This Week in Social and Digital (Week of July 18)
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 Launches App Event Optimization (Read more at Venturebeat)
Facebook is continuing to expand its advertising products outside of Facebook.com. It launched a new offering called App Event Optimization, which allows developers to target users who are more likely to take valuable actions within their apps, such as completing a level, making a purchase or adding something to a shopping cart. App Event Optimization is available for all ad types, in addition to two new ad offerings for app install ads: Dynamic Ads and Canvas.
Dynamic ads will target people who have shown interest in a product on a website. Those users will be delivered app install ads featuring the products they’ve shown interest in. Once they install the app, they'll be able to make the purchase. This allows advertisers to target people to install their apps using products they are more than likely going to buy.
Canvas’ focus will be on allowing developers to bring their apps to life through full-screen Canvas experiences. It will give people a peek into what the app has to offer in an effort to drive installs and app re-engagements.
Once advertisers choose the type of ad they want to run and the actions they want users to take, Facebook will algorithmically identify users who fit the behavioral and demographic likelihood to take the desired actions.
Facebook’s focus is on not only getting users to download apps but also to get them to take specific actions when they do. It’s one thing for app developers to get the install, but it’s another level for advertisers to be able to drive users to take actions like add payment information, complete registration, add a rating, buy credits, complete a level or make a purchase. That’s what App Event Optimizations allow advertisers to do, and it changes the way app install ads will be bid. It’s about much more than the install. It’s about the desired actions.
Twitter Opens Up Verification Process to All (Read more at The Next Web)
Twitter verification is now open to a lot more people. The little blue checkmark that shows up next to some Twitter profiles was almost exclusive to public figures, journalists and celebrities. The goal was to ensure authenticity of the account to avoid fake accounts or parody ones.
Twitter is now making that available to everyone. Twitter stated, “We hope opening up this application process results in more people finding great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for these creators and influencers to connect with a broader audience."
Those seeking verification must still meet some requirements. Users must submit phone numbers, email addresses, birth dates, website, bio and profile photo that “reflects the person, the corporation’s branding or the company’s branding.” The badge has no impact on the Twitter experience.
The news is welcomed by those with unverified accounts and probably not welcomed by those currently verified. After all, the only benefit of a verified account is that a select group has them. Still, this comes during a week of racist tweets being sent to actress Leslie Jones. The trolling gained high-profile attention, and Twitter claimed that it hasn’t done enough to stop the trolling. This verified information could help Twitter do more to track abusers and help it cut back on the number of trolls on the platform as well as blocking them permanently.
Snapchat Launches “Log in with Snapchat” Button (Read more at Business Insider)
Snapchat has introduced a “Log in with Snapchat” button, a similar authentication button to log-in buttons provided by Google, Facebook, Twitter and others.
The only place the Snapchat button is available is in the Bitmoji Keyboard app. Snapchat acquired Bitmoji earlier this year. It allows users to create cartoon versions of themselves to share with friends. This could be a sign for Snapchat to offer more ways to gather information from users from outside of its app. Although, there are no signs that this will become a widespread option at this time.
A log-in button is one asset Snapchat does not currently have, and part of that is because it’s been positioned as a closed ecosystem. This could be a signal for that to change. Understanding how users leverage other apps using a log-in button would be one way for Snapchat to better understand its users and, in turn, advertisers their audiences.
News Quick Hits
- Periscope has released a new Editors’ Pick channel that showcases curated streams for users. The streams are selected by an editorial team at Periscope and cover a range of topics from news to culture. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- Media companies, professional content creators and brands using Facebook’s API to stream to Facebook Live have new target restriction options for their live streams. Broadcasters can now limit audiences by time zone, location, age and gender. (Read more at MarketingLand)
- Snapchat may be working on a new ad product that leverages image recognition. It recently filed a patent that would have an ad product use image recognition to identify objects in a user’s snaps to then serve them ads, coupons and related filters. (Read more at Business Insider)
- Snapchat has launched support for Bitmoji. Users can now send custom Bitmoji in their snaps and chats. The update requires users to download the Bitmoji app and then connect it with the Snapchat app in Snapchat’s settings. (Read more at Snapchat’s Blog)
- Yahoo has shared that it has started selling Tumblr ads through Facebook’s Audience Network, meaning advertisers placing ads through Facebook Audience Network may be placing their ads on Tumblr, which has been unable to fill its inventory. The news is another sign of Yahoo’s and, in turn, Tumblr’s troubles. (Read more at MarketingLand)
- The NBA is creating two original programs to live-stream on Twitter. Games will not be live streamed, but NBA game highlights will double, and ads will be sold surrounding the content. Among the new shows will be a weekly program show. The move follows an ongoing push by Twitter to increase the amount of live content on the platform. (Read more at AdAge)
- Facebook Messenger now has 1 billion monthly active users after being at 900 million in April. (Read more at Facebook Newsroom)
- Facebook Live can now go full-screen in portrait and landscape on iOS and portrait on Android. Beyond that update, broadcasters can temporarily hide Reactions and comments while streaming. In addition live streams can now run up to four hours. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- YouTube TrueView in-display ads are getting a new name—TrueView discovery ads—and giving new access for marketers to YouTube’s full inventory across the YouTube app. This means TrueView ads will be able to appear in mobile search results. Most of TrueView’s capabilities have been relegated to desktop, but now Google is pushing into mobile in a big way with this change. (Read more at AdAge)
- Not to be outdone by Facebook, Periscope launched several new features. The first, Highlights, automatically generates short trailers from Periscope broadcasts. This allows users to catch up on broadcasts they may have missed as well as get an overall feel for the content from a broadcaster. In addition, Periscope broadcasts can be embedded in tweets, and auto-play for live broadcasts is coming to Android. (Read more at Medium)
- YouTube TrueView in-display ads are getting a new name—TrueView discovery ads—and giving new access for marketers to YouTube’s full inventory across the YouTube app. This means TrueView ads will be able to appear in mobile search results. Most of TrueView’s capabilities have been relegated to desktop, but now Google is pushing into mobile in a big way with this change. (Read more at AdAge)
- Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (or AMP) now works for ads. Advertisers can leverage them to improve ad delivery and speed. Video ads are not supported, however. (Read more at AMP Project)
- Tinder is getting a little more… friendly. It just launched Tinder Social, a new option that lets users choose to add friends to a Tinder group through Facebook and then connect with other groups in the area. When one member of both parties matches with the other group, all members of both groups can see each other as a match. Once they’re matched they can group chat, share their status for what they’re doing that night and coordinate activities. (Read more at TechCrunch)