Social Commerce’s Tipping Point

June 09, 2015 by Taylor Wiegert in Advertising, Future, Paid, Pinterest, Search, Social Ads, Social Commerce, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Facebook

Commerce on social channels is at a major tipping point. It’s going to succeed, or it’s going to fail. And we’ll know which soon enough. Commerce on social platforms is nothing new. Some brands launched storefronts on their Facebook pages years ago. For a variety of reasons, these never took off, and in today’s environment of Facebook tabs being deemphasized, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Now, we’re entering the new era of social commerce as platforms roll out native commerce solutions. Pinterest now has Buyable Pins, enabling anyone to buy a product they see on Pinterest directly on the platform. Instagram is improving its ads by adding options for users to ‘Buy Now,’ as well as take other actions. Google is introducing a buy button in search results, while adding a click-to-shop CTA to YouTube videos. Then we have both Facebook and Twitter testing buy buttons of their own.

Social commerce is the new video. Everyone’s doing it.

The Twitter Google Partnership Brand Opportunity

February 19, 2015 by Taylor Wiegert in Google, Twitter

Google will restart its program that indexes tweets and pulls them into search results sometime in the first half of 2015. This means users searching for different topics will see real-time tweets along with recommended webpages based on their queries within search results.

The agreement between these two online companies is big news for marketers. It makes marketing on Twitter and Google even greater opportunities.

Engaging with Algorithms

February 03, 2015 by Taylor Wiegert in Algorithms, Twitter, Content Marketing

Algorithms seem to be taking over (as if they haven’t already). Marketers are constantly following and making updates to their content based on Facebook’s algorithm updates. Then there’s Google, of course. Well, now Twitter is joining the scene as CFO Anthony Noto hinted at in 2014.

The first sign of an algorithm-driven Twitter is its new ‘While You Were Away’ feature that curates the best content you missed while not checking Twitter and packages it up for you the next time you log in. This includes the content you most likely want to see based on how engaging it was among other Twitter users and how you’ve interacted with this kind of content in the past. It’s not everything, but it’s the best stuff for you… as chosen by an algorithm.

Context Drives Content Performance

January 20, 2015 by Taylor Wiegert in Content Marketing, Twitter

Social platforms are almost at parity when it comes to features. The major social networks all allow for photography, some kind of text updates and now, even video. Feature-for-feature, they all look nearly identical, but when you look at the nuances of each platform, the differences are stark.

Why Twitter Needs to Make Lists Smart and Why Mute Isn't Enough

May 21, 2014 by Taylor Wiegert in Twitter

Twitter has launched a Mute button. The feature allows users to remove content posted by specific users from their timelines without unfollowing them. This is an option if you don't want to view content from someone for a finite amount of time (e.g., while they're attending a conference) or maybe you don't want them to know you've unfollowed them and just want to get them out of the feed.

Still, Mute isn't a perfect solution. There are no reminders that you've muted someone—out of sight, out of mind. That means users may mute someone and forget to unmute them, even if they'd like to see their content. Mute is an incomplete solution, and it points to a larger issue for Twitter.

Cutting Out the Noise with Twitter's Mute Button

May 16, 2014 by Taylor Wiegert in Twitter

Twitter introduced a new feature this week that people have been requesting for quite awhile. It's actually been available through third-party Twitter clients, but now it's an official Twitter feature. That feature is Mute It allows users to block content from specific users in their content timelines without unfollowing them. Muted users can be unmuted at any time, but that's as long as the user remembers to do so. Otherwise, that muted user's content goes unseen from that point forward.

Why would this be useful? It's useful when a content producer is creating too much that is irrelevant to you. Perhaps, someone's at a conference tweeting away, or maybe they're a big fan of a team or sport you just don't care about. Maybe it's a brand that constantly pushes deals, sales and 'Happy Fridays.' That's where Mute comes in. It's one way to filter out unwanted, unneeded and irrelevant content.

Sound familiar?