Weird Brag, Mark
It’s not everyday where a CEO gushes about people using their product less – unless, of course, it’s Mark Zuckerberg. In Facebook’s latest earnings report, Zuck & Co. reported that recent algorithm changes meant to show less viral video content reduced time spent on the social media platform by 50 million hours per day. Also, for the first time ever, the number of daily active users (DAUs) in North America fell by 1 million. With more changes planned for 2018, investors are on edge about what DAUs, MAUs, and time spent will look during the next couple of quarters.
What it means, IRL: Less time spent on FB = more expensive ads. Let’s face it, ad prices have been on the rise since the FB’s News Feed bifurcation back in 2017. Driven in part by the quality of Facebook’s ad products and its superior target/measurement tools, Facebook is succeeding where its competitors are failing (i.e. Google/YouTube & programmatic buying partners). Despite its automation, programmatic ad buying is still rough around the edges and lacks transparency. Knowing ad prices are only going to get more expensive, where is the marketing whitespace?
Make it work: While CPMs are more expensive, most of the time you know they are seen. With publishers no longer having the angle to get brand stories into the News Feed, responsibility is going to fall on creators. To gain efficiencies, marketers should work to collaborate with influencer to co-create and vet content and then amplify high-performing content with paid.
Stor(ies) Of My Life
Thanks to two new updates from Instagram, a picture doesn’t have to be worth a thousand words. Last week, Facebook introduced yet another FB feature to Instagram. Type Mode lets users add text-based pages to their Stories and can be accessed via the camera screen under the record option. Once clicked, users can choose from a variety of colorful backgrounds, different text styles, and stickers. From an influencer marketing perspective, these new text features for Stories are an easy CTA to direct viewers to action (events, promos, sweepes, swipe/link, etc.) and/or hashtags.
But wait, there’s more. Instagram also announced plans to bring its Carousel Ads into Stories, meaning the ads in Stories are no longer limited to one piece of content – they can now include up to three. With a greater need for content, brands should work across the spectrum of influence, leveraging influencers, advocates, and referrers to create, co-create, or amplify content.
For Your Coworker Who Loves Real-Time Marketing
Stop trying to make real-time marketing happen, it’s not going to happen.
Hyundai, yet again, tried to pull off a Super Bowl ad shot in real-time. Spoiler alert – it didn’t work. TLDR; NFL & Department of Homeland Security shut down their plan faster than you can say ‘hope on wheels’.
Brands are still chasing that real-time Oreo dream – that tweet happened FIVE years ago, btw. 18 months in the making, Oreo did capitalize on a moment – but that doesn’t mean it is a replicable strategy worth the risk of time and money that any brand can – or should – adopt for the Super Bowl, or otherwise.
Tide and Toyota were among the winners of Super Bowl LII – indicating that when it comes to the race for relevance ‘in the moment’, shifting the content creation process away from ‘real time’ to cultural relevance, resonates. And this doesn’t have to be limited to just the Super Bowl – leveraging influencers (big and small) to bring cultural relevance to life for brands.
#RIP To The Subtweet
Last week, Kissmetrics released a roundup pegging social listening as the top social media trend for marketers watch and capitalize on in 2018 – and we agree. We’re on the brink of a social listening renaissance and, although brands & marketers use social listening tools in slightly different ways, it’s important to make sure you’re cutting the data by those with influence and among your customers and those with influence.
Who Owns Influencer Marketing, Anyway?
Marketers from AB InBev, Whirlpool & General Mills droppin’ knowledge: does ownership belong to who funds it, who has the relationships, or somewhere in between? Long story short, there’s no consensus. The argument of earned vs. paid influence aside, influencers’ value remains in the quality of relationships maintained and their ability to impact marketing objectives beyond brand promotion, like corporate responsibility (typically PR functions). However the ability to scale – per AB InBev’s Todd Allen – is a cross-departmental collaboration, regardless of who’s paying.
Standardized measurement remains a challenge – with most acknowledging that reach ≠ effectiveness. You know what does? Purchases. See how Godiva does that, here.
Quoted
In its latest move for visual search domination, Pinterest stole hired now ex-Googler Chuck Rosenberg to lead its visual search team (fun fact: he created the JPEG in the 90s).
#BasicStats
Trending insights to slay your next meeting:
- 93% of social media advertisers use Facebook advertising
- 200 million people use Instagram Stories every month – #slayyyy Stories
- 96% of the people who talk about your brand online aren’t actually following you
ICYMI
YouTube to be more transparent and label state-funded news videos
Salesforce + Google = One Happy Partnership
