Facebook made news this week with the rollout of a family of apps, and also—unfortunately—because of their metrics measuring tool errors. Instagram introduced a new selfie feature and is testing Location Stories, and Pinterest added an icon that allows marketers with a business account to have a glimpse of their metrics right from the pin they are looking at.
Let’s dig in and discover the happenings in this edition of the Week in Review.
Facebook’s family of apps are one step closer to working together. Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are each working on a feature that will show notification counters from each of the other apps, and allow users to switch between apps seamlessly. This progressive move is a great feature for boosting engagement across these apps. Users will see red notification jewels on the app they are interacting on, which will entice users to click over to see something new in the other apps.
It’s likely that some people will not like this new feature because it exploits people’s need to check unread alerts. It is no mistake that notifications show up in red, the preferred “alert” color for maximum clicks. Facebook confirmed that they are trying a small test to work on finding a way to make it easier for people to be connected between apps.
For those who have the trial, the pop-over, cross-app switcher appears when the profile icon in the top corners of Facebook, Messenger, or Instagram are tapped. With this feature, users are able to switch between social media platforms with a single tap.
It will be interesting to see the final results after the testing phase. For a sample view of this new feature, see below. TechCrunch
As you may have discovered lately, Facebook has had multiple issues with measurement errors. After dealing with the frustration of Facebooks metrics errors, Tim Peterson compiled an itemized list of all the measurement errors Facebook announced to date. Each item on the list provides a detailed synopsis of the error and whether it was corrected. Since September 2016, there were 10 different measurement errors reported. Here is a brief list of a few of the errors:
In late September 2016, Facebook admitted to a math error making the average watch time of Facebook page videos wrong.
In mid-November 2016, the organic reach of Facebook Page posts had two major errors which caused the numbers to seem lower than they were.
Facebook’s video ads were running less than a second shorter or longer than they were supposed to because of the video and audio not adding up. Marketing Land
It seems copying Snapchat’s newest and best features has become a national platform pastime. Following suit, Instagram announced, on Monday, new selfie features that are leading observers to question if advertisers might be willing to bail on Snapchat.
The consensus is that it is entirely possible. One top ad buyer has admitted to considering the jump, depending on the price. Snapchat invented the lens, which superimposes special effects over users’ faces. Snapchat has been charging brands up to $750,000.00 to sponsor them.
This last Monday, Snapchat introduced sponsored world lenses which project augmented reality deep into the videos. The new feature transforms landscapes instead of just selfies. For brands who want to jump on the advertising opportunity, these cost an extra $100,000.00 and run for one day.
Following suit, Instagram introduced its own version of lenses for faces. While this feature isn’t available for advertisers or sponsors yet, and also doesn’t have the landscape feature so far, it appears Instagram is in hot pursuit of adding Snapchats features. It doesn’t stop here either. Facebook has been slowly trying to implement all the features that made Snapchat stand out in the mobile messaging space. As technology continues to advance, it will be interesting to see how each business incorporates the newest features. Thank you to our friend, Marsha Collier, for sharing this.
How Instagram Selfie Filters Could Ding Snap’s Ad Business #marketing https://t.co/8G2Jcgxeui pic.twitter.com/yKI5XsaqPR
— Marsha Collier (@MarshaCollier) May 18, 2017
In a move that could improve targeting, branded Pinterest posts now include an icon that gives marketers a quick glimpse at measurement.
Brands are increasingly requesting solid measurement transparency from digital ads and Pinterest is listening. Their newest rollout is a feature that gives marketers a look at how posts are performing without having to run analytics, which helps marketers measure metrics day-to-day and post-by-post.
So how does it work? Brands login to their account and see an icon that overlays each Pin. The overlay breaks down the post’s engagement and when clicked on, the icon pulls up number of impressions, number of times people looked at a close-up of the Pin, clicks, and how many times the post was saved. Currently, the icon is only available for business accounts.
Pinterest’s theory is that continual access to metrics will give marketers a better sense of content that performs well on their platform. This is great help for marketers because now they can tweak and craft messages for upcoming campaigns.
Typically, there has been a creative challenge for marketers on Pinterest because posts require more detail and work than other platforms. Pinterest is now encouraging marketers to try showing multiple products in one pin, to design vertically to fill a smartphone’s screen size, and to add a text overlay.
Social media marketing on Pinterest is fairly new but is a solid platform to work on. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram, Pinterest is set up to encourage longevity. AdWeek
Instagram is now testing Location Stories and has launched the ability to add hashtag stickers to stories. Instagram is working to let users see everything going on in a specific location right now. The new Location Stories feature will compile publicly shared Instagram Stories posts tagged with a location sticker. Users can then visit the business, landmark, or place’s Instagram page to watch a slideshow Story of posts from that location, shared by strangers they don’t follow.
This new feature allows Instagram to leverage its old permanent content to power a feature Snapchat doesn’t have.
Also, Instagram has launched the ability to add hashtag stickers to Stories and appears to be leaning toward offering Hashtag Stories. Both new features have many creative uses from discovering the best photo opportunities at different landmarks, to gaining ideas for what to do on business trips or even in your own hometown.
Why are these great things? Location Stories have the potential to become a revenue driver if Instagram allows brands to pay to insert ads there. This rollout is exciting as it appears Instagram is attempting to start innovating more, racing to where Snapchat’s limited resources won’t allow it to reach…yet.
.@Instagram is testing location Stories #TCDisrupt pic.twitter.com/JbyTdi5bj2
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 16, 2017
Be sure to check back next week to stay in the know on the latest marketing news. Have a great week!
Photo Credit: internetmarketingdubai Flickr via Compfight cc