Ltap Research

Monday, October 16, 2017

#SocialSkim: LinkedIn's New Sales Navigator, Snapchat's Transformative Feature

This week: Snapchat's feature that will transform how people use the app and how businesses will be discovered; LinkedIn's upgrade of its Sales Navigator, and what it means for marketing and sales; which social network just surpassed Netflix for online video viewing; Twitter's new bookmarking feature to help users stay organized; how and why to use two-person Instagram Live Stories; Taylor Swift to launch her own social app; how social media could improve teenager self-esteem; more...

Skim to stay in tip-top social media shape!

1. Snapchat's Context Cards will transform the way people use the app

Snapchat introduced Context Cards, a new feature that enables users to swipe up on Stories and Snaps with its generic venue-specific geofilters to retrieve detailed information about a specific location—whether a restaurant, bar, hotel, or county fair.

Context Cards populate relevant stuff that users want to see, like reviews, comments, directions, contact information, and more from Snap partners TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Michelin, and OpenTable, among others. Oh, and users will also be able to hail an Uber or Lyft with a few clicks to get to that spot.

It's a brave new world for Snapchat to explore, blending the added value that apps like TripAdvisor and Google Maps provide, with the word-of-mouth and implied recommendations provided by users' most important digital reference group: their Snapchat friends.

2. LinkedIn's Campaign Manager and Sales Navigator become one

LinkedIn's research shows that marketing and sales teams don't work as hand-in-hand as we'd like, meaning marketers' ability to precisely target the leads the salespeople are working on is less than ideal.

Fear not: the professional social network will now integrate its Sales Navigator platform, used by sales teams to track leads with its Campaign Manager so marketers can more effectively target and advertise to the leads their colleagues are pursuing.

Marketers will still control creative and budget, but they'll also now be able to market directly to the companies their sales reps have pegged as leads, and the sales team will be able to get important insights into how prospects are interacting with marketing campaigns.

3. Guess who just surpassed Netflix for online video?

YouTube might still be the most watched video service in the world by a very wide margin, but Facebook just clawed passed Netflix to take the number two spot.

A recent study from Ampere Analysis shows that although YouTube boasts double Facebook's number of eyeballs watching video, Zuckerberg's social network video content is being watched at least once per month by 32.8% of Internet users in the study.

Facebook's Instagram also made a surprise visit to the top 10 with 15.9% of Internet users watching videos on the platform—coming in at number four, just behind Netflix.

Netflix users might certainly be more highly involved in the service than Facebook users in theirs, and watch for longer, but the study shows that Facebook is becoming a major player in online video—and marketers must prepare.

4. What marketers need to know about two-person Instagram live video

Instagram is in the process of rolling out the ability for users to bring a second guest into their Instagram Live Stories, meaning you have a new platform to show off your products or services with live Q&A sessions with experts, livestreams with influencers, interviews, customer testimonials, and much more.

The new feature could help brands get more personal with their followers and communicate in a more familiar, less salesy manner than traditional marketing tactics. But just how exactly can your company plan effectively for a two-person live video on Instagram, and what steps are important to take prior to pressing "go live"? Social Media Examiner's got the answers.

5. Facebook's new AR tool will let you attend concerts and sports matches with friends

The social network plans to release an app called "Venues" next year that will let users with augmented reality gear watch live concerts, attend movie premieres, and view live sports matches, "all around the world with friends" and others.

The app, produced by Facebook's own Oculus system, could spell trouble for third-party AR apps like FoxVR, since the Facebook-produced app might be given preferential treatment in the Oculus ecosystem.

Facebook's proclaimed goal is to get 1 billion people involved in AR next year. Why leave the comfort of your own home?

6. Twitter's new bookmarking feature sure to please the masses

Ever come across an article tweeted by a crazy that you want to save to read later out of pure curiosity, but been hesitant to favorite it with Twitter's heart symbol in fear that your followers think you agree with it? Soon you won't have to.

Twitter is developing a bookmarking feature, for now dubbed Save for Later, that will let users create a separate list of items they want to refer to in the future. Such a bookmarking feature, already launched on Facebook years ago, has been frequently requested by Twitter users, and it appears the social network is willing to give fans what they're asking for. Now if only it could turn around Twitter's seemingly endless bad luck.

7. Messenger could lose out to Snapchat and Instagram by 2021

eMarketer has revised its growth expectations downward by 9.4 million users for Facebook's Messenger after a study's latest figures showed more robust engagement among teens on Snapchat and Instagram.

That's not to say Messenger won't still dominate the chat market, but it could suggest Messenger needs some design work and new ways to keep its youngest users engaged.

eMarketer's also suggested that the number of apps used by Americans will decline next year as consumers "consolidate their behavior into fewer apps," particularly likely with apps like Messenger and WhatsApp, which are slowly integrating new features that make it less necessary for users to leave the apps' environment.

