June 19, 2018: Facebook launches “Leave Feedback” tool, Instagram brings Shoppable Tags to Stories, Snapchat releases SnapKit, Facebook implements new requirements for custom audiences and Google updates ad privacy settings
Here’s what’s worth knowing this week:
No More FB Ads For You
Bad shopping experiences are the worst – you know it, we know it, and Facebook knows it. Facebook is now launching a “Leave Feedback” tool that will let users rate their experiences with businesses that they’ve made a purchase from after seeing or clicking on a Facebook ad. Advertisers who receive lots of negative feedback and fail to correct customer service issues could be banned from advertising on the platform once and for all.
The new tool is available under the Ads Activity Tab where FB users can view the ads they recently clicked on. The “Leave Feedback” button allows users to rate how satisfied they were with a business and its ad experience, selecting which service they are most satisfied or dissatisfied with, depending on how they rated the business.
What it means, IRL: From inaccurate shipping times to misrepresented products, consumers’ shopping experiences on Facebook have been less than ideal – and Zuck & Co. have finally seen enough. The new “Leave Feedback” tool relies on ratings & reviews to quantify and improve upon the customer experience on Facebook, in addition to providing businesses on FB with feedback to improve upon their own CXs. Sounds like a double win.
Make it work: As ratings & reviews continue to be used as a CX indicator, it becomes increasingly important for marketers to invest in a robust ratings & reviews strategy. In the same way you would diagram the customer journey as a part of your overall CX strategy, doing so will help you understand which stages you need to impact, and how.
For more tips on how to increase and amplify your ratings & reviews, check out our How To Activate Micro-Influencers To Drive Ratings & Reviews Playbook.
Shut Up and Take My Money
Stories are the new stores – shopping on the ‘Gram just got a whole lot easier. This week, Instagram expanded its Shoppable Tags feature beyond the Feed into Insta Stories. Shoppable Stories are marked with a shopping bag icon inside a sticker that users can tap to see more details about a product, with the option to buy (without ever leaving the app, of course). Although shoppable story tags are first launching with selected brands like Adidas and Louis Vuitton, the platform plans on rolling out the tools to additional businesses soon.
According to Insta, the inspo for the feature came from a user survey where “Instagrammers said they often watch stories to stay in the-know with brands they’re interested in, get an insider view of products they like, and find out about new products that are relevant to them.” Customer feedback for the win.
There’s A Snap App For That
Snapchat has officially launched SnapKit, its new developer platform which allows developers to bring Snapchat features, like Bitmoji and Stories, into their apps. To kick things off, the company is working with a handful of partners including Tinder, Postmates, Pandora, Poshmark, Eventbrite, and Giphy, and interested developers can apply for access here.
For the first time ever, Snapchat giving third-party app developers access to its login system – but not without guardrails. Without throwing too much shade at FB, Snap has explicitly outlined various steps it is taking to protect user privacy. For instance, applications from prospective developers will each be vetted by an actual human employee and developers won’t have access to any data about a Snapchat user’s friends or any other personal information other than their display name and Bitmoji avatar. Privacy, FTW.
For months, Snap has struggled with its slowing user growth and its most recent redesign resulted in increased scrutiny and backlash from its users (influencers included), causing many to turn to Instagram Stories. However, opening up to developers may make it easier for influencers to embrace the platform – only time will tell. However, if there’s no access to data, it’s likely marketers will continue to have issues with the platform.
Why Am I Seeing This?
Post-Cambridge Analytica, Facebook has done its fair share to ensure the privacy and data safety of its users. Effective July 2nd, Facebook will be implementing the following new requirements for custom audience targeting:
Showing people the origin of audience information: Facebook will require advertisers to specify the origin of the people’s information when uploading a new custom audience. For each ad, users will see a “Why Am I Seeing This?” section where they will be shown the source of the information (advertiser or partner) and if the advertiser was able to reach them through their phone number or email.
Modifications to audience sharing requirements: New requirements will be put in place for advertisers when sharing custom audiences from a customer file, such as one acquired by an ad agency. In these cases, both parties will need to establish an audience-sharing relationship through Business Manager, and agree to Facebook’s custom audiences terms.
Educating advertisers about terms: Advertisers will start seeing more frequent reminders of their obligation to help protect people’s privacy before they run their ads. In addition, everyone on an ad account will need to accept the terms when uploading custom audiences. Previously only the admin on the account was required to accept the terms.
Facebook seems committed to over-communicating – even if that means admitting that they’re not making as much progress as they want to. Now that custom audiences are limited, it’s important to re-evaluate how FB fits into your marketing mix vs. other platforms.
In the Name of Privacy
Google has updated its Ad Settings to give users control over the type of ads they see – this time, allowing users to turn off targeting signals such as age, gender, and preferences. Similar to Facebook’s new requirements around custom audience targeting, Google is now also providing users with more insight into why they see certain ads on Google sites, its partner websites, and apps.
The return of contextual advertising? As Google and the rest the big five effectively spearhead the shift away from hyper-personalized ad targeting as a result of increasing privacy concerns, expect to see a shift back towards topical and interest based targeting.
ICYMI
Instagram No Longer Snitches When You Screenshot Stories
