swipe to view. (Read more at Facebook Marketing Partners
- Facebook has updated its Moments application that makes it easy to share photos between friends who attend the same events. The app now has three navigation tabs: Home, Browse and Notifications. Browse shows users all of their photos. In addition, the app has new themes for users to create slideshows, one of which is called Spooky to coincide with Halloween. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Snapchat has rolled out a new update that lets users add video filters to speed up, slow down or rewind videos. Once a video is shot, users can swipe right and access the three filters. (Read more at The Next Web)
- LinkedIn reported its Q3 earnings this week, and it now has 400 million users, up from 380 million in July. LinkedIn also generated $138 million from premium users in the third quarter, up from $128 million in the previous quarter. (Read more at Venturebeat)