Ltap Research: October 2015

Friday, October 30, 2015

#SocialSkim: The Strongest Social Brand, Plus 12 More Stories in This Week's Roundup

October 30, 2015

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Find out which is the strongest US social brand, how Google's helping users pick a costume this year, how Snapchat plans to improve video production offerings, and which content marketing horrors to avoid. Also: how Target won social points with a small Halloween promo.

Skim to stay in season!

Who's the fairest social brand of all?

The answer may surprise you: National Geographic, the 100-year-old magazine, is the US's leading social brand, per Shareablee's Top 25 Social US Brands in 2015. Once known for glossy magazine shots of rhinos in the untouched wild, NatGeo scored 482.5 million total interactions across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—462.1 million of which came from the latter, where it leads. Only 2% of its engagement comes from video, but that's probably because it's dominating an image-based sphere with, well, strong images.

On Facebook, Fox News ranks No. 1 with 59 million interactions, and Billboard owns Twitter with 6.1 million. Across the board, National Geographic beat the NFL, the WWE, the NBA, and the MLB. MTV, the second non-sport brand behind National Geographic, took sixth place, with 72.5 million interactions across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

1. Pablo: Your best buddy for social image sizing

Buffer's Pablo, which lets you combine text and images for social posts, was updated to automatically generate—and share—images the perfect size for any socnet you fancy. Use "Tall & vertical" for Pinterest and Google+, "Short & horizontal" for Twitter and Facebook, and the square format for Instagram or LinkedIn. You can also…

Schedule and share posts on Pinterest.
Center or justify text.
Copy/paste a default quote with your image, or highlight text on a webpage and add it to your creation.
Right-click an image to use it as a background.

2. Who rules early Instagram advertising?

SensorTower did the math and found that after Instagram opened its ad platform to all... game developers came to rule the roost. One in every 10 Instagram ads in October came from fantasy sports provider FanDuel. And, in general, game developers accounted for 27% of all Insta ads over that same period. Entertainment brands followed at 23%.

Check out the top 10 Instagram advertisers in the link above—and if you worry you're just not artsy enough for Insta, don't despair: Read this bit on why Honda basically uses Instagram to focus on sheet metal (because that's what its users like most).

3. How Google is helping people avoid being costume clichés...

...by making use of its Trends data with Halloween-themed Freitgeist, which tells you which costume ideas are trending locally and nationally across the United States. The execution is handy for users—who can avoid popping up in Eureka, CA, dressed like yet another Poison Ivy clone—and businesses, which can use the data to build clever campaigns that play on what people are most likely to see at every costumed event preceding tomorrow night.

To wit: Harley Quinn is currently the most-searched costume idea in the country, followed by Star Wars. Do with that information what you will. And if you want more data for the season, learn which candy social users like best.

4. Speed up, slow down, or reverse your Snapchat video replays

Snapchat's newest filters let you do all of the above, making it easier to impress a Millennial audience. Find them by swiping right after creating a video. The slow motion feature is illustrated as a snail image, fast-forward is a rabbit, and reverse arrows mean rewind.

This addition makes it easier for brands to attract roving eyes—but, crucially, it gives you the chance to play with different ways to be entertaining on the platform, which has been tricky for marketers so far.

5. Twitter disappoints the market

Twitter announced that Q4 revenue will be between $695 million and $710 million, way below analyst estimates of $740 million. Paired with its stagnating monthly active user count (316 million, up from 232 million in 2013), the picture isn't pretty, and analysts expressed "disappointment" about both the forecast and management's failure to explain why they're having so much trouble growing.

To compare, WhatsApp has 900 million monthly active users, Instagram has 400 million, and Facebook has 1.5 billion.

Newly reinstated CEO Jack Dorsey promises "bold" product changes over the next year that will affect Twitter, Periscope, and Vine.

6. But hey! Now you can follow more Tweeters you love

It's notoriously difficult to establish a solid Twitter presence, and many brands try boosting followers by using tools to follow huge numbers of relevant users at a time, hoping to score follow-backs. Until recently, people could follow only up to 2,000 users, after which further growth was restricted to about 10% of your following.

