Anyone else feel like Snapchat is just the immature little brother everyone in the family is waiting on to grow up? Well, welcome to adulthood, Snapchat. No armpit hair has yet been spotted, but the notoriously brand unfriendly platform announced they will be following social suit and introducing a long-awaited self service tool that will make it easier for marketers to advertise and spend those big kid $$$. Through the platform, ad managers will be able to buy, manage, optimise and view reports. All Snapchat ad types (app install, long-form video, webview) will be available with targeting capabilities and goal-based bidding. Advertisers can also manage key assets – from video to first-party audience lists – directly within the tool.
Similar to Facebook, Snapchat’s business manager also centralises administration of advertisers’ key information. Advertisers can manage members, roles and permissions, access levels, billing contacts, as well as ad accounts, and more, according to Snapchat. The tool will become available in Australia sometime next month.
Junkee Media Launches Its First Original Content Series ‘Life Lessons’
Seeking Tinder advice? Well, some made up girl named Liv and her trusty made up mate, Zoe, have you covered in Junkee Media’s new original content webisode series “Life Lessons.” Following the content trend, the weekly episodes are targeted at millennials to teach them how to survive the messy, mysterious modern world. Junkee, an Australian publisher, has invested in young content creators Kristina Ross and Vanessa Buckley to star in the series as BFF4Ls Liv and Zoe.
“It covers every youth topic possible, from how to become a social media influencer to what not to do on your next Tinder date.” Junkee CEO and self-proclaimed millennial expert, Neil Ackland, said in a statement. So if your thumbs are sore from swiping, take a break from Tinder and tune into the show.
YouTube also Jumps on Board the Original Content Train
In case you’re not a 15-year-old single girl seeking life advice from the internet, YouTube has announced it will also be launching 40 original programs exclusively for the platform. Half a dozen of the shows will be supported by brand sponsorship, with Johnson & Johnson being one of the first brands to be named. They are partnering on a talent competition called Best Cover Ever. Thirty others will be on the subscription side of the platform, YouTube Red, and will be created by influencers.
Australians are Spending More Time Consuming Content
The web analytics company Alexa has released a list of the top 50 websites Australians are visiting. Google’s Australian website was the most visited, followed by YouTube, Google’s US site, Facebook and then Reddit. Looking at the top 10 results, social researcher Mark McCrindle found that “people are increasingly time-poor and how they consume that content has changed, and businesses and all communication creators are working out they can’t just add more content, more words, it’s about shorter not longer.”
Social media takes up a large share of Australia’s online traffic, accounting for ten sites in the top 50. Interestingly, the entertainment website Diply has emerged into the top 10, beating out popular websites like Twitter, Netflix, Instagram and Gumtree.
Facebook Smashes Q1 as It Heads Towards 2 Billion Total Users
Facebook has had a very strong first quarter, reaching $8.03 billion in revenue from 1.94 billion users (up from 1.86 billion last quarter). It’s being predicted that it will hit 2 billion users in Q2. Not much else to say about this but…here’s some charts. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Facebook Debuts a Twitter-Like ‘Latest Conversations’ Feature
In an attempt to officially wipe Twitter off the Face of this earth, Facebook unveiled a new feature that attempts to get people involved in ‘trending’ conversations beyond what their friends and cousins and random old coworkers are babbling about on their Newsfeed. ‘Latest Conversations’ will now show up in your search results and showcase recent public posts about timely topics that people are talking about and that you might interested in. The conversations will live update and also a real-time tracker will show how many people are actually talking about it at that very moment.
Facebook Is Rolling out Instant Games for All Its Users
An announcement has been made that all Facebook users will be able to play Instant Games on Messenger and that new rich gameplay is being rolled out as discussed at F8. Rich gameplay involves things like ‘turn-based’ games and woven in leaderboards. Zynga’s Words With Friends is one of the first to join the roster, so make some time in your busy schedule.
May the forced marketing be with you May 4th (aka Star War’s Day) brought some real Form Poopers out to play by way of planned reactive content. Theme seems to be: very poorly photoshopped floating objects and regret. Take a look, if you dare.
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