This Week in Social and Digital (Week of August 1)
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.
Interstitials Come to Facebook Live (Read more at AdAge)
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Now, mid-roll ads are running within Facebook Live streams with a small group of publishers. Facebook’s been hinting at this coming for some time, and it was clear that it viewed this as a legitimate source of revenue when it started paying content creators to produce Facebook Live-specific content.
The ads in their current form are able to run five minutes into a broadcast and can be no longer than 15 seconds, and different users can be shown different ads while watching the same stream, allowing for some interesting targeting opportunities. Revenue is not being shared with content creators during this test, but it may do that eventually.
The ads are pulled from existing promoted video campaigns, but brands can opt out if they do not want their videos appearing within content.
This is no surprise, but it does raise questions around how Facebook will handle Live stream mid-roll ads during tragedies, or how Facebook will work with, for example, professional athletes sponsored by Nike who have an Adidas ad run during a live stream. There are some fail safes involved, including the ability for publishers to control the categories of advertisers that can run on their channels as well as the ability to turn off ads for sensitive subjects. Another challenge on the brand side is controlling what their ads will be paired with on the live side. Steering clear of controversial topics will be a key consideration for the rollout of these ads.
How successful those fail safes will be remains to be seen.
The benefit of these ads is the sound is already on, and there’s a guarantee the videos will be seen because they’re embedded in content users are watching. This makes for a non-skippable ad experience, which is certainly attractive to marketers trying to get people to stop scrolling through their feeds to pay attention. Facebook’s giving them a captive audience.
Google AMP Pages Get More Prominence in Search Results (Read more at AdAge)
Up until this point Google AMPs (Accelerated Mobile Pages) have been highlighted in search results in a carousel at the top of search results. That’s changing because now those pages will be included within regular search results.
The change is in place because Google has seen AMP adoption exceeding expectations, and the carousels did not highlight enough of them. This is important because Google does not emphasize AMPs in search results. It does, however, reward site speed, and AMPs run about four times faster than regular web pages and use about 10 times less data.
This is important because AMPs will be interspersed throughout search results pushing non-AMP pages down. This is big, especially for publishers who have not converted to AMPs. Companies that update their websites to be AMP compatible will certainly have an advantage. This includes publishers as well as brands that use their websites to publish content on a regular basis.
Instagram Launches Stories to Combat Snapchat (Read more at Social Media Today)
Assuming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Snapchat should feel very flattered. Instagram has launched Instagram Stories, and it almost perfectly mimics Snapchat Stories.
Instagram Stories allows users to create video and photo slideshows that disappear after 24 hours. They display at the top of users’ timelines vs. in the feed itself. They are ordered algorithmically based on a user’s relationship with the content creator, so people a user is close with will likely be shown earlier in the Stories feed. Much like Snapchat, users can add emojis, text and doodles to the photos and videos in their stories. It does not have lenses, and it’s not clear it ever will, but Facebook did acquire MSQRD, which it has leveraged to a limited degree. This would be a natural extension for that platform.
One of the major differences between Snapchat and Instagram stories is Instagram only allows users to add photos they’ve taken in the last 24 hours. Snapchat recently launched Memories, which allows users to post older photos
Instagram has acknowledged that this idea was copied from Snapchat, and it’s understandable why. Younger users like the ephemeral, less polished nature of Snapchat. Instagram Stories gives users an option to share content that disappears and with no pressure to create something beautiful. This, Facebook hopes, will get users to post more often and, in turn, build engagement on the platform.
Facebook Pages Get New Layout and Capabilities (Read more at MarketingLand)
Facebook Pages are getting a facelift. After testing a new layout, Facebook has confirmed that it will be unveiled for all users soon.
The updated layout separates cover photos and profile photos, making the overlap a thing of the past. Beyond that, the call-to-action button is getting more prominence, a blue color and a separate section from the Like and More buttons. Pages now have a left sidebar for improved navigation that is more in line with what users have on their personal profiles. Pages have also been expanded to remove any ads that may have appeared in the right-hand rail for users.
Most user interactions with Pages take place in their News Feeds, not on Pages themselves, so the ramifications of this change are limited. That being said the biggest change for Pages is that call-to-action button, which will allow brands to give more prominence to key business initiatives like coupons, email sign-ups, site visits and more.
Facebook Algorithm Cuts Back on Clickbait (Read more at Bloomberg)
Clickbait headlines have been put on notice, on Facebook at least. Headlines that “intentionally leave out crucial information, forcing people to click to find out the answer” are going to be punished by Facebook’s News Feed algorithm. That includes headlines like “He Put Garlic in His Shoes Before Going to Bed and What happens Next is Hard to Believe."
It’s all part of Facebook’s plans to cut back on links that users click on and then immediately come back from, which Facebook deems is a poor user experience.
The impact of this change will affect publishers in different ways, but Pages that rely on clickbait will see significant declines if they keep up the status quo. Publishers are constantly under pressure to make Facebook work for them. They rely on it for a great deal of their traffic, but Facebook is often moving the goal post in efforts to improve the user experience. That’s a noble goal, but for publishers it’s likely unwelcome news, especially since Facebook announced in June that it would be emphasizing friend posts over publisher posts in user News Feeds.
News Quick Hits
- Twitter is updating Ads Manager to bring custom filtering and custom metrics. Custom filtering allows advertisers to customize the dashboard they see when they open Ads Manager. In addition to that, custom metrics allow advertisers to create metric presets to quickly view within the dashboard. The goal is to create an experience that makes generating reports more efficient. (Read more at SocialTimes)
- 500 LinkedIn influencers have been given the ability to post 30-second videos to discuss topics like diversity, culture, education and innovation. If a user follows an influencer, that influencer’s video will appear within their feeds. (Read more at LinkedIn’s Blog)
- Geostickers are now on Snapchat. The stickers are only available in specific places around the world. Currently, users can find them in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Honolulu, London, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Paris and Riyadh. The stickers can be sent to friends and placed on Snaps. (Read more at Mashable)
- The NFL and Snapchat have expanded a partnership for Snapchat Discover. The updated deal is an expansion of the NFL’s Discover channel, which will now include game highlights. Originally, highlights were not included in the NFL’s plans for Discover. In addition, the NFL will be creating live stories for all of its games, including the Super Bowl. The move is significant for Snapchat, which is looking for more professional content on its platform. (Read more at Mashable)
- Twitter has launched a new type of ad that invites users to reply to a brand or retweet it to unlock specific content like movie trailers, interviews or recipes. The new ads are actually updates to Twitter Conversational Ads, which allow users to tap to tweet out pre-filled tweets or tweets with hashtags. Now, brands can use exclusive content to entice users to engage with the the Conversational Ads. (Read more at AdWeek)
- Pinterest has announced that it is developing a native video player, which will be making its debut in the next few months. Pinterest’s announcement comes at a time when video is a focus across the social web, and Pinterest has seen videos on the platform increase by 60% over the past year. (Read more at Pinterest’s Blog)