For Your Coworker Who Wants Amazon & Commitment
It’s good to have options. Sit back, relax, & watch the new class of video-streaming platforms invent ways to make money. This week, Amazon is said to be developing a free, ad-supported complement to its Prime video service.
Currently, the company is rumored to be in negotiations with studios, TV networks, and other content creators to provide programming for the service, which may include plans to share audience info, ad revenue, and a new spin on the CPV model that would link payments for content to the number of hours viewed.
What it means, IRL: It would be a major move on Youtube, Facebook, Apple and Nielsen, among others. Amazon is considering giving content creators their own channels, offering rev share for hours of content created. By offering revenue share and insights, Amazon would be the first network of sorts to directly share viewer data, as well as pay creators based on performance. TBH, the new components of this model makes Amazon an attractive alternative to other subscription-based video platforms – who are notoriously chill when it comes to brand opportunities and data sharing.
Make it work: Rumor or not, it’s likely that any ad experience that Amazon rolls out will be different than everything else we’re familiar with today. Given the pieces they have in place – Amazon Studios, Amazon Influencer Network, Amazon Prime – the three together essentially offer advertisers a seamless buying platform with bespoke ad options that would play based on the influencers I follow and connect directly to products featured (perhaps even required). Marketers should not only take note of the lengths Amazon goes to create a relevant experience for creators, consumers, and advertisers – but also look for ways to replicate all three within their own marketing operations.
Not Unrelated
Add Facebook to the list of companies building out original video capabilities for influencers. Last week Facebook launched Facebook Creator, a ‘one stop shop’ for influencers to build communities around their video content. Within the app, influencers are given access to a Live Creative Kit that make it easier to create and personalize live broadcasts with original intros and outros, graphic frames, and custom live stickers. Also, a new Community Tab connects creators with fans and other collaborators in one inbox which includes comments and messages from Facebook and Instagram.
Imagine if you could go to FB and contract out content the way you currently do ads. Similar to ad buying, Facebook Creator could give brands the ability to manage content creation & execution in a single platform and opens the possibility of buying influencers direct. Coming at a time where publishers are losing FB’s favor and preference, is this the future of FB ads? Stay tuned…
#LiveMyBestLife
When in doubt, pin it out. Pinterest just dropped their latest updates to visual search and shopping features, just in time for the holiday season.The features effectively make influencer content shoppable through new discovery and source/search functions, including Lens Your Look, Shop the Look, and Pincodes.
Here’s the 411 on the latest and greatest from Pinterest:
- Pincodes – aka Pinterest’s version of QR codes that can be created by any business account and can be placed anywhere. After the codes are scanned, they unlock specific Pinterest boards.
- Lens Your Look – simply snap a photo of a piece of clothing from your closet and add it to your search to see recommended ways to style from similar Pins. Who knew your phone could double as a your personal stylist?
- Shop the Look – say hello to over 5 million new shoppable products across 25,000 brands, thanks to a new partnership with ShopStyle.
Besides helping you look trendy AF, Pinterest’s latest features open the doors for influencer collabs in ways that Instagram has been slow to introduce. Brands should work with influencers to create and curate destinations for Pincodes (i.e. curated gift guides, recipes, home design) and should incorporate influencer-generated and influencer-curated content into the Lens Your Look and Shop the Look features.
How To Avoid The Absolute Worst
Google has found new ways that consumers are conducting research. They want to know what NOT to buy. The Googs found that consumers want to affirm their decisions and steer away from the wrong choice. In the last 2 years, Google has seen 1.5X more mobile searches ending with “to avoid” and an increase in searching for “worst.”
We’re in an economy of extremes. As long as Kanye keeps dropping the sickest kicks, consumers will seek out the best – without risking the absolute worst the interwebs has to offer. The bigger implication, is that consumers don’t want to spend so much time making one decision, and are looking to short-form content validation to do it (think stars, likes, upvotes). It’s always been important – but if you want to accelerate consumer trust, now it all needs to happen at once: think gorgeous IGC on Instagram, with a product review to validate, and advocate engagement to reinforce.
Hold My Beer
Welcome back to the Instagram vs. Snapchat showdown. This week, Instagram has updated their Stories feature it’s all about the #throwbacks. Now, users will be able to upload any video or picture from their library, even if it wasn’t taken within the past 24 hours – something Snapchat has been allowing for quite some time now.
Previously, Insta users were only able to post content to their Stories that were taken in the past 24 hours, seemingly limiting the quality of video content. From an advertising perspective, this allows for increased planning and quality given that now, influencers don’t need to do it all in real-time.
Video, FTW.
ICYMI:
Music To My Ears – Spotify acquires Soundtrap
Watch What Facebook Is Doing – Facebook Watch is social tv’s ultimate test
No App, No Prob – Instagram lets you post Stories from mobile web
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