8. All you need to know about YouTube in 2017

YouTube can sometimes feel like a world apart from other social platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, but as those latter networks continue to push farther into video, it's imperative that your brand understands just how tremendous YouTube's reach is, how it's becoming more social, and what type of content takes the cake among its users.

Filmora's infographic hits the nail on the head with the key stats, from what percentage of viewing comes from mobile devices and what terms are most searched for to whether bloggers, gamers, or scientists and technologists boast the most content on the platform. Consider it a crash course before your team strikes YouTube off its social media strategic plan.

9. Living that Swift life: Taylor Swift to launch a social media app dedicated to her

Look what you made her do. The country-turned-pop princess has announced a late 2017 launch of The Swift Life, a dedicated social media app to let Swift fans connect with each other, see exclusive pictures and video, and just generally follow her every move.

The Swift Life will feature Taylor-inspired emojis (called Taymojis), replies from the singer herself, and the chance for users to listen Swift's music via the app.

It could all be tied to Swift's and Ticketmaster's recent announcement of a sort of pay-to-play ticketing system that puts fans that have purchased the singer's albums and interacted with the Swift brand on social media further up in the online queue for concert tickets. We'll just have to wait and see.

10. Just a question of time: Instagram launches Facebook integration for Stories

You know that top section on your Facebook app that's filled with empty circles where your friends' Stories are supposed to go? Those might soon be filled. Instagram has rolled out the ability for its American users to cross-post their Instagram Stories directly to Facebook, and Facebook might be working on a tool to do the opposite, too.

The move follows Facebook's struggle to make Stories work on its platform, so apparently it decided it was time to take advantage of Instagram's 250 million-plus Stories users, an impressive number that's surpassed Snapchat's despite Instagram Stories' much shorter existence.

11. We'll wrap with a diverging view: social media's positive influence on teenagers

We're bombarded—seemingly weekly—with stories about the dangers social media can pose for its youngest, most impressionable users. But can media, and particularly one that's social in nature, be an absolutely good or bad thing?

Some academics and therapists think the overwhelming number of warnings about social media's negative influence on young users' mental health overshadow to a great extent the benefits such platforms can have.

Some teens, they argue, experience boosts in self-esteem when viewing their own Facebook profiles, which often highlight their best traits and help users remember what's best about themselves. Other studies show that social media serves as a critical source of social and emotional support for countless teens that they can't find elsewhere, particularly for marginalized teens in difficult circumstances.

Social media is an integral part of society—and here to stay—so parents, teachers, and mentors must be ready to guide youth on how, and how not, to use social media wisely.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

SocialSkim: Twitter Tests Longer Tweets; LinkedIn User Content Preferences

This week's 'Skim: Twitter tests longer tweets (but how long and for whom?); LinkedIn users' content preferences; Facebook rolls out ability for brands to retarget physical-store shoppers on the social network; Instagram could soon hit one billion users; new app tbh tops app store charts, aims for positivity among teens; four tools to help your brand research competitors' social media strategy; Homeland Security's plan to collect immigrants' social media info; and much more...

Skim for your weekly social media rundown!

1. Twitter testing longer tweets... for some

That's right, Twitter's famous 140-character constraint might soon get the boot. The news is coming right from the mouth of co-founder Jack Dorsey himself. The social network is testing the ability for a small group of users to tweet with 280 characters, doubling the former limit, in the hope that users will post more.

Twitter's original 140-character limit was an arbitrary choice by the company, back when tweets were sent as text messages, which were limited to 160 characters themselves. Language seems to affect how users tweet. Japanese speaking users, for example, can express themselves in much fewer characters and have less of a hard time sticking to Twitter's 140-character limit.

Twitter will collect data on the test prior to deciding on a platform-wide rollout in the future. And, no, for now President Trump isn't a part of the test group.

2. Get to know the content preferences of LinkedIn users

Recent research from the professional social network provides some crucial insight into exactly just what content LinkedIn users want to see as they scroll down their news feeds.

The figures shed light on what your brand could be doing better on the platform to engage its community and ultimately drive leads. The largest proportion of users cite educational/informative content and content that's relevant to their specific interests as the first things to catch their eyes, but what type of content do they find the most compelling? Are tips and best practices the way to go, or do users want product information? How many ad types should your brand test?

Find all that out and more, here.

3. Facebook rolls out offline-online targeting via Custom Audiences

Big news for those interested in digitally retargeting users who have previously visited their brick-and-mortar store, called their business by phone, or made an in-store purchase within the last 30 days: Facebook's rolling out the ability for brands to do just that with ads across Facebook, Instagram, and its wider Audience Network.

