TBG Inside Social

Pinteresting private messages

According to Recode, “The San Francisco-based discovery platform added a new feature on Wednesday that allows users to chat back and forth in a private window.” Read on here.

Shopping made too easy

In good time, Twitter may introduce a native shopping service. This might seriously change the face of e-commerce.

Are they in or out?

Pebbles are looking rather colourful lately. Is this new crop of wearables headed in the right direction and finally merging the worlds of fashion and tech? Not too sure, but they come in pink!  

McDonalds can’t get it right

They got a Big SMac to the face with their recent Instagram ads. Why? See for yourself.  

App zenith reached

Meet Bolt

Instagram’s new messaging app reminds us a lot of something. Find out more on The Verge.

Tweeting all the way to the bank

According to The Drum, Twitter shares “went up like a rocket” on Wednesday. How do you like that over-zealous, pessimistic journos? Looks like Twitter isn’t dead after all.

A whole lot of Android

Looks like no one can resist that little green robot. In Q2, 85% Of The 300M Smartphones Shipped In Q2 Were Android

You have been warned

Driverless cars are set to hit UK roads in January 2015. Yes, cold, icy conditions make a perfect time to debut autonomous vehicles! Great idea.

Out with selfies

Opodo? A big no-no I recently got to experience Opodo’s unsatisfactory customer service. I don’t want to rant, but Opodo cancelled my flight tickets with an email that looked identical to a flight confirmation, except for some small print. They were extremely unhelpful when I called to see what was going on and my immediate reaction was to take to Twitter and tell people to NEVER BOOK OPODO! 

Disgusted with @Opodo_UK who sneakily cancelled my flights with small print!! NEVER BOOK #OPODO!!!!

— Oh Bianca (@Oh_Bianca_)

July 20, 2014

Twitter is perfectly suited to voicing opinions on brands – it’s direct, it’s instant and most importantly, it’s public so the whole world can see. It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, but how can brands safeguard themselves in this public arena and make sure customers go away feeling happier about their situation and retain their trust in the brand?

The three golden rules of social customer services:

Speed Be quick to respond. No one wants to feel like they’re being ignored, so a speedy reply will reassure the customer and avoid repeat complaints. Even if you can’t solve the problem right away, let them know that you are working on it and assure them that you will get back to them later.

Don't over-promise It's important not to over-promise on a resolution, but if there is a genuine issue that needs to be resolved just placating the user won't help either. Establish what can be done before responding accordingly. If it transpires that your company has made a mistake and needs to admit liability “Sorry” can go a long way.

Understand Make sure they know that you understand and sympathise with the problem. If they have been put out by your brand’s negligence give them something to ease the pain. Something of monetary value will usually do the trick, but something more thoughtful will reflect better on your brand, especially to anyone else who is listening. If it's the user's mistake, take the time to explain the reality of the situation as tactfully as possible. 

Customers get creative So, Opodo ignored my solitary Tweet. It was obviously just one of many. Much like content management, it seems the only sure-fire way to make your complaint stand out in a brand’s news feed is to make it unique. Despite its reputation as a place to complain, 70% of customer service complaints on Twitter are not answered. Verizon actually revealed, by mistake, that they may even be prioritising help based on the user’s influencer status.

Although mildly offensive and dangerously close to trolling, this irritated commuter obviously felt it necessary to go above and beyond a simple social media post. Every time the train is late, they take to Photoshop and change the photo of First Capital Connect’s CEO Tim O’Toole (see images above). It is certainly eye-catching, although may not be the best way to cut-down on train delays.

Online reviews are also a place where customers can make their feelings about a product or service public. Again, it is the more unusual complaints that get the most attention, like these tragic yet amusing Amazon reviews for sugar-free gummy bears and Veet for Men.

Brands fight back with humour Turning a complaint into a fun social media exchange can help the customer as well as reinforce your brand’s image. Everything from video replies to tone of voice, like O2’s slang responses on Twitter or this Argos example.

Sainsbury's does this well. For example, they exchanged a series of fish-themed puns in response to a complaint on their Twitter page about a missing bar code on some battered fish. Not only do they resolve the situation but both parties and the rest of Sainsburys Twitter audience had a whale of a time (#sorrynotsorry).

And then there’s Bodyform’s hilarious video in response to what was more of a joke complaint, but it does show that the brand has a good sense of humour.

