We Are Social’s Tuesday Tune Up #179

Tuneup
jacqui.jewell

Facebook launches iOS Ads Manager app

Facebook now has over 2 million active advertisers, so the social advertising leader has launched a mobile app to help users manage their ads direct from their smartphones. The app will allow users to create ads, track spending, edit scheduling, view results and receive ad performance notifications. It has initially launched in the US, but will roll out globally over the next few months. An Android version should also be available later this year.

Twitter improves conversion tracking tools

Last week, Twitter announced two key enhancements to its conversion tracking tool – transaction values and key conversion tags. Transaction values allows advertisers to track the sales driven by a promoted tweet campaign, making it easier to report on ROI. Additionally, key conversion tags allow advertisers to pick a target conversion type for their campaign, Twitter can then optimise the campaign and focus reporting towards the chosen tag.

ROI campaigns mashup

New boss at Google+ shakes things up

Google’s social network has just got a new leader in Brad Horowitz, who plans to change things up to bring life back to the platform. Rumoured plans include making Hangouts and Photos each act as stand-alone tools.

Pinterest pitches multi-image promoted pins

Pinterest continues to push forward in efforts to monetise the platform. Last week, it pitched a multi-pin carousel to potential advertisers, which would enable promoted pins to show more than one photo. Facebook and Twitter both offer similar ad features, such as the four-image tweets. A Pinterest spokesperson said it’s “just one example of many things we’re testing”.

Barclays UK introduces payments via Twitter handles

Barclays recently announced that it will allow people using its Pingit mobile app to make payments to peers and small businesses using solely their Twitter handles. This update will be the first of its kind for a British bank and launches on the 10th March for iOS and Android.

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So, what colour was THAT dress?

Last week, the world went wild for a picture of dress. Was it blue and black or white and gold? On Friday, the Huffington Post featured our research which showed that white and gold was leading #TheDress debate, despite confirmation that it is in fact blue and black. Luckily, science has stepped in, explaining that the colours you see are predetermined by the brightness of your screen and the genetic makeup of your eyes.

As expected from viral conversations nowadays, a whole host of brands joined in on the action, some more successfully than others:

and our very own:

Twitter’s New Recap Feature

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Twitter’s new recap feature officially debuted on iOS a month ago, but now “while you were away” has arrived on Android devices.

The feature moves away from the chronological format that Twitter has long relied on. Instead of displaying the most recent tweets, “while you were away” also displays the “top” tweets since the last time you’ve opened the app. It is based on an analysis of tweet engagement and users habits.

“While you were away” puts Twitter more in line with Facebook’s algorithm-driven News Feed, though Twitter says it will remain more focused on real-time updates. To those who scoff at change: There isn’t a way to turn the feature off. There isn’t a way to turn the feature off.

“If you check in on Twitter now and then for a quick snapshot of what’s happening, you’ll see this recap more often; if you spend a lot of time on Twitter already, you’ll see it less,” Paul Rosania, a Twitter product manager, wrote in a blog post about the new feature on Wednesday.