All that's changing, maybe in part because Twitter recognizes how frustrating this can be for brands at a time when it can't afford to alienate them. The follower ceiling has been raised to 5,000, even if you have no followers at all. Enjoy the freedom, but don't wild out! The following-to-followed ratio still matters to people checking your credibility. Here are more details and best-practices.

7. 65% of adults now use social networks

That's a nearly tenfold jump in ten years, says the Pew Research Center. Other cool details: 90% of those between 18 and 29 use social media, making them the most common users, but senior use is rising: 35% of people over 65 use social, up from 2% in 2005. Education matters, too: People with a higher education level and household income are more likely to go social, but 56% of people in the lowest-income brackets are also social media users.

8. The thumb is in charge: Everything you need to harness mobile

Facebook's launched a super-detailed article, the first in a three-part series on the importance of mobile and how marketers should shift their strategies to match new, thumb-based habits. The article comes with a PDF you can download and use to evangelize the gospel to your peers.

To start with, m-commerce is finally going mainstream: By Q4, the number of people who make a purchase via mobile will rise 30%. Already, 56% of "omni-channel shoppers" say they've made a purchase on a mobile device.

In the case of Millennials, the shift is more dramatic: 57% of their shopping journeys contain a mobile action, and 61% expect to use their smartphones more in-store. That's just the tip of the iceberg!

9. What else is Facebook up to?

So glad you asked. The 'Book is quietly testing a Local Market feature that lets users buy and sell stuff à la Craigslist (but with prettier icons). Given its desire to move the platform toward more business transactions, this may make people more receptive to on-platform sales pitches from businesses, which will rise as Facebook's e-commerce platform grows more sophisticated. Watch this space.

10. Will people pay for YouTube Red?

The platform went live on Wednesday and, YouTube permitting, we may soon learn the answer. Notably, it's paying creators during the free trial period, so hopes are high.

The platform costs $9.99 a month and lets you browse YouTube without ads, access original programs, save videos for offline viewing, play videos in the background on a mobile device, and access its Gaming app. That's a lot of love.

Question is, Even if the content's great and should be paid for, will people flip just like that for something that's been free for years?

11. Avoid these content marketing horrors

Just in time for the spookiest holiday we know, Greg Verdino provides six content don'ts, each themed like a classic monster.

There's the Vampire: A parasitic content program that sucks the life out of your organization, budget, and resources! Kill it by putting quality above quantity. Find out whether you've got one of these, a zombie, a ghost, a werewolf, Frankenstein, or The Invisible Man (you can probably guess what that's all about).

And if you still need help, check out this infographic on walking the marketing tightrope, which will teach you how to make content that's both shareable and trustworthy.

12. We'll wrap with something more touching than trick-or-treaty

Winning the social love vote this week is Target, which sent out a promotion of children's costumes that prominently featured a disabled girl dressed as Elsa from Frozen, which is probably still one of the most coveted kids' costumes of the season. One mother posted it on her Facebook, and the rest is social history...

Work like this illustrates the importance of demonstrating, even in quiet efforts, that you share the values of your users. No matter how much great content you produce, it's in such little moments that people find out what a brand is really about.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Here's a Buyer's Guide to Ad Targeting on 8 Social Platforms

The latest options from Facebook to Snapchat to Whisper ByChristopher Heine

October 26, 2015, 7:23 PM EDT
Technology

Social platforms have gotten much better at targeting in recent months. Illustration: Benjamin Jancewicz/Baltimore Academy of Illustration

We are living in a social world, a reality not lost on marketers. Last week, eMarketer reported 88 percent of all U.S. firms have a presence on at least one social media platform—which explains why the forecaster predicts advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and their social brethren will exceed $29 billion in 2016. As if on cue, Twitter just unveiled native video ads that can be targeted via its MoPub mobile apps network.

Here's what's changed with social: its targeting abilities, which in recent months have become dramatically more sophisticated. "There are definitely two schools of thought when it comes to the targeting abilities of social networks," says Tom Edwards, chief digital officer of agency business at Epsilon. "Those who are constantly refining their offerings and enhancing their targeting capabilities and those who rely on their readers to choose their own path."

"Social-platform ads are definitely maturing, not only in targeting opportunities, but in reach," adds Joe Gizzi, senior strategy director of Meredith Xcelerated Marketing. "I can now target ads within Facebook's owned app, subsidiary apps like Instagram and throughout its ad network, using all of the great intelligence I have about its users."

