Instagram joins the chronological club
In 2009, Facebook changed its news feed by switching to an algorithm largely based on the popularity of posts. Last month saw Twitter follow suit by introducing a recap feature titled ‘while you were away.’ Well, not one to feel left out, Instagram has joined the gang, shifting away from the reverse chronological order we know and love. The change comes as Instagram users are, apparently, missing up to 70% of their feed as there is “simply too much content”. The new format will affect how brands connect with their audience as users; as Charlie Cottrell, Head of Editorial at We Are Social said:
The change will affect the way brands use Instagram for storytelling. If the platform stops organising content by time then linear storytelling won’t work.
If that sounds complicated, think of it this way – branded content needs to be less Downton Abbey, more Friends.
Facebook’s bolsters measurement tools with two new offerings
Measurement tools have been big news of late, with Foursquare, Snapchat and more looking to help marketers prove the value of their investment. Now, Facebook has responded by announcing two new measurement initiatives. The first is a build on its Lift Measurement tool, released earlier this year, called Lift API. It will allow more of Facebook’s marketing and other third-party measurement partners to create their own lift studies for conversion rates, sales and mobile app installs. Lift has already been used by over 1,000 businesses since launch, so it’s off to a good start even before the update. The second tool sees Facebook testing new fields/categories in its ad reporting to help marketers better understand which ads lead to conversions. All these moves make Facebook an even more credible advertising platform for brands.
Twitter’s algorithmic timeline is now live by default for everyone
Just a month after the Twittersphere was turned on its head after it was announced tweets would be displayed according to relevancy instead of chronology, the platform has turned it on for all users by default. Originally an opt-in feature, users now must actively disable the feature to go back to “old” Twitter. As one passionate tweeter put: “you may take my chronological timeline, but you will never take my freedom Twitter.” Real talk.
You may take my chronological timeline, but you will never take my freedom Twitter. pic.twitter.com/nx086U0PTY
Pinterest upgrades its ad options
Get ready to see more ads on Pinterest, as sources reveal that its much-anticipated video ads have arrived. The videos, currently being tested amongst small groups of users, work with an autoplay function triggered by scrolling over them. Pinterest has been trying to make its platform more accessible to advertisers for a while now, and has also extended the reach of its ad-buying tool, Promoted Pins Ads Manager, to target up to 420 user interests such as food, beauty and fashion, and opened it up to all small and medium sized businesses. This allows marketers to buy ads against phrases such as “healthy food,” “street-style fashion” or you know, “sixties taxidermy.”
Dove campaign measures how positive your tweets are
According to Dove, 80 percent of women come across negative chatter on social media, with 72 percent of girls saying that they encounter negativity on social media weekly. I think we can all think of instances were we have witnessed bodyshaming or just general low-life slimeball comments, and Dove’s new tool seeks to put an end to this mindless chatter. The #SpeakBeautiful effect breaks down which body-related words people use the most and when negative chat peaks throughout the day. To get involved, a Twitter user needs to retweet a post on Dove’s Twitter account tagged with the hashtag #SpeakBeautiful; Dove will then respond in a matter of minutes with a custom report, letting you know how your tweets compare and what emotions you’re showing. I discovered that my confidence was ‘inspiring’ (winning) and I post my most negative feelings between 3am – 5am; probably a result of the unavoidable self-loathing-eaten-another-drunken-kebab tweets.
Jameson serves up geofilter ads on Snapchat
Irish… Whiskey… so St.Patrick’s Day has got to be a pretty big deal, right? It certainly is for Jameson, as it became the first alcohol brand to buy an age-gated, US-wide Snapchat geofilter. The campaign enabled Snapchatters to have access to an overlay graphic of a Jameson bottle and a shot glass on their photos which they could then share with their followers. But before you take to Mumsnet, Jameson ensured it only reached users over the age of 21. Jameson has had success with Snapchat previously, promoting their Black Barrel whiskey on the platform at Thanksgiving which had good results. Jameson said that the campaign felt like the perfect opportunity to put the brand in front of the right people at the right time. However, being Irish myself, any time is the right time for a whiskey.
Allstate celebrates March Madness on Twitter and Snapchat
It’s college basketball season, otherwise known as March Madness, and brands are in full-swing to get involved in the action. While Twitter will likely dominate lots of the social conversation around games, Snapchat is also looking to get a shate of the action. Brands like Allstate are opting to move some of the chatter to Snapchat’s Live Stories section; the insurance company has been running ads within the March Madness Live Story as part of its annual March Mayhem campaign. But Allstate hasn’t abandoned Twitter – there it has pitted former astronaut Buzz Aldrin against longtime sportscaster Dick Vitale to make predictions for the NCAA March Madness. The claws have come out, see for yourself how the rivalry is playing out.
House of Cards responds to Malcolm Turnbull’s election threat
After Malcolm Turnbull announced he was making the Australian Senate return to work three weeks early, threatening to call a double dissolution election unless they passed legislation to reinstate the building industry watchdog, the prime minister turned to Twitter to announce “the time for game playing is over”. BUUUUUUUURN. To heat things up even more, the official Twitter account for Netflix’s House of Cards series got involved, by responded aptly:
.@TurnbullMalcolm I admire your methodology, Prime Minister. If you don’t like how the table is set, turn over the table.
