Amazon Crushes Cyber Monday, Snapchat Unveils Biggest Update Yet & Facebook Reports Thanksgiving Weekend Insights

Dec 5, 2017: Amazon crushes Cyber Monday, Facebook releases Thanksgiving weekend insights, Snapchat swipes right on a FB feature, GDPR trending in 2018, & TBH fails

Here’s what’s worth knowing this week:

Table of Contents

When You Check Your Bank Account After A Night Out

Yikes. If your bank account still hasn’t recovered from Cyber Monday, join the club. Last week Amazon announced that Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day in company history. Just how big? We don’t exactly know – Bezos likes to keep sales figures on the DL. But here’s the lowdown on what we do know – customers ordered ‘hundreds of millions’ of products and orders on Amazon’s app were up more than 50 percent compared to last year. Adobe also found a similar increase in mobile shopping this year, accounting for $4 billion in sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

What it means, IRL: Amazon’s dominance being said, it still ‘only’ accounts for 5% of all retail sales. The reality is the majority of purchases are still being made offline – which is why it continues to aggressively invest in offline retail tech and acquisitions, like Whole Foods. When Bezos cuffed the grocery chain back in August, the move essentially allowed Amazon to exist in both worlds, giving the brand a ‘much better chance of capturing sales, and of building brand recognition and trust throughout the purchase journey’ and cross-pollinate customers between the two.

Make it work: In today’s bricks and clicks economy, it’s important for brands to establish a unified online and offline presence. The customer experience should be designed for the journey, not just the touchpoint – which may require deeper, omni-channel and more versatile influencer relationships and content. In doing so, brands should pull influencers into offline experiences through events and product collaborations, as well as repurpose influencer-generated content and consumer reviews to in-store displays and offline media executions.

When 8 Crazy Nights Feels Like 28

It’s safe to say Bezos wasn’t the only winner over Thanksgiving weekend, Zuck & Co also achieved notable success. A recent study from Facebook revealed more than 130 million people turned to FB & Insta to ‘give thanks, discover deals, and boast bargains’ over the weekend. Notably, insights suggested the holiday season may not be the end of holiday shopping – 62 percent of mobile-first shoppers said their holiday shopping usually continues past the holiday season, presenting a longer window for brands to engage with consumers.

Consider using some of FB’s new feats (i.e. Sponsored Messages) to spark and involve brands in conversation – while the holiday shopping period may be longer, consumers are still making in-moment purchase decisions faster. As such, brands should collab with influencers beyond the curated gift guide to understand what type of content consumers are seeking through #holidays2017 and products they’re talking about to extend high-interest deals and promotions through January.

Swipe Right For Snaps From Friends

Tis’ the season for app redesigns. On Wednesday, Snapchat underwent the biggest redesign in Snapchat history. The move essentially divides content from friends and content from publishers. Now, when you swipe left from the main camera screen, you’ll see your friends’ Stories and when you swipe right, you’ll see the ‘Discover’ content. Previously, the two were housed on the same page. Sound familiar? The Snap redesign seems to take a page from Facebook’s playbook: creating separate ‘feeds’ for friends/family & publishers/content creators.

With Snap effectively separating the social from the media, where influencer content falls will most likely depend on who they are and how they’re posting. But what about friends who are influencers? It’s complicated.

When Your British CD Mentions Brexit

Don’t panic, but the GDPR is quickly approaching. If you’re not sure what the GDPR is, fear not – 70% of marketers don’t. The GDPR effectively allows EU residents will have the right to view their personal data, receive an electronic copy, update it, and delete it. Similar to how email marketing currently functions where, in order to receive brand communications by email, you are always able to manage your subscription preferences, the GDPR allows EU residents to do the same thing for all brand communications. Although the ruling only applies to businesses in Europe, there are tremendous global implications for marketers. Here’s how you can prep for it.

For Your Intern Who Asks About Holiday Happy Hour

Tbh, Facebook’s TBH app didn’t take long to become irrelevant. The app, which lets people give each other compliments by participating in anonymous quizzes, had a loyal following of teenagers – for a few months. TBH went from a No. 1 app download to not even ranking in the top 500 this week.

Unlike Snapchat & Insta, FB continues to struggle to find ways reach younger audiences. Last week they released Messenger Kids – an app designed kids aged 13 and younger that lets parents download the app on their child’s phone, create a profile for them, and approve family & friends whom they can message with.