"But for marketers, these social platforms are still a black box," contends Gunnard Johnson, svp of data and analytics at Centro.

That's why we've broken down the targeting abilities of the eight most prominent social platforms (with a focus on the newest options when it comes to more-established players like Facebook and Twitter). Take a look:

Instagram

Instagram is quickly becoming the apple of big-brand marketers' eyes, especially now that Facebook stats are available on the platform. After a test period where only Fortune 500 companies could leverage both platforms at once, the spigot is now open to all marketers—including global companies that can target at the local level.

"The ability to combine Facebook's treasure trove of user data and targeting ability with Instagram's visually driven, highly engaged audience allows marketers to connect with consumers with much greater levels of sophistication," says Kyle Bunch, managing director of social at R/GA. "It enables us to effectively translate our brand story to have the maximum impact with each individual viewer."

Since September, Instagram has extended its ads offerings from eight to 38 countries, added 30-second ads, debuted landscape images and introduced a premium format called Marquee. Also, it is pitching call-to-action buttons that offer political marketers and other fundraisers the ability to employ a "Donate Now" button.

"Adding more of Facebook's targeting capabilities to Instagram has opened the door to much more sophisticated marketing," says Noah Mallin, head of social, MEC North America. "With the ability to serve sequential messaging across both platforms to specific audiences, we can begin to tie exposure to content with ROI-generating actions. "

Snapchat

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has famously said he doesn't want "creepy" advertising on his mobile-social platform thanks to hypertargeting, causing a misconception in the industry that his company only offers blanket branding. The hottest app actually offers targeting based on a myriad of situations, with live events being perhaps the best of the bunch. For instance, iHeartRadio recently accrued 340 million Snapchat impressions during its two-day music festival outside of Las Vegas.

Through the platform's channels called Live Stories, Local Stories and Discover, Snapchat can target video ads against events and locations—like a major sporting event. It can also target male versus female and, with select advertisers, can home in on users older than 18 or 21. This summer, Bud Light successfully tested the age-gating capability via a branded party on California's Catalina Island with success—and Jim Beam recently trialed the feature too. Snapchat ads can also be device targeted to consumers using an iPhone or Android. Snapchat's sponsored geofilters can zero in on one or many locations at once, such as a municipality, college campus or movie theater.

"The best and worst part about Snapchat ads is that it's a growing platform," says Azher Ahmed, svp, director of digital operations, DDB Chicago. "As such, growing pains are expected as its content changes the 'purity' of the experience. But exposure and engagement with new audiences is incredibly attractive to brands. Those willing to be authentic to the newer platforms in which they're engaging have a huge payoff."

Pinterest has had retailers' attention because shoppers appear to immensely enjoy the platform's visual emphasis. When it took the wraps off its long-anticipated Buyable Pins with buy buttons, interest only grew. "You've got to be careful not to lump Pinterest in with other platforms," explains Joe McCaffrey, head of social at Huge. "People visit there for specific ideas such as recipes or tips for cocktail parties. There's real purchase consideration there. All of which makes it a potentially powerful search engine."

Via an algorithm akin to Google Adwords, brands can target users that search the site based on what products interest them and in what price range. Generally, Pinterest ads can appear in search results, category feeds and the homepage feed, while homing in on folks based on location, device, gender, age and other interests. It can also retarget users who are brand-focused influencers.

"It's a little bit different than targeting people based on demographics or psychographics," McCaffrey adds. "But you aren't blanketing the masses. You are still taking aim at someone who appears to be in the purchase funnel."

Twitter

As Twitter tries to regain cred on Wall Street—its stock price has fallen 40 percent in the last year—ad revenue is key. Of its recently unveiled new products, the most noteworthy is autoplay video promos, which aim to attract TV-minded budgets. Brands such as Sony Pictures Entertainment, TV Land and Heineken have already jumped aboard, and are now promised to deliver 100 percent viewability.

"They are ideal for brands to create buzz for product rollouts and media launches," says marketing consultant David Deal. "Autoplay video ads inject a crucial element of video storytelling. Out of the gate, Twitter also effectively answered Facebook and Google with more attractive standards for charging for video views and the promise to employ third-party verification."