This capability adds on to advertisers' previous abilities to retarget audiences based on other offline activities, such as email addresses and phone numbers of customers from newsletter lists or loyalty programs. It also means that users who have allowed Facebook to track their location via the mobile app at all times should expect to receive ads from businesses they've popped into physically, which could be viewed as either very helpful to the consumer or an overreach infringing on privacy.

4. 'tbh' tops app store charts, but what is it?

Social platforms like YikYak and Secret have received their fair share of criticism for enabling cyberbullying, particularly among the demographic arguably most likely to experience its negative effects—teens. But social app tbh, teen slang for "to be honest," hopes to change all that. Considering its success in reaching number one in app stores, it might well be on its way.

Instead of leaving users free to say what they want without having their names associated with their words, tbh provides prompts to its users about four random contacts in their phones—such as who has the most integrity—which users then answer anonymously. Answers are saved within the app, meaning users can go back and check out their list of attributes when they might be feeling down.

The (addictive) catch? Users can answer only 12 questions per hour, and some users apparently just can't get enough. The tbh team's stated goal is making this generation happier, and they might be well on their way.

5. YouTube revamps analytics to help brands focus on subscribers

Subscribers trends have never been something easy for brands to track on YouTube, let alone figuring out where new subscribers came from. Since the Google-owned video and social network has introduced new, interactive features, including end screens, that job's gotten only more difficult. But YouTube's product team has revamped its analytics reports to help brands get a bit more insight into exactly what's driving subscriber growth.

A new "YouTube Watch Page" within Subscriber Reports will detail how many subscribers came from a specific video, and a new "Interactive Features" category will show just how effective your end screens and cards are at generating new subscribers. Tons of new details, all explained here, should get you on your way to better understanding how to drive views and subscriptions for your channel.

6. Twitter's live-video ambitions are coming to fruition

Indications are that Twitter's lofty ambitions of producing 16 live streamed shows and features—from Major League Baseball to Buzzfeed and LiveNation—are becoming a reality after the social network seems to have secured enough advertising to produce all 16 shows.

That's an impressive feat, considering that social networks rarely see as much success as TV networks when pitching their new slate of shows to advertisers, which could mean Twitter's offer is one they just couldn't pass up. Ultimately, though, it'll be Twitter users who decide the fate of this new live-video content.

7. Instagram nears 1-billion-user milestone, adds 100 million in just four months

The sky's apparently the limit for Instagram, which is fresh off the heels of reaching 800 million monthly active users, 500 million of whom use the app every, single, day. What's more? The Facebook-owned platform's growth isn't letting up, which could mean Instagram could be on its way to reaching Facebook-scale user numbers—i.e., crossing the 1 billion mark—in the not so far future.

Need any other stats to convince your superiors that Instagram's a must? Time spent by users viewing videos has increased 80% in just one year, and Instagram now has over 2 million advertisers on its network.

The numbers might also give Snapchat a scare, as Instagram's explosive growth has, by many accounts, come at the expense of Snapchat, with Instagram copying numerous features originated by Snapchat.

8. To watch: A new popular polling app integrates with Snapchat and has teens abuzz

Teens think anonymity is fun, which could explain the success of anonymous messaging apps like Sarahah. But now it's Polly's turn.

Polly, a social polling app, lets its users—99% of whom are teens—create multiple-choice polls that easily share on Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook. Polly launched under the radar in August, but it has already amassed over 100 million votes, 5 million polls, and 20 million users in the past month.

Polly could also serve brands by helping them answer questions about perception, products, and services, particularly if the brand is looking for some insights from their youngest consumers.

9. Four tools to help your brand research competitors' social media success

Navigating to each individual competitor's Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles might help you gather some broad insights about their social media strategy, but many social media marketers just don't have the time to sift through endless feeds. But don't fret, there are tools to help your brand stay on top of competitors' social media activity, and hopefully deliver the insights needed to take them on.

Social Media Examiner has some of the best online tools to see how your brand stacks up against the pack—from video marketing comparison for YouTube performance and identifying content trends and matching up audience data for competitive intelligence purposes, to finally getting the metrics you need about your Snapchat engagement...

10. We'll wrap with Homeland Security's plan to collect immigrants' social media info

Actually, you might be surprised to know that this is nothing new. However, the Department of Homeland Security, in an effort to "be transparent" and "comply with existing regulations," will update its Privacy Act system to include references to this type of data collection.

Scrutiny of immigrants, including Green-Card holders and naturalized citizens, grew during the Obama administration, and continues its increase during President Trump's. Critics say the proposed update to the Privacy Act, due to take effect on October 18, is much too broad in wording for us to truly understand what the government will collect.

What are your thoughts on the news? Is it an overreach by government into the privacy of citizens, or a natural evolution based on the threats posed in modern society—and often exploited—on the Internet today?