We Are Social Asia Tuesday TuneUp #102
Pinterest to launch Japanese version
According to its company blog, Pinterest will launch a Japanese version of its pinboard-style photo-sharing site. Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten announced it would lead a $100 million funding round for Pinterest. The Japanese version will include exclusive localized features like a hair-styles sub-category, paper crafts, and more. According to Alexa, Pinterest is more popular in Canada and US, where it ranks 12th and 13th based on a combination of average daily visitors and page views, while it ranks 239th in Japan. Rakuten is likely to use Pinterest to drive traffic to its e-commerce site, which will be a new way for brand and consumer interaction. A study shows that Pinterest users have greater potential on spending money online than the average Facebook users. The official launch date of Pinterest’s Japanese version is announced, we will be keeping an eye on it.
Sina Weibo has 60.2 million daily active users
In Sina’s recent Q3 earnings report, Weibo has 60.2 million daily active users, up 11.2 percent. This is a larger jump than the 8.3 percent growth in Q2. Modelling itself after the huge popularity of chat apps, weibo is introducing its mobile-oriented subscriptions to brand/celebrity accounts, as reveal by Sina CEO, Charles Chao. According to Chao, it will be “an important experiment to convert Weibo from a social media platform to social media and a service platform.”
WeChat has over 2 million global official accounts
Chinese social media giant Tencent, has over 2 million official accounts and 272 million monthly active users on WeChat. WeChat’s monthly active users has jumped from 15.3 percent to 124.3 percent as compared to the previous year. Tencent states that its main user-base as Mainland China, but has 100 million overseas registered users. QQ had been the most popular instant messaging app in China before WeChat’s growth in popularity.
Here are some takeaway points from Tencent’s Q3 2013 earning report:
- QQ instant messenger has 815.6 million monthly active user accounts.
- Peak number of simultaneous QQ users: 178.2 million.
- Monthly active users on QZone – the Facebook-like network strongly inked to QQ – hit 623.3 million, up just 0.5 percent from Q2.
US women are social shoppers
Research into the shopping habits of 1,005 US women has found that 28% consult a social platform before making a fashion purchase. The figure was higher among 18-24 year olds, of whom 83% use social for inspiration and advice. Fashion blogs and message boards were most popular among the younger segment and used by 63%, followed by Pinterest (58%), Facebook (54%) and Instagram (49%).
Facebook brings ‘contact via phone number’ to Messenger for iOS
Facebook has brought its ‘contact via phone number’ feature to its latest iOS Messenger app, as well as all Android phones – previously it was available to just a few Android users. The move sees the network target communication beyond people’s Facebook friends, putting it into further direct competition with other chat apps and SMS.
Twitter releases self serve ads in UK, Ireland and Canada
Twitter has further rolled out its self serve ads by including availability for small and medium sized businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada. The system allows users to bid on keywords/hashtags, promoting either an account or an individual tweet and being billed only when a Promoted Account receives a new follow, or someone performs an action on a Promoted Tweet. In the UK, the system is in partnership with mobile provider O2, which is providing benefits for those using the tool including a monitoring tool and a £50 ad credit.
Twitter improves mobile ad targeting
There’s another update to Twitter advertising, too: the company is allowing advertisers to target mobile users based on device, operating system or WiFi connectivity. Considering 76% of Twitter users access via mobile, the tool could well be a very useful one.
GIFs on Twitter?
Huzzah, GIFs on Twitter! For the first time, GIFs can appear animated when embedded in tweets. You still can’t post them natively, but the network has partnered with Giphy, allowing you to share GIF files from Giphy’s website.
Twitter brings alerts to UK and Ireland
Twitter is rolling out ‘alerts’, the system whereby users can subscribe to directly receive important information from emergency services, throughout the UK and Ireland. There are 57 different accounts that will have access to the feature, including all 47 UK police forces.
