This week there were some product announcements that sound pretty dull. New branded content tools and verified domains – Wooo! They really are interesting though, especially if you rewrite the headlines. “Branded Content Tools” becomes, “Many Influencers are Lawbreakers” and Instagram is Helping them Become Law Abiding.” We won’t tell you to “READ MORE NOW!” because data analysis tells us urgency doesn’t convert, but we’ll give you the satisfaction of sounding smarter to your colleagues when you’ve skimmed our summaries of what’s happening this week in the world of digital and social media.
Instagram: Branded Content Tools on Instagram
Many influencers and brands are breaking the law, and Instagram’s new feature makes obeying the law easier. By law, influencers have to disclose paid partnerships or promotions. Something many are failing to do according to the FTC. Instagram’s new feature makes it easier to clearly display promoted or partner posts.
Advertising
Retail Dive: 3 Holiday Marketing Hacks
An analysis of data from back-to-school email promotions (yes, email) looked at what works when it comes to big, seasonal sales. It turns out emotion and personalization are important but the key is to focus on the right emotions. Urgency is often a big component of seasonal sales (“ACT NOW!”), but that’s one of the emotions with the lowest conversion rate. Instead, achievement and gratification moved people to action.
Facebook: Verify my domain in Business Manager
Do you miss the good ol’ days when you could edit link previews on Facebook to add just the perfect headline and compelling photo? After Facebook yanked those privileges to cut down on fake news they’re slowly addressing the problems that lack of editing capability created for some brands. Now, you can get permission to edit link previews on domains once you verify that you own them.
Wired: 280 Characters are Forcing Twitter Users to Be Creative All Over Again (Kinda)
If you’ve been on Twitter recently you know people have 140 more characters to use. Some people have been using them to complain, others have been putting those characters to creative use. Our favorite is NASA’s use of the extra “space.” Platform changes, welcome or unwelcome, always bring brands new ways to get creative! If you’re still determined to protest 280 characters by self-abbreviating to 140 characters you can get this Chrome plug-in to make counting characters easier.
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Thanks @Twitter, we can
always use more space ?
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* ☄️#280characters— NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) November 8, 2017
Snapchat
Social Media Today: Snapchat Launches Revamped Ads Manager, Provides New Ad Options
Snapchat would love to have more of your advertising dollars so they’ve made some changes to their ad platform. One new feature is Audience Filters, which allow you to display a branded filter to people with certain interests instead of just by geographic location. We’ve found you still need to drive awareness of these filters off-platform to really see much return.
On the Blog:
- 5 Ways Starting a Business is Like Learning to Surf
- Tackling Thin Content & The Battle Over Quality vs. Quantity
- Questions to Consider Before Discussing a Project with Your Graphic Designer
- The Biggest PR Disasters of 2017 – Part 1
Project Highlight:
Oskar Blues Brewery | Brand Timeline Infographic – Oskar Blues Brewery’s complex story needed to be told succinctly – from its humble beginnings as a restaurant/live music venue in Lyons, Colo., to one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the country with three restaurants, a farm, their own mountain bikes and a new production brewery in Brevard, NC.