As well as being understanding and quick to respond, being true to your brand values is also an important factor when it comes to customer service on social media. Having an authentic conversation with the customer and a positive attitude will not only help prevent a situation getting out of control but can even help your brand gain respect from your fans and followers. Bianca Ohannessian

Once these brands try the placement, Facebook is aiming to woo them with advanced targeting and measurement capabilities that TV and print can’t possibly match. Not all brands can afford the premium video placement though, so Facebook has also rolled out new branding friendly capabilities for its standard video ads: Video views objective This allows advertisers to designate video views as the objective of their campaigns. Ads will be automatically optimised for views by showing them to Facebook users who are most likely to view them. Remarketing to video viewers This allows you to target people who have already viewed a previous video. It can be used to tell a story in segments or follow up an initial video with something more sales-led, such as a product video or another Facebook ad unit. Call-to-action option for video ads This is an optional action for brands that want to drive traffic off Facebook after viewing a video.

These new features began rolling out on the 15th of July. A new way to discover and buy products on Facebook Facebook is testing a ‘Buy’ call-to-action button that allows users to purchase products directly from businesses without leaving Facebook. Up until now, businesses that want to sell a user something have to direct them off Facebook and complete the purchase elsewhere.

Only a few weeks ago Tweets were spotted with ‘Buy now’ buttons, proving that Twitter was testing in-Tweet purchases. Facebook’s own tests can be seen as a reaction to this.

So although Facebook and Twitter are chasing the big-budget TV advertisers, they haven’t forgotten about direct response and s-commerce. In the coming months, we expect to see more social shopping releases from the social giants. If you’d like to know more about Facebook video ads or the launch of shopping on Facebook and Twitter, talk to TBG.

What is Custom Audiences from your Website? Custom Audiences from your Website is Facebook’s version of cookie-based retargeting offered by Facebook PMDs like Mediamath and Turn. With cookie retargeting, users who visit your website can be retargeted with ads when they visit Facebook. The ads can then be tailored to the content they viewed on your site. The same can be achieved with Facebook’s Custom Audiences from your Website. Custom audiences created in this way can then be referenced in Facebook ad targeting in the same way as standard custom audiences. Why has Facebook launched these new Features? Custom audiences work. They make advertising on Facebook more efficient, reducing wastage and improving the overall relevancy of ads on Facebook. These new features make it easier and quicker for brands and agencies to create custom audiences; they also cut out the middlemen. Previously, to manage a custom audience it was necessary to use one of the third party PMDs. By building its own custom audiences product, Facebook gets to keep the chunk of an advertiser's budget that would otherwise go to the PMDs. The original Facebook Custom Audiences from your Website product didn’t have all the features that were available to the PMDs through the API. With this update the Facebook product now has those, plus additional features that Facebook is not releasing for the PMDs. This not only makes Facebook’s offering better but also easier for brands and agencies to set up, as it can be done automatically through Power Editor/Ads Manager. Facebook has already followed this path with mobile retargeting (targeting someone who has visited your website on their mobile phone). It’s exclusively available through Facebook’s Custom Audiences from Websites—and therefore not available via PMDs cookie-based products.

What are the new features?

Updating the audience rule builder: You will soon see a new interface for the audience rule builder in Power Editor and Ads Manager. The new rule builder makes it easier to get started with simple use cases and includes some advanced features previously only available in the API. You can also now use the audience builder to create custom audiences for users that have performed a certain action on your website, such as searching for a particular term or viewing a specific product. Launching audience pre-fill: With this new capability, you will be able to automatically build audiences based on past activity history on your website. Increasing the audience limit: Facebook has increased the audience limit to enable you to build more granular segments. For example, you can now build an audience for almost every product in your catalogue.

Facebook expects these features to be available for all advertisers in the next several weeks. What does this mean for PMDs? This isn’t good news for PMDs. After initially working with them on this, it seems as though Facebook is now cutting them out of the deal. Obviously this is just a part of their business and Facebook will continue to work with them, but it’s a warning that Facebook can take things away if there’s revenue to be siphoned off. It’s also another nail in the coffin for cookies—along with the general transition to mobile and the emergence of new behavioural tracking outfits such as Medialets and Drawbridge that do not rely on actual tracking (they use spatial and temporal cues to match a user across devices and platforms with a degree of certainty). If you’d like to know more about custom audiences, talk to TBG.

Reach and frequency explained Reach is the number of individuals that see your campaign. Frequency is the number of times an individual sees your campaign—this is an average number and referred to as average frequency. For example, a campaign with one million exposures and a reach of 500,000 users will have an average frequency of two: on average each person saw the ad twice.

