This Week in Social (Weeks of February 9 and February 16)
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 Offers Tools for Group Selling (Read more at CNET)
Facebook is making it easier to sell items in groups.
Many buy/sell/trade groups have popped up on Facebook with users creating groups for their neighborhoods and cities. The informal groups involve users posting photos and receiving offers in the comments.
The groups are among Facebook’s most popular.
With the new features users can catalogue items, highlight items they’ve sold previously and mark items as sold. Other features like direct payments are being considered.
This is a good example of Facebook noticing a popular use case and adapting its platform to meet user needs.
It makes a lot of sense and puts Facebook in prime position to compete with the likes of Craigslist but with an added sense of security.
Twitter Acquires Influencer Network (Read more at Recode)
Twitter is acquiring Niche, a service that connects social influencers with brands to create sponsored content.
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Twitter noted, “The talent and creativity across the entire media landscape is incredible, and we hope the acquisition continues to inspire people to create great content.” Niche is reported to have cost Twitter $30 million.
The acquisition gives Twitter a new revenue stream or even an added value for advertisers. It also shows the importance of influencers, especially in an environment of declining reach and less attentive users.
Facebook Adding Relevance Scores to Ads (Read more at Venturebeat)
All ads aren’t created equal, and Facebook is working to help advertisers improve their advertising with new relevance scores.
Relevance scores will be included in Facebook’s ad reporting tools and rate ads on a scale from 1 to 10. The better the score, the cheaper the ad will be. The score is calculated based on the positive vs. negative feedback Facebook expects the ad to receive, and the score is updated as the ad rolls out to users.
Facebook clearly wants to protect the experience for users, but this also offers a great benefit for advertisers to test creative and get rewarded for high-quality ads. Advertisers should use this as one way to test creative, optimize their ads and get more bang for their buck. That benefits advertisers, Facebook and users.
Pinterest Removes Affiliate Links (Read more at ReadWriteWeb)
Pinterest came onto the scene with a very interesting point of difference. Bloggers and brands were able to use Pinterest to generate sales and revenue through affiliate marketing. Now, Pinterest is turning off affiliate links and will no longer allow them.
Previously, affiliate links earned pinners revenue when users clicked on them and made a purchase through Pinterest.
This year we’re seeing Pinterest work to get its financial house in order with Promoted Pins as well as a rumored ‘Buy’ button that will allow users to make purchases through the site.
Bloggers, brands and businesses built themselves up using affiliate links, but Pinterest saw none of the revenue. Now, Pinterest wants in on the deal. Although, Pinterest has said it aims to protect the user experience with this move as many of the links were broken and being used to spam users.
Facebook Launches Product Ads (Read more at The Wall Street Journal)
Facebook has launched Product Ads. Product Ads will allow advertisers to feature more than one product in a single ad. This means advertisers can upload a catalogue of products and then target multiple products to specific audiences.
Facebook will also deliver the most relevant products to different people. Advertisers can also select the products or showcase best sellers.
This is a great opportunity in the retail space, and could steal some ad share from the likes of Google’s shopping ads with its ability to target by behavior, location and browsing history. It also positions Facebook competitively against Pinterest’s Promoted Pins.
News Quick Hits
- Google has acquired Odysee, an app that specializes in backing up phone photos to your desktop. The Odysee team will join the Google+ team, and Odysee will shut down February 23. The team will likely continue to build out Google+’s photo capabilities. (Read more at Venturebeat)
- Yelp has acquired food delivery service Eat24 for $134 million in stock and cash. The plan is to bring Eat24’s services to Yelp’s one million listed restaurants. Currenlty, Eat24 serves about 20,000 restaurants. (Read more at The Next Web)
- Facebook has introduced legacy contacts, a new feature that allows users to give control of their Facebook profiles to trusted individuals after they pass away. Legacy contacts will have the ability to write posts, respond to friend requests and update both profile and cover images. The feature can be turned on within your profile settings. (Read more at Venturebeat)
- Pinterest is working to launch a ‘Buy’ button sometime this year, according to ReCode. The feature would allow users to order and pay for products without leaving Pinterest. (Read more at ReCode)
- Pinterest has launched an ‘Install’ button within app Pins. The pins allow users to directly download apps from the pins viewed on their iOS devices. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer program has been renamed to Facebook Marketing Partner program. The program divides companies into the categories of Ad Technology, Media Buying, Facebook Exchange, Community Management, Content Marketing, Small Business Solutions, Audience Onboarding, Audience Data Providers and Measurement. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Reddit previously announced that it would be giving away 10% of its 2014 ad revenue but details on how were sparse. Now, it’s announced that more than $800,000 will be donated to one of 10 charities. The Reddit community will vote for the winning organization. (Read more at The Next Web)
- Facebook has updated its iOS and Android app to allow users to add stickers to uploaded photos. Users simply upload the photo and choose to add a sticker. They can then move the sticker and change the size within the photo. The feature originated in a separate app that worked with Messenger. (Read mores at The Huffington Post)
- YouTube is rolling out an app called YouTube Kids. The app curates kid-friendly content and will not respond to queries for inappropriate terms. (Read more at The Next Web)