This Week in Social and Digital (Week of June 13)
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.
Snapchat Launches Ads API (Read more at AdWeek)
Snapchat has launched an advertising API with several new partners divided into two groups. Ads Partners will help develop software to buy, optimize and analyze campaigns. 4C, SocialCode, Unified and other partners are in this group. Then there are Creative Partners, which focus on the content side.
Ads will be sold through an automated, auction-based system and will be reviewed for quality prior to launch, putting the actual launch of creative off a few weeks after being submitted. All of this comes with Snapchat closely monitoring inventory, ad load and overall ad experience to keep the platform ad experience as unobtrusive for users as possible.
Beyond that, Snapchat is working with Google’s DoubleClick to generate ad data and imporove app measurement as well as measure how ads drive users to brick-and-mortar locations.
This marks the first time Snapchat ads will be sold by third parties and the launch of the API means videos and Snap Ads Between Stories, newly launchedd ads that will run between Stories, will be less expensive than before. All of this positions Snapchat very well to take share away from TV and other media dedicated to Millennials.
Snapchat will still require custom content to be effective, which involves additional production budget. That will hold some advertisers back, but the move greatly positions Snapchat to be used more widely for advertisers. And the ability to effectively measure ad effectiveness will undoubtedly bring in more brands.
Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn (Read more at CNET)
Microsoft is now the proud owner of LinkedIn after making a $26.2 billion all-cash acquisition. LinkedIn Chief Executive Jeff Weiner will still remain in charge, now reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
LinkedIn has 433 million worldwide users, but it’s struggled to gain traction beyond being what is essentially a resume hosting service. It’s improved messaging, acquired Lynda.com to be an education resource and focused on being a content hub. But it seems the Microsoft acquisition may help it grow beyond its current scope when the deal closes by year’s end.
Microsoft has a huge foothold already in the enterprise, and a LinkedIn acquisition gives it a trove of data on how businesses are organized and people are connected. This will be a natural extension into Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud business service, as well as others. Time will tell whether or not this acquisition really is successful. Microsoft’s track record has been full of ups like Skype (somewhat) and downs like Nokia.
Apple Announces New Operating System Features at WWDC (Read more at Digg)
Apple held its annual World Wide Developers Conference this week to show new updates to its software and services. The announcements ranged from Siri to updates to Messaging.
Siri was the star of the show, becoming a key theme throughout the presentation. Siri will now be opened up to third-party developers, making it possible for them to integrate the feature into apps like Uber. The feature’s similar to how Amazon has integrated Alexa. In addition, Siri is going to be available on Mac computers thanks to an update, which is now referred to as MacOS, instead of OS X, similar to what Google has done with allowing its voice assistant to be available in more than one place.
The other updates came from Apple Pay, which will now be available on both desktop and mobile websites thanks to a “Pay with Apple Pay” button. Apple TV got an update that allows for single sign-on, meaning you sign in once to sign into multiple different apps. Apple Watch is getting an update to make it easier to reply to messages, and the activity tracker is getting updates as well, one of which allows friends to track each other’s fitness activities. Messaging will now predict when a user wants to use an emoji. Messaging is also getting Rich Links which will pull in photos for news stories as well as in-line video. Maps will make more suggestions on destinations, particularly based on where you’ve been or what is on your calendar. Apple Music got an updated interface for its 15 million subscribers, and Photos is getting better organization, better search functionality and the ability to put videos together through a new feature called Memories. Photos also now has facial recognition.
Phone notifications are getting a great update with the ability to add in richer content like the ability to send messages, track an Uber or view photos and video from the home screen without unlocking the phone.
WWDC was largely Apple playing a bit of catch-up particularly in the areas of voice and photos. Google is a clear leader in both areas, and Microsoft isn’t far behind, particularly in voice. Apple did what it needed to do at this year’s WWDC to remain competitive, but the event did show that it needs to continue to push to remain a leader in the category.
Facebook Launches Updates for Local Awareness Ads (Read more at AdAge)
Facebook has three new ad products for brick-and-mortar retailers. The first is a store locator feature that allows users to get directions to a physical location directly within an ad. The map with directions also includes store hours, travel time, phone number and website.
The second feature is the ability for retailers to measure the number of people who viewed a local awareness ad and then took action by actually visiting a store.
Finally, Facebook launched an offline conversions API for retailers to measure ad conversions for offline activities, including in-store transactions, call center transactions and others.
Offline measurement is hugely important, especially for retailers, and these updates are a push in the right direction toward conversions, and the map makes ads very utilitarian. They give users the information they need to do what they need to do. The friction is essentially removed, and advertisers will get a better idea of how their ads are performing.
