Facebook Tests Influencer Marketing Tool, Snapchat’s Programmatic AR Ads, Google Rebrands YouTube Red [Subject-to-Change]

May 22, 2018: Facebook tests influencer marketing tool and publishes enforcement of internal standards, Snapchat programmatic AR ads remain popular among marketers, Google rebrands premium YouTube Red service and GDPR for marketers.

Here’s what’s worth knowing this week:

Table of Contents

Facebook’s Play for that $5bn Influencer Marketing Industry

Facebook is testing a new tool that would help to pair advertisers with content creators. The Branded Content Matching search engine would allow advertisers to search & discover creators by selecting the audience demographics of creators’ fans and followers they want to reach (i.e. location, interests, gender, education history, life events, relationship status, etc.). Then, the search engine produces lists of creators showing how their audience matches to a brand’s – percentage of their followers they reach, engagement rate, follower count and video views. Currently, creators are given the option to opt in to participate in the test and set up a profile that includes audience size, metrics and samples of branded content.

What it means, IRL: What do you do if you’re running out of ad inventory and users increasingly block your ads? Turn to influencers to create meaningful content. For awhile now, Zuck & Co. have been rolling out tools for content creators that makes creating content on the platform easier (i.e. Creator App, Branded Content Tool, etc.) and this test is the latest sign that Facebook is looking to influencers as its next big revenue play. While it’s not taking a cut of influencers’ payments initially, it may encourage influencers to pay more attention to the platform and provide marketers with more high-quality original content to amplify. Right now, this tool only considers creators on Facebook – but what if you’re trying to understand an influencers’ holistic social presence, will Facebook try and connect these dots?

Make it work: The move comes at a time where Facebook has fallen in the ranks of influencer marketing relevancy – it’s not as easy as to find influencers on FB as it is on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, and current state, requires an influencer marketing tool. For example, you have creators using the Creator App, but no way to find them. Unlike YouTube or even Instagram – there’s no clear or easy path for influencers to make money, which adds to the problem that FB is not creators’ preferred social platform. For Facebook to be considered by marketers as the platform for influencer marketing, Facebook needs to be considered by creators as the platform for influencer marketing. Knowing this is a priority, look to gain greater paid media efficiencies in the coming months when amplifying influencer-generated content as FB seeks to drive adoption.

… and Some Major Spring Cleaning

Three weeks ago Facebook published its internal standards used to decide whether something stays up or is taken down and now – for the first time ever – it has published its enforcement of these standards. The report covers Facebook’s enforcement efforts over a six month span – October 2017 to March 2018 – covering six key areas: graphic violence, adult nudity & sexual activity, terrorist propaganda, hate speech, spam and fake accounts.

The numbers: 837 million pieces of spam in Q1 2018 – nearly 100% of it was found and flagged before anyone reported it. 583 million fake accounts – most of which were disabled within minutes of registration. Adult nudity, sexual activity and graphic violence told a similar story – with the majority being identified & flagged by the technology before human reporting. However, for hate speech Facebook admitted the technology ‘still doesn’t work that well.’ While technology like AI is promising, it’s still years away from being effective for most bad content because context is so important.

By admitting blindspots and providing overall progress updates, Facebook is taking a step in the right direction by being transparent and proactive in ways it hasn’t before. For influencers engaging in nefarious activity – fake accounts, gamification – they’re at more risk than ever before as attention to ethics and channel standards continue to prevail.

Snap Ads Go Back to Reality

Get ready to lose yourself in the lens of the moment. Since the release of Snapchat’s programmatic AR ads last November, more than 100 brands have run AR ads on the platform. Fundamentally, the ad unit itself is a form of Snap ad where people can swipe up on a video or image to trigger a related branded lens.

It’s likely the rising interest is being driven by the lower cost of the AR ads compared to Snapchat lenses – with Snap ads and AR ads both available at $3 to $8 CPM programmatically. Right now, the only way into this AR experience is through an ad unit. However, brands can collaborate with influencers to create a branded lens.

YouTube’s Glow Up

YouTube is rebranding its premium YouTube Red service into two new offerings: a YouTube Music streaming service and a YouTube Premium for original video content. Both services remove some YouTube’s major annoyances – offering an ad-free experience, with background listening and downloads available. Google’s presence in the music & video streaming market has been subpar for quite some time – with key players like Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix and Hulu dominating as Google has struggled to take off. However, with the bifurcation of services – especially with YouTube Premium – Google is investing heavily in original programming, something that will require the help of content creators.

GDPR-U Ready For It?

ICYMI: The GDPR deadline is this Friday, May 25. According to a new survey, the majority of marketers lack confidence with GDPR compliance. Namely, the vagueness and unfamiliarity surrounding the law, in addition to a lack of clarity in how the law will be enforced has left many marketers feeling confused.

However, with less than a week until the GDPR goes into full effect, it is crucial for marketers to understand the new rules & regulations that come with it. For more info on how the GDPR affects marketers, check out this cheat sheet.