With the Twitter Audience Platform, the company boasts the ability to reach 700 million consumers. It's also ramped up its event targeting features as well as sales-conversions measurability for direct-response brands. Additionally, it has started offering Conversion Lift, which helps marketers weigh the effectiveness of Promoted Tweets, enabling them to better target ads. Referencing Conversion Lift data, Twitter says people who see Promoted Tweets are 1.4 times more likely to interact with a brand than those who don't see an ad.

Deal is taking a wait-and-see attitude: "I would look closely at how well Twitter targets an audience based on followers of Twitter accounts, which has traditionally been a selling point—in other words, the influencer effect."

Facebook

Since August, Facebook has debuted six new ad products that build on its abilities to target its nearly 1 billion daily users' various shown interests. Chief among them is TRP (target-rating point) buying, to help determine the cost of Facebook video ads while informing participating brands on how to target consumers there. A TRP, by definition, is a specific consumer audience within a gross-rating point (GRP), which has been a key metric for TV ad buying since the 1950s. TRP buying leans on the social giant's partnership with Nielsen's Digital Ad Ratings division, which will verify how well Facebook's video ads perform in conjunction with TV spots.

"Our clients are always looking at channel attribution, and this closes the gap a little more for us in proving what all agencies continue to promote—cross-channel marketing," says Stephanie Spero, North American director of media strategy and business director, Tribal Worldwide.

Also this fall, Facebook released tools so a brand can measure how many viewers probably recall an ad. Then, an advertiser can group them and employ Facebook's database to find other users who have similar interest-level profiles. Called brand awareness optimization, the data-based tool will let marketers know which people appeared to spend quality time viewing a newsfeed, video or display promo. But it's not employing a typical "time-spent" metric, where viewers are clocked for a certain number of seconds and then tallied as an "engagement" or an "interaction." Rather, it's designed to measure when viewers momentarily slow their scrolling to check out an ad.

Lastly, among other moves, dynamic product ads have become an option on Facebook's mobile network, letting retailers create relevant and timely ads based on the products people have visited on their app while leveraging digital pages around for-sale items as part of their social ad strategy.

Kik

This immensely popular app among teens and college students has an emerging ad unit called Kik Points, which lets brands offer videos or stickers as users tally up scores in a game scenario. K-Swiss made use of it and saw 55 percent of viewers signaling intent to purchase the brand's gear—Kik plans to take it out of beta in Q1 2016. The ad unit offers gender, age, operating system and location targeting.

The ad unit builds on Kik Promoted Chats, which are bots that marketers can use as an acquisition tool (they lean on gender targeting). Dozens of brands including Funny or Die, Seventeen magazine and Vans have successfully trialed it.

Despite Kik's huge user stats, Jason Stein, CEO of Laundry Service, questions whether it could compete with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but adds, "I'm sure this will evolve given all of the data that Kik can collect."

Whisper

Marketers may not think that anonymity-based platforms offer much in the way of ad targeting, but Whisper does. It pitches keyword targeting that lets marketers zero in on Whisper's 10 million users in terms of what moods they're in (happy, depressed, bored, puzzled, etc.). The nascent app's rabid audience is getting brands' attention, recently attracting more than a dozen campaigns from the likes of MTV, Fox, Coca-Cola and Paramount Pictures.

"It's early days, but we're encouraged by the engagement results and the conversation sparked," says Jennifer Healan, group director of integrated marketing content at Coca-Cola North America. "It's important to us to explore new social media pathways as we innovate in the digital space."

Here's something political marketers may like: Closet liberals and conservatives in red and blue states, respectively, often express their true legislative leanings via Whisper and can be nudged with an ad to get them to cast a vote they believe in.

Tumblr

The Yahoo-owned social player focuses more on its content-creators program that entertainment marketers love, but it does have some data targeting. Tumblr Sponsored Posts and Sponsored Videos can be targeted by gender, shown interests and location—advertisers including AT&T, Tombstone Pizza and JetBlue have run ads.

"It's made the least progress [with data targeting] when you look across platforms," remarks Huge's McCaffrey. "Working with brands on content creation seems to be its bigger point of emphasis."