Why are they so important? The ability to optimise campaigns for reach and frequency is important because for each brand and campaign there is an optimum frequency that will trigger a conversion. Showing a million people a single ad may achieve very little, they might not see the ad or take it all in. Conversely, showing 1,000 people the same ad 200 times is overkill. Somewhere between two and twenty exposures your chances of influencing them will be reduced to nothing. Any exposures beyond this magic number are just wasted budget and may even be detrimental. This graph shows that sweet spot of ‘effective reach’:

Here, the range is between four and ten, but you may find that more exposures are necessary. Every campaign is different and testing is essential to determine the optimum frequency. Campaigns are optimised to frequency by counting the number of exposures it takes for each user to convert. By setting a maximum number of exposures, this budget can be saved and used to expand reach to new targets. A new way to buy Facebook ads Of course, optimising by reach isn’t new to Facebook, this update is concerned with the ability to buy Facebook ads by reach and frequency. Previously, there were only two basic ways to buy ads on Facebook, CPC (clicks) or CPM (exposures). There wasn’t a way to buy a set audience size based on your time frame, budget and required frequency—the way that brands are used to buying ads for TV, print and other online media. This is part of Facebook’s transition from an old style online media company—selling standard gif ad placements based on clicks to direct response advertisers—to a branding platform that offers levels of scale and targeting that appeal to the biggest brands. To make it as easy as possible to sell ads to these brands Facebook needed to offer them advertising that can be bought in the same way as TV or print—guaranteeing a reach and frequency level for a certain spend.

Reliable frequency This is where Facebook can move beyond other forms of media and give brands more reliably predictable reach and frequency. TV and print frequency predictions are not really trackable and cookie-based online tracking isn’t accurate. Facebook consists of specific individual users that log in across multiple devices so it can more accurately predict, control and track reach and frequency. The ability to buy Facebook ads by reach and frequency was announced last month and became available in Power Editor for all managed clients on the 9th of July. If you’d like to know more about buying ads on Facebook by reach and frequency, talk to TBG. Jamie O’Brien Social Editor, TBG

Teenagers are notoriously private. They need their own space, away from the watchful eyes of adults, where they can anonymously and unrestrictedly share thoughts, opinions and creations. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Tumblr fill that need.

The teens’ favourite Founded in 2007, Tumblr has evolved to be the number one social media site for teenagers in the US. Tumblr is relatively unused by older age groups, making it an obvious choice for teens. Seventy-six percent of Tumblr’s users are 16 to 24 years old making it one of the youngest social networks in history. This is reflected by the predominantly fun and arty content on the site, which is rich in opportunities for creative self-expression. Tumblr currently hosts over 193 million blogs and around 93 million new posts are published each day. Also, it has the second most active user base among the top social media networks. Sixty-one percent of teens say that Tumblr is their Favourite social network. Talking their language Every major brand has a Facebook and Twitter account, but most aren’t taking advantage of Tumblr. Savvy brands are increasingly using Tumblr to reach a young audience in their own language: sharable animated GIFs and memes.

Fiat USA’s ‘Endless Fun’ TV ad is based entirely on GIFs from their Tumblr page. Using a meme-style approach in a mainstream TV ad instantly makes Fiat the coolest car brand for teenagers and twentysomethings thinking about their first car.

Coca-cola’s Tumblr page is notably different to its Facebook activity. It’s packed with sharable GIFs, jokes, cats, classic ads and feels authentically Coke. The page also has a good balance of original content and reblogged user created content.

In comparison, the Facebook page feels corporate, boring and a bit forced. A typical Facebook post:

Disney’s Tumblr shows how brands with existing content can repurpose it for Tumblr. The page hosts a mix of funny GIFs (the kind that normal Tumblr users create and share) and vintage Disney drawings and photographs.

Monetisation While Tumblr has an advertising product, it’s not as developed as other platforms. Yahoo! is still getting to grips with how it will monetise Tumblr after it’s billion dollar takeover last year. Tumblr is different from most social networks in that visitors do not require an account to view a brand’s page. This means that it works more like YouTube than Facebook, allowing companies to use Tumblr (as TBG does) to host a corporate blog.

Its total user base of around 50 million doesn’t seem that impressive, but that only includes users with accounts. There has been much speculation on how many people use Tumblr—and how many of those actually use the Tumblr feed. Tumblr says that it has 300 million monthly unique visitors, but the challenge for Yahoo! seems to be how to get its ads in front of the 250 million plus users that don’t have an account.

It may be under the radar for most brands, but for those that are looking to reach a young audience without media investment, Tumblr’s where it’s at.

