There’s a delicate balance between staying true to yourself against meeting the expectations from parents in which the women tries to manage. Despite this insight coming from the Chinese market, it clearly cuts across regional boundaries with its raw and honest message on empowering women.
Instagram tests out new algorithm in selected countries
Noticed something different with your Instagram feed lately, specifically the timings of your posts? While not a universal change at this point, several users have noticed their feeds showing updates that are no longer in chronological order. Several countries have been selected by Instagram to test out the new algorithm changes, namely New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore and, Venezuela. If you see the effects on your timeline, what do you think about it so far? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Sonic shakes up Instagram with Coachella campaign
Fast food company Sonic is using Instagram to promote its new ‘Creamery Shakes’ at US festival Coachella later this month. Sonic has designed bespoke ‘square’ versions of its shakes specifically for the festival, and will be sharing images and videos of them on its Instagram channel during Coachella on 18th April. According to Sonic, it’s the first product designed specifically for Instagram, offered for sale exclusively on Instagram.
Those who’d rather spend the weekend in a sugar coma than watching any musical acts can click on a ‘Shop Now’ button on a Sonic ad, cleverly targeted to festival goers only with a geo-filter, and the brand will deliver the shakes directly to them. All participants have to do in return is share a shake pic on Instagram. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal (sorry).
Facebook updates its branded content policy Following an update to Facebook’s branded content policy, verified pages will now be able to share branded content to Facebook. A new tool has been introduced so that influencers and publishers can tag a marketer when posting, which a) increases transparency to users and b) means that marketers can easily access analytics about how their content is performing. Here’s an example of how that looks, courtesy of Lady Gaga.
Facebook has warned that not all branded content will be a ‘fit’ for their platform. Long story short, it doesn’t want the boring overly promotional stuff to ruin people’s enjoyment of their newsfeeds, so this will be monitored.
Are people sharing less personal content on Facebook?
New figures from tech news site, The Information, claim that the amount of original sharing of personal stories (like your gran’s birthday party etc.) by users on Facebook is in decline. It’s said that the sharing has dropped 21% year-on-year as of mid-2015; the theory is that as people’s friend collections have now been growing for a decade or so, they may be less likely to share more intimate moments, preferring to post to smaller audiences on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. This is a claim that has been denied by Facebook who said in a statement: “The overall level of sharing has remained not only strong but similar to levels in prior years”.
Facebook’s live video campaign continues with addition of mobile tab Facebook has rolled out a new tab within its mobile app which users can tap to view live video from friends and around the world. You’ll also now be able to post live video to events and groups, so you can hold a live Q&A session prior to your next event – “Will or will there not be a butler in the buff attending this event?” is an example which immediately springs to mind. You can add live reactions to videos which will show immediately on the video then disappear, which will be Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry – e.g. Angry reaction when you find out they’ll be no free bar at the party. Here’s Marky Mark to explain a bit more about it in his own words:
Research partnership shows how Facebook ads affect in-store sales A partnership between Facebook and Tesco-owned research firm, Dunnhumby (GREAT name) means that FMCG brands in the UK will soon be able to see if ads they run on Facebook affect in-store sales. It will work by marrying Dunnhumby’s data bank of 17 million users with Facebook’s 37 million monthly active users and creating two groups – one which is served an ad and another control group which is not, and Dunnhumby will then observe the impact on sales. Ten different UK brands have already started to test the service and 60 percent of studies showed what Facebook has described as a “statistically significant sales uplift”. The move is similar to a previous Facebook partnership with Datalogix in the US, which found that in 70% of cases, $1 spent on Facebook results in $3 spent by consumers IRL.
Messenger hits 900 million users and introduces scannable codes Following its 800 million users milestone in January, Facebook Messenger has now hit the 900 million user mark. This comes as little surprise due to the fact you sort of have to have it to read your Facebook messages, a little bit like taps announcing they now have 900 million gallons of water flowing through them…
New scannable codes have also been introduced making it easier for individuals to add contacts a la Snapchat, and these will make things smoother for businesses to use the platform to connect with consumers. Businesses can use their scannable codes in ads and are able to include new Messenger Links – short vanity URLs that lead to their profile. Brand pages will also be able to set personal Messenger Greetings which will appear automatically in messages to their customers when a new message thread is started.
Twitter bags rights to live stream 10 NFL games next year Twitter has closed a massive deal with the NFL to stream games live on the platform. The games will be simulcasts of the NBC and CBS broadcasts and live pre and post game Periscope streams will also be offered to fans. It’s been reported that Twitter has paid $10 million for the rights, small change compared to the $450 million that CBS and NBC have collectively paid. Hopefully, this will boost Twitter’s active user numbers – and it certainly puts the pressure on to Facebook to come up with a similarly high-profile streaming deal.
Twitter’s First View launches in the UK and Europe First View is an ad offering which lets brands buy Twitter’s most valuable ad space. For 24-hours, the brand’s video will be the first thing users see when they open the app. Universal has been announced as the first brand in the UK to test it out with the new release of The Huntsman: Winter’s War with the hope of reaching higher audience numbers. Get it? If not, read more here about how First View works.
Kik launches new chatbot shop Want a lol but finding your friends boring? Need some beauty tips but Zoella was busy? Visit Kik’s new Bot Shop and you can download a new bot to chat you through the hard times. Bots are available for entertainment, customer service and shopping and due to Kik’s open API, developers are welcome to build new bots any time they like. 16 brands have already made bots including, Vine, H&M and beauty brand Sephora. Want to know the weather? There’s a Weather Channel bot for that. Microsoft has also announced that it is planning a bot framework for developers and it’s rumoured that Facebook will be launching its own bot store during its F8 event tomorrow.
Burberry launches Discover Channel on Snapchat
Burberry loves a bit of Snapchat, and last week was no exception when it became the first luxury brand to run its own Discover channel on the platform. The channel ran for 24 hours and promoted Mr. Burberry – the brand’s men-focused products. Content featured included articles, videos and interviews focused around ‘how to be a modern man’, such as ‘a guide to spotting a good suit’ and ‘the steps of a good grooming routine’. Sadly, it’s no longer live, so men who missed it will have stick to being unwashed and badly dressed I’m afraid.
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