The Top Three Pieces of Social Media News You Cannot Ignore
Snapchat Discover: Social Value or Bust
As we all know, the social media news on everybody's lips in late January was when Snapchat launched the Discover feature, which added news and content to the image and video messenger app. What we are interested as marketers is the advertising function and the new opportunities this gave to marketers however social media news of the progress of the feature has not been widely reported.
The entire model of Snapchat Discover is based on consumer volition; users must opt in to engage with the ads on Discover. Offer no social value? Get no interaction. Users can opt out of your ads in less than a second so knowing your audience and capturing interest is key.
This really emphasises the point of your content strategy being the ruler of your marketing strategy and with no social value, you get no interaction.
Read more social media news and find out more about how only the strong will survive Snapchat Discover.
Instagram: From Rapid Growth to Hopes of Rapid Revenue
The Game Changing URL Opening Ad
Although Instagram first allowed advertisements in October 2013, they have yet to allow URLS to open outside of the popular app until now. Why were URL link clicks not allowed? CEO Kevin Systrome did not want the clean flow of the app to be diluted. However, after the first four years spent achieving rapid growth, the photo sharing community has over 300 million users. Facebook notably purchased Instagram in 2012 for £629m, just 2 years after the popular platform exploded into social media. Rapid growth and an increase in looking to promote, measurable, more sought after ad space, seems to be Facebook's way of recouping their investment.
After advertisers demanded more vivid ways to influence people who “lead to meaningful results for their businesses”, Instagram have created the carousel which now includes clickable URLS. See more about how it will work by viewing this article.
In hope of not disrupting the clean flow of Instagram, CEO Kevin Systrome will approve every ad posted on the social media platform.
What does this show us? Marketing and ad space is no longer a fluffy business, marketers want to see a clear return on investment before committing to a big spend.
Teaming limited space slots with an extremely high user base and Instagrams' ability to provide solid metrics for their space, including likes, comments, swipes and clicks, following their rapid growth, rapid revenue looks hot on its heels.
Read the full social media news article on Instagrams latest change and View the demo of the carousal feature and find out more about the URL opening ad.
Vlogging: From YouTube to Your Customer Journey
Vlogging, can it be incorporated to improve the customer journey? Tesco have managed to provide the answer to this question, a resounding yes. Tesco Living has shown initiative, taking the vlogging trend and giving it personalisation, another massive trend within marketing. Within the campaign, Tesco have offered free 20 minute video consultations with leading beauty bloggers and makeup experts, including Hayley Carr of the London Beauty Queen blog. Tesco are showing us how to take Google+ hangouts to audiences and offer a truly personalised experience, offering expert advice tailored to the customer needs. This content marketing strategy goes beyond riding on the back of content marketing trends; Tesco Living are making their own trends and adding value to their campaign by providing personalisation, relevance and excitement throughout the customer journey.