YouTube Gives New Tools for Businesses to Make Videos (Read more at TechCrunch)
YouTube is going after small- and medium-sized businesses by giving them tools to create video ads. The new tools include a new app called YouTube Director, which is an app that has templates, music and simple-to-use editing features that businesses can use for free. The goal is to give the advertisers a tool to create higher-quality ads. A second tool uses a brand’s existing assets like logos and screenshots and make them into a video, no editing required. The third offering involves businesses in select cities committing to spending $150 on YouTube advertising to have a YouTube-vetted filmmaker visit their businesses and film a spot for them.
YouTube is competing with platforms like Facebook, which are stealing share from small- and medium-sized businesses because they’ve streamlined ad buying. And it looks like YouTube wants to make it help as well. These new tools won’t lead to the highest-of-quality content but will certainly help get them to be more successful.
Facebook Launches Creative Hub (Read more at AdAge)
Facebook has launched Creative Hub, a platform for brands and agencies to share, review, create and test both Facebook and Instagram ads. The goal is to create an online hub for all parties involved in ad creation to collaborate with what is essentially an interactive workspace.
The hub offers ad specs and all ad formats for both platforms, along with case studies and targeting techniques. Advertisers can also view how their ads will look on multiple devices.
The launch of the Creative Hub is in line with Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The marketing landscape is crowded, so this is an effort to make Facebook and Instagram as straightforward as possible. At the same time, Creative Hub helps advertisers more easily create content for Facebook’s biggest focus—mobile—by making it easier to see how the content will display on a user’s screen.
Snapchat and Oracle Partner in Measurement Deal (Read more at AdAge)
Snapchat is working to answer the question of how advertisers can measure the effeciveness of the platform. Now, it’s working with Oracle to show in-store sales and address the feedback that its ads are expensive and untargeted.
Snapchat’s competing here with platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which do offer granular targeting capabilities as well as in-store sales tracking. But Snapchat says no other platform has worked as fast at setting something up like this than it has. Much of that speed is necessitated by the time Snapchat has hit the market. Competing platforms offer that capability, so Snapchat has had to play catch-up in ad capabilities while also growing its platform. This is a great first step for Snapchat to address key and legitimate advertisers concerns.
News Quick Hits
- Instagram has rolled out banner pop ups. When a user taps on an ad in the feed, a banner can pop up at the bottom of the screen inviting the user to visit a website or even download an app. Once tapped, the banner pulls up the web page from within Instagram. This is the closest Instagram has come to offering something a bit more akin to direct response advertising. (Read more at AdWeek)
- Android users of Facebook Messenger can now use the Messenger app to send all messages, including SMS. Users simply need to open Messenger and make it their default SMS app to activate the feature. (Read more at Mashable)
- Pinterest is introducing ad retargeting at the end of this month, meaning brands will be able to target users on Pinterest who have visited the brand’s website, used its mobile app or shared an email address with the brand. The move is a catch-up one as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and other major platforms have offered this ability for some time. Still, it may be an important move in attracting more advertisers to the platform. (Read more at Marketing Land)
- Speaking of ad targeting, advertisers on Twitter can now target users based on emoji being used. The ability to target by emoji gives brands the ability to target users based on signals around mood or mindset. (Read more at AdAge)
- Twitter has added a new button to go live with Periscope to its mobile apps. The move competes with Facebook, which has given its live video streaming feature greater prominence within its own app. (Read more at Mashable)
- Twitter has invested $70 million in music-streaming service SoundCloud. SoundCloud has been working with Twitter for a few months now as it was among the first to use audio cards on Twitter. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Facebook has expanded its suicide-prevention tools to be available globally. The tool allows users to report potential red flags to teams working with Facebook that review them 24/7. (Read more at Facebook Safety)
- Meerkat has been working to reposition itself from a video streaming app competing with Periscope to something else. It launched Houseparty, a video messaging app similar to FaceTime, except users can easily jump in and out of chats as well as see who their friends are chatting with. (Read more at Recode)
- Imgur is now allowing advertisers to embed video in promoted posts. Previously, they were limited to text, images and GIFs. Currently, Imgur has 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors, and the Imgur ads cannot be blocked. (Read more at AdAge)
- Snapchat is launching an online magazine called Real Life. The magazine will focus on living with technology. (Read more at The Next Web)
- Facebook Messenger has reorganized its app to make a user's most recent conversations appear at the top. There’s also a Favorites section and Active Now section. Users will also be given other information like updates on connections’ birthdays. (Read more at Facebook Newsroom)