Pulse integration replaces LinkedIn Today
After purchasing Pulse for $90m in April, LinkedIn has announced increased integration that will replace the ‘LinkedIn Today’ feature. The new system will provide personalised stories for any user who logs in, which they can then share with the rest of their network. There are also updates to the Pulse mobile app, including the ability to log in using your LinkedIn account. This allows Pulse to take a user’s professional interests/who they follow on LinkedIn into account and display more relevant content as a result.
Pinterest introduces APIs & new languages, each pin worth 78 cents
Pinterest introduced APIs last week, allowing a select number of partners to embed pins in their sites, which can then be pinned by users directly. Jason Costa, developer relations at Pinterest, said of the feature:
If someone’s looking for Thanksgiving recipes on AllRecipes.com, they’ll see the most Pinned recipes from the site on the homepage. Or, they could go to Zappos.com to see which shoes Pinners covet most. You could use these APIs to show popular products on your homepage or to curate your top articles and other content on Pinterest at any given time. The Pins will regularly update, so you can always see what’s trending.
Some pretty big names are already involved, including Nestle, Walmart and Disney. It could be good news for them, too, as research has come out that suggests each pin is worth on average 78 cents in sales, up 25% from Q4 2012. Each pin also produces two site visits, six page views and ten repins, making it more viral than Twitter. The network is looking to further capitalise by expanding into four new Scandinavian markets; it has introduced language compatibility for Danish, Swedish, Norwegian Bokmål and Finnish.
American Express and Foursquare offer $50 ads vouchers
American Express has partnered with Foursquare to offer $50 Foursquare ad vouchers to small businesses in the US. The offer is available to any small business running their first ad through the platform.
Can Snapchat bring in ad revenue?
There’s an interesting piece in AdAge this week, which discusses Snapchat’s ability to bring in ad revenue, having rejected a $3bn takeover bid from Facebook. It discusses the network’s reach, with 350m snaps sent daily, but also points to its lack of data, due to its inherent privacy element. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel mentions a couple of potential revenue streams, including in-app purchases and native advertising, while the article also looks at brands already using the platform, including Taco Bell and the New Orleans Saints.
Sony and Facebook making PlayStation social
Sony has announced a partnership with Facebook, which looks to make its latest PlayStation console, the PS4, more social. Users can log in to the system with their Facebook account, allowing use of profile pictures and real name, along with the ability to share achievements or records across Facebook’s network.
O2 reward fans who ‘refer a friend’
Mobile provider O2 is launching its ‘refer a friend’ scheme in the UK, having already done so in Germany. The system offers £20 Amazon or M&S vouchers to people who recommend or share the company’s products on social networks, with a view to one day providing cash rewards.
#UncoverPhilips new logo through social
Technology brand Philips is asking fans to uncover its new logo through social media. For each user who ‘claims’ a pixel, more of the image becomes visible, until the new logo is available for all to see.
Panasonic appoint We Are Social for campaign support
Tech firm Panasonic has appointed We Are Social for creative campaign ideas, including product launches and above-the-line support. We Are Social’s own Sarah Oliver said of the move:
Panasonic has a strong brand and huge social potential. It has big ambitions for its social media activity and we’re looking forward to working closely with their team to deliver some truly creative and effective campaigns.
Brands show how to do Twitter community management
A number of brands teamed up for a brilliant Twitter conversation last week, all kicked off by Tesco mobile. They received the following from a fan:
They responded with the following, starting off a conversation:
Yorkshire Tea then got involved:
It ended up with plenty of other brands, including Jaffa Cakes, Cadbury and Phileas Fogg. The whole thing received a fair amount of press coverage, and shows the power of good community management.
Sachin Tendulkar posts most ever RTed tweet in India
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar retired last week and ended up posting India’s most RTed tweet of all time. To date, it’s received over 16,000 RTs and 10,000 favourites.
I am really touched with #ThankYouSachin messages. Your support all these years have inspired me to give my best.
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 13, 2013