We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #454
As part of its second-quarter financial results, Facebook has revealed that over 2.1 billion people now use its family of apps — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger — on a daily basis, with more than 2.7 billion doing so on a monthly basis. Facebook itself also reported having 2.41 billion monthly active users at the end of the quarter, up eight per cent year-on-year.
Despite its recent problems, Facebook’s Q2 revenue stood at an impressive $16.886 billion, up 28 per cent from $13.231 billion in the second quarter of 2018. Almost all of its revenue was generated through advertising, with mobile advertising accounting for 94 per cent of its total advertising revenue for the quarter – up from 91 per cent last year.
Snap’s stock jumps after beating Q2 expectations
Snapchat parent company, Snap has beaten Wall Street’s expectations with its Q2 2019 financial results, reporting higher-than-anticipated revenue of $388 million, up 48 per cent year-on-year, and daily user numbers of 203 million, up eight per cent year-on-year. Overall, Snapchat added 13 million daily active users – its highest since the second quarter of 2016 – with much of the new user growth coming from outside of North America and Europe. The news sent Snap’s stock price up nearly 12 per cent in after-hours trading.
Twitter announces new mDAU figures in its Q2 report
As part of its Q2 financial results announcement, Twitter has revealed that its total number of monetisable daily active users (mDAUs) – its new, preferred audience metric – have reached 139 million people, up 14 per cent on its second quarter last year. However, despite the switch to the more promising mDAU reporting format, it’s proving hard for Twitter to escape the long shadow of its waning monthly active users (MAU). These were reported at 330 million in the last quarter, represented a drop of six million users when compared to Q1 of 2018.
Along with its user numbers, Twitter also announced that it made $727 million in advertising revenues in Q2, up 21 per cent from last year, with its multiple video ad formats continuing to show strong growth. Overall, revenues for the quarter stood at $841 million, up 18 per cent from last year.
YouTube makes masthead ads available to all brands
After the completion of its beta-test, which began in February, YouTube has now opened up the option of buying ads on its masthead to all brands on the platform. Advertisers can now buy ads based on either CPM or cost per day, or at a fixed rate with a minimum spend.
LinkedIn rolls out new ‘Services’ listings for profiles
In a move to help freelancers and small and midsize businesses stand out on its platform, LinkedIn is slowly adding a new feature that will enable users to showcase the services they provide on their profile. In addition to the new profile listings, the platform has also updated its search functionality to include services. The features have currently been released to small business leaders and freelancers with a Premium Business subscription in the US, it will be made available to those without a subscription later in the year with a wider rollout in the future.
Pinterest introduces Mobile Ad Tools
Pinterest has launched a new set of tools which will allow advertisers to create ad campaigns from their mobile device for the first time. The new tools come with a streamlined targeting process, campaign controls and editing options, and performance metrics to help simplify the process for advertisers. The new Mobile Ad Tools are now available to businesses in the US, with global expansion to follow.
Twitter gets people talking IRL with worldwide #Tweetups
In its largest experiential marketing event to-date, Twitter is hoping to get people talking IRL by bringing #Tweetups into the real world. The activation, part of a partnership with Shared_Studios, invites people to step into shipping containers and have a video chat with people in dozens of locations around the world. Each location has translators on hand and users will be paired with people based on time zones. The activation will run until August 4th and includes locations such as Berlin, Nairobi, Lagos, Chicago, Stockholm, Paris and New York.
Infiniti puts fans behind the wheel with Instagram Stories
Luxury car brand, Infiniti has released a new immersive Instagram Stories experience that allows you to (virtually) drive its new Q60 coupé around a racetrack. After selecting the car colour, users will see a series of quiz questions asking you to select your next action. Using the recently added ‘Quick Reactions’ option for Instagram’s Quiz Stickers, each Sticker lasts for a shorter time than the one before. The experience is currently available in the Highlights section of Infiniti’s USA Instagram account.
The UK ASA gives Love Islanders a guide for ads on social
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and ITV have given Love Island contestants a new checklist to help them follow the rules when it comes to advertising on social media. The ASA says it’s also going to speak to the agents who represent the contestants to ensure that the rules are followed, and it hopes that this will help the Islanders to avoid being penalised.