Instagram announced that businesses are now able to schedule posts on Instagram. This has been added to Instagram’s API and is available to all Facebook Marketing Partners and Instagram Partners – including Sprinklr.
The update is part of a larger Instagram API revamp that is planned to happen over the next two years. The new Instagram Graph API will include the ability to analyze metrics and insights on a business’s performance on Instagram, moderate comments and access their mentions and add responses to those. Another new feature in the works is business discovery, which offers the ability to view other business profiles and media.
Instagram is improving their Insta-stories for advertisers, allowing them to share up to 3 pieces of media per Story ad; previously they were limited to 1. This gives businesses more freedom to add depth to their storytelling. They’re also allowed to be more creative with their feed, with drawing tools and stickers to customise their videos.
From the users’ perspective, they will be able to pause on a content which catches their eye, swipe backward or forward as they see fit. Instagram is currently testing this new feature with a handful of advertisers.
Snapchat has announced a new feature called Bitmoji Deluxe, which adds hundreds more options to customise your avatar. There are options to change skin tones, hairstyles, hair colors, facial features, accessories and more. The feature also allows you to instantly preview changes to your bitmoji and snap a selfie to use as reference.
The Super Bowl – whether you’re into American football or not, chances are, you’ve heard of it. Amassing approximately 110 million US viewers and 50 million international viewers every year, the Superbowl is not only a massive sporting event – it’s also a major advertising event, providing a coveted platform for brands to reach audiences whose eyes are already glued to the screen. However, this potential viewership for brands does not come cheap – a 30 second commercial spot during the event’s halftime show can cost more than 5 million US dollars. To make the most of such a steep price tag, brands continually push the boundaries of creativity as they vie to produce the most talked-about ad of the Super Bowl.
However, as Skittles proved during this past Sunday’s Super Bowl, you don’t always need to leave a 5 million dollar dent in your pocket to stand out from the crowd. Rather than chasing the 160 million potential viewers, Skittles created the most exclusive Super Bowl ad ever, shown only to one person – Marcos Menendez, a teenager from Canoga Park, USA. Skittles. At the end of the first quarter, Skittles showed the ad to Menendez and simultaneously live-streamed his reaction on Facebook. While the actual stream on Facebook amassed less than 50,000 views, coverage quickly picked up on the the incredibly unorthodox – albeit creative – stunt, making Skittles one of the most talked about brands of the event.
