This Week in Social (Weeks of May 18 and May 25)
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.
Google Now Displaying Tweets in Search Results (Read more at The Next Web)
Tweets are now back in Google search results. Google is now displaying tweets in card-like formats in mobile search results.
The announcement that Google and Twitter would rekindle their search partnership was made in February. The two had a partnership at one time, but it was discontinued. Now, it’s back, so when you search for a topic or a person, there’s a chance the results you pull in will be coming from Twitter.
This is great for Twitter and Google. It allows Twitter to get exposure to more people who may be non-users but happen to be searching online for content. That could lead them to click through to Twitter where there is an opportunity to serve them advertising. For Google, it means having one of the most immediate sources for breaking news part of search. When something happens, one of the first places people share it is on Twitter, so Google is now able to display that information in results.
Pinterest Updates Advertising Products (Read more at AdAge)
Pinterest is upping its advertising game about a year after selling its first Promoted Pins. The social bookmarking service will now allow advertisers to better target users. Advertisers will be able to tap into around a dozen audience types ranging from foodies to millennials.
It also launched Cinematic Pins. Cinematic Pins are video pins that are activated when a user scrolls through his or her feed. When a user stops scrolling, the video stops. When a user reverses scrolling, the video reverses.
Pinterest is also now offering three stages of advertising. The first being focused on awareness and being sold on a cost-per-thousand view basis. The second being focused on intention. It charges advertisers on a cost-per-click or cost-per-engagement basis. Finally, there’s cost-per-action, which charges based on sale or app installation. Pinterest also announced a creative studio called Pin Factory, which is available to brands that reach a certain spend level.
Pinterest is taking a big step here. Advertisers certainly needed better targeting in the past, but what’s most impressive are the Cinematic Pins. They’re unlike any video ads out there and feel natural on the platform.
Twitter Launches Objective-Based Campaigns for All (Read more at the Twitter Blog)
Twitter has made its objective-based campaigns available to all advertisers. Previously, the program was in beta. But now all advertisers can use it to set up their Twitter campaigns by choosing one of six objectives: tweet engagements, website clicks or conversions, app installs or engagements, followers, leads and video views.
Twitter is under more and more scrutiny, and objective-based campaigns allow marketers to clearly understand what they’re paying for. It makes the metrics more tangible when they understand what they spent money to accomplish, and they can then optimize their spends against that. Advertisers are given the chance to pay for the results they care about with this type of buying structure.
YouTube Adds Buy Button to Videos (Read more at AdAge)
YouTube has announced TrueView for shopping ads, which will display on mobile and desktop versions of YouTube. The ad units will display direct links to products displayed in an ad. The links will take users directly to relevant pages on brand websites.
The ads can be used by retailers to remarket to individuals who have already looked at a product on a brand’s website. Marketers can also leverage YouTube’s typical ad-targeting options, including demographics and interests. The news comes at the same time Google is working to add buy buttons to its search ads.
YouTube is a huge search engine, so these types of CTAs make a lot of sense. After all, when people go there to learn about a product, it’s as easy as possible to click through and make a purchase.
Instagram Looks to Engage Users with Highlight Emails (Read more at TechCrunch)
Instagram has started sending users emails highlighting content from people they follow. The goal is to bring attention some of the best content and, hopefully, drive users back to the platform.
The emails are the first of any kind of email promotion Instagram has done.
Instagram isn’t the first platform to do this. Twitter recently started sending highlight emails to its users to let them know what they may have missed. That’s a challenge for platforms like this where you may follow so many people that it becomes overwhelming, so highlight emails such as these become necessary. But it’s also a good reminder for users that content is waiting for them. They just need to login to check it.
News Quick Hits
- Facebook is speaking with developers about launching games specific to the Messenger platform. Facebook announced Messenger apps earlier this year, but currently the apps are limited to communication, not games. (Read more at The Information)
- Reddit has officially come out with a harassment policy after conducting a survey of users who stated that they would not recommend the site to friends because of “hate and offensive content.” Reddit is now allowing users to report harassment to Reddit staff who will then investigate matters. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- YouTube Kids, an app designed to curate kid-friendly content, is under fire for being “rife” with content unsuitable for children. (Read more at CNET)
- LinkedIn has updated its content marketing analytics to give advertisers and content creators on the platform better data on their audiences, including breakdowns of industries, job titles, locations and traffic sources. It also provides data on likes, shares, page views and comments. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Spotify is about to be focused on much more than music. The streaming service announced several new updates, including support for podcasts, videos from major media companies like Comedy Central and more personalized playlists. Users will now be able to create dynamic playlists that tailor music selections based on what users have listened to before, the time of day and the pace of their runs with a Spotify Running feature. (Read more at the Spotify Blog)
- Facebook has acquired Tugboat Yards, a startup that offers its users content publishing tools. Tugboat Yards will shut down on July 15. The service will help Facebook continue to grow its content efforts. (Read more at Venturebeat)
- Facebook Messenger has received a new update. It will now provide users with publicly available information when they receive a Facebook Message from an individual for the first time. The information is used to remind you who the person is, where they’re from and how you may know them. (Read more at TechCrunch)
- Twitter has officially brought its popular live video-streaming app, Periscope, to Android. Periscope initially launched on iOS. (Read more at CNET)
- Twitter Amplify has a new program that allows advertisers to automate their ads against Amplify videos. Brands simply select the videos they’d like to advertise against, assuming they have a deal with the video publisher already in place. Their ads will then run without a Twitter rep’s assistance. The goal is to streamline the ad buying process. (Read more at AdAge)
- Google held its annual conference for developers, dubbed Google I/O, and the search giant unveiled several new ways Google can tie into new products. The event included announcements for how Android will be updated as well as Google Now. It also announced that users now have access to free, unlimited online storage for photos. (Read more at The Verge)