Facebook’s Commerce Game Plan, Wal-Mart’s Social Chief Bests Brand, and the Return of Ghost Yellow

October 17, 2017: Apps on apps on apps – FB delivers (food) and gets you hired, Walmart’s Social Media Chief bests the brand, Google wants more than just a pretty face, and Snapchat makes a comeback. Here’s what’s worth knowing this week:

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Do You Want Fries With That?

Hungry? There’s an app(s) for that. And hey, if you can’t beat the hundreds of food delivery apps, join ‘em. Last Friday, Facebook launched a new feature allowing its users to order food from local restaurants. Now, users can browse and read reviews from friends about restaurants in an ‘Order Food’ tab in the explore menu. Sound familiar? We thought so too.

What it means, IRL: More FB apps = more time consumers spend on FB, and more opportunities for brands to influence the point of purchase. For awhile now, FB has been introducing commerce tools that shorten consumers’ path-to-purchase – fundamentally changing some brands’ customer journeys – while making it easier for users to solicit recs from their network and introduce new means of tracking and measuring purchase behavior.

Make it work: ‘Everyday influence’ FTW. In this new era of #ConversationalCommerce, social media platforms continue to shift power to consumers – at times entirely disrupting the status quo. Top-of-mind awareness and social proof is becoming increasingly more important. With FB’s features like ‘Order Food,’ you need to take into consideration all the P’s: proximity, preferences, [social] proof, product and price just to be relevant… then, of course, there’s always a #paid option. Before you attempt to swan dive into this endless sea of pastabilities (#foodpuns), check out Zuck & Co.’s latest blog post identifying three key shifts in food culture. Sneak peak: snacking-as-a-meal is soooo in.

Hold My Beer

‘If you ain’t first, you’re last’ – Ricky Bobby. ‘If you ain’t first, do it better’ – Zuck & Co.

Facebook is making moves. Last week it was on Snapchat, this week it’s on LinkedIn. The social media giant is currently testing a new Resume/CV feature that lets users share their work experience with friends. The addition expands on the standard ‘Work and Education’ section, but won’t publically display all information about your credentials.

Will this connect FB @work to FB IRL? The release of this feature adds a new layer of influence and credibility to Facebook. Will we be going to FB to determine subject-matter-experts? Too soon to tell – but right now, this is a data point. Facebook may be where the SMEs are, but LinkedIn provides all their career data (i.e. who they are, where they work). In order for this new feature to be successful, Zuck & Co. need to provide relevant reasons to incentivize the end user to complete this.

When You’re More Popular Than Walmart

Time to take some notes on executive visibility. If you’re more popular on Pinterest than Walmart, you’re #winning. And, it’s safe to say Walmart’s Social Media Chief, Christina Loya, is second to none. Loya has 5 million Pinterest followers compared to Walmart’s 137,000.

#BeLikeLoya – Loya’s noteworthy social media presence is something that all marketing execs should strive for, because we all can be a powerful force of influence on behalf of our brands. Considering only 37% of CEOs are ‘trusted’, marketers, as human brand experts, do have an opportunity to personally bridge the gap between brand and consumer trust.

More Than Just A Pretty Face

Mom was right – good looks only get you so far. Last Friday, MDG Advertising released a report on organic search trends in 2017, noting a 50% to 90% drop in organic search traffic after Google adjusted sites that were heavy on affiliate links and light on content. Basically, the Googs wants to send people to pages that are both ‘popular and compelling.’

Which means, your long-form influencer content should also follow suit. Blogger briefs for your next campaign should not only be aligned with your overall brand SEO strategy, but also prioritize:

Content breadth & variety (more topics, less products)

Content depth (allow bloggers can drop some serious knowledge)
Mobile optimization (this should be obvious, but to reiterate)
Local first (.. want to target moms in Detroit? Work with influential moms in Detroit)

The Return of Ghost Yellow

Don’t count Snapchat out just yet. Despite the fact that influencers’ Snap use has decreased significantly, a new study shows it remains popular among teens – twice as popular as Insta to be exact. With Ghost Yellow losing steam amongst mega- and macro-influencer communities, brands should look to Snap-happy teen micro-influencers in their customer base to co-develop and co-create relevant content.