However, there’s a part of the site that does indeed lend itself to (carefully considered) branded content – and that’s the ‘AMA’ subreddit.

What is Reddit? Reddit is an aggregator of content, of sorts. Users submit almost anything they like – links, YouTube videos, .jpegs and .gifs of cats and dogs, disgusting videos of spots being popped, infantile questions, news articles, fitness tips, pornography, recipes, and millions of other pieces of content, into what are known as ‘subreddits’ – or categorized lists where the relevant content should be uploaded. This is then voted on by each user (signing up doesn’t even require an email address) with either an ‘up’ or ‘down’ vote. Upvoted content goes to the top of the page, downvoted disappears.

Users can then comment on each of these pieces of content, and the same up/downvote system is in place – so ‘good’ comments rise to the top, and trolls fade into the ether.

With a sizeable userbase (100m+ users per moth) and an open-source, ad-lite mentality, the site is quickly becoming a key resource for fans of discussion around pretty much any topic you can think of.

What’s an ‘AMA’? The ‘AMA’ (ask me anything) subreddit is a place for people to host Q&A sessions. These are generally people of interest, but not just celebrities – people with interesting jobs, those involved in key world events and even arguably mundane topics are often very popular. There’s no barrier to entry – anyone can create an AMA, but there must be interest from users to see it be successful. The most famous example was President Obama’s IAMA, but there have been other ‘quality’ IAMAs from a variety of other people, most notably actors and musicians looking to plug their latest gig.

One cautionary tale is that of Woody Harrelson, who ran into trouble being heavy-handed when doing an AMA just before his grizzled cop thriller Rampart was released. 

Other AMAs have gone wrong – Morgan Freeman wasn’t Morgan Freeman, for example.

So why is this of interest to brands? Well, if you have an interesting spokesperson, this is a great opportunity to reach a potentially new audience in a candid, interesting and low-intensity way. Sure, they can’t go off on one about how great your new deodorant, energy drink or mp3 player is, but they can build a positive affinity and association with your audience that will then hopefully transfer to your brand.

It’s an interesting angle for your brand, too – a chance to explore doing something associated but in no way heavily branded.

There are challenges around tracking the impact your AMA may have had, but then that’s often the case with social activations, and hey, it’s also a chance to be a little pioneering. Hopefully some additional tracking will come in time.

Still don’t get it? Here are some suggestions of what you could do with your brand.

Got any athletes on your roster? Great! There’s likely a variety of subreddits that can be primed for the AMA ahead of time, so you know your potential audience already has an interest in the sport. Sportspeople have a variety of things to talk about, from training regimes to successful or memorable sporting moments, and the passion people have for sports is likely to help drive continued conversation.

Is your product created in an interesting way? Do you have genuine expertise on your staff? Get them involved! There’s always room for great brewmasters, sandwich artists or master craftsmen, and Reddit is a great way for them to show off their knowledge – thereby creating an association with your brand that will be exceptionally positive. 

Do you have a particularly oddball connection to something? Exploit it! A recent example of a missed opportunity was Stella Artois’ creation of a video showcasing Wimbledon’s use of Rufus the Hawk in keeping away pigeons and other unwanted animals. The video itself reached the ‘front page’ of Reddit (being seen by well over 10 million people in the process, and creating thousands of comments), which is a big win, but then the hawk’s trainer did an AMA without Stella Artois’ involvement. If SA had facilitated the AMA it would’ve driven further positivity around the brand, and maybe even given them the chance to fit in a couple of references here and there. And the cost? A few hours of Rufus’s keepers and agency time. Surely it would be worth the gamble?

If you have a selection of amazing celebrities attached to your brand, and you just don’t know how to get the best out of your association, give TBG a shout.

Andrew Cooper Head of Content, TBG

We need to talk about Brazil

Remember when Germany beat Brazil, 7-1? Yeah, about that… Twitter exploded with excitement and, as a result, the match became the most discussed sports event in Twitter history. 

It’s like a digital leash

But for your kids! Looking to track down your kids? LG has just introduced a “cellular-equipped wristband” to aid parents in monitoring their children. Creepy.

Google Ventures out

Google Ventures is making its way back to the old country. Google has just announced they’re “launching a European arm of its Ventures VC fund” with $100 million in tow.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

Instagram is evolving 

Instagram, with 200 million active monthly users, exploded around the time it was taken over by Facebook. This seems to have had an effect on the way the app is used too. Instagram is no longer just a place where users share artistic photos from their daily life, but it is transforming into a chat app. The recently introduced private messaging feature encourages this too.

Perhaps in an attempt to keep keen photography fans happy, Instagram has just launched eight new editing tools. But wasn’t the beauty of Instagram in its simplicity? Professional Instagrammers (yes, they exist) usually edit their photos outside of the app before uploading them. So will Instagram be able to tempt the average user away from whacking on a Sutro or Kelvin filter and spend more time perfecting their photos within the app?

  VSCO Cam in the spotlight

There’s been a lot of hype about VSCO Cam this year. Hailed by some as the next Instagram, its user focus is more towards high-end photographers attempting to capture beautifully composed shots rather than Instagrammers showing their friends what they’ve been up to at the weekend. As they describe it, it’s about “the power of art for art’s sake”. 

VSCO Cam is a social app in the sense that users sign up to be part of the VSCO community and follow other users, however there are no likes or comments. Many users post their photos on Instagram too though, perhaps missing that engagement element - over 24 million Instagram photos to date have been tagged #vscocam. There are also rumours that the VSCO Cam owner, Visual Supply Company, is adding an Instagram-style news feed, so we could see it becoming more social.

Over to the brands

With so many social media users becoming experts in photo effects and good composition, will it impact what content performs best for brands? Brands could be moving towards a more contemporary user-generated feel with slick, clever shots, like Nike are doing. But only time will tell. Time and data. A lot can be learnt from monitoring the type of photos your target market are posting and engaging with, such as subject matter, visual styles, and when and where to post it. For example, studies show that certain Instagram filters, Mayfair in particular, can get more engagement than others.

Until now, there has been a distinction between the first text based wave of social media (Facebook, Twitter) and the rise of visual platforms (Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, Tumblr). Although style is much more important on the visual networks, images and ads are shared as much for their beauty as for their content, the other platforms are catching on. Pinterest and Instragram are vetting advertisers, making sure their content fits with the platform and even approving their creative, and now Facebook has started doing this for its premium video ads.

  Lo-fi Vs. elegance 

The trend could of course go the other way, inspiring users and brands to post deliberately lo-fi shots as a reaction against the polished aesthetic that is becoming mainstream. After all, the #nofilter hashtag was a reflex against the first wave of Instagram filters. Some brands, like Forever 21 or H&M, post content that mirrors what their audience share, mostly snap-happy teenagers sharing their favourite outfits. They also feature their fan’s photos on their Instagram handle too, which is often so similar to their own content that if it weren’t for the source credit, it would be impossible to distinguish the two.

It’s interesting to see how differently a high street fashion brand presents its images when compared to the photos posted by a luxury brand like Burberry or Armani, which have a glossy editorial feel. Even in real-time style shots, high fashion has taken on the sleek, clean look seen on more sophisticated photography apps like VSCO Cam. Whether a brand goes for a carefully edited photo or an in-the-moment shot, the bottom line is that the content needs to connect the brand to its audience.

It is also important for brands to keep exploring different techniques and innovative ways of presenting images. Visually striking content will get your audience sharing and keep them coming back for more. It’s not about keeping up with photography trends, it’s about staying ahead of the game.

Bianca Ohannessian @Oh_Bianca_ Senior Content Manager, TBG

When they’re not toying with users’ emotions, Facebook finds time to make money off of the backs of poverty-stricken nations. But it’s totally not like how it sounds.   

Stereotypes = bad

KLM were well and truly put on the naughty step when they Tweeted this offensive message last Sunday. Too soon, KLM, way too soon.

#AppsOnTap for days

At their #AppsOnTap event, Twitter announced the arrival of their mobile app install ads. Get to know them a little better here.

Build your own Oculus Rift!

Using just cardboard. Thanks for the handy instructions, Google. Excuse me now while I waste 6 hours in an alternate universe.

The Airbnb of Cars

Hitchhiking is bad. Very bad. BlaBlaCar, basically the Airbnb for long distance rides, has just raised $100 million and hopes to make ride-sharing easy and safe.

Google bought something else

And that something else is Songza. According to TechCrunch, “Songza uses information about the user to determine the best playlists for you, all of which are curated by music experts”. We smell user data! 

1. Animated GIFs

Earlier this year, Pinterest added animated GIFs to their platform. There aren’t many brands using them regularly, perhaps because the GIFs do not auto play as they do on sites like Tumblr. Even so, there are some interesting examples on Pinterest and it is definitely worth experimenting with them.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/320529698449195658/

2. Animated boards

Boards don’t have to be static, take UNIQLO’s Dry Mesh Project for example. By posting specific Pins in a very careful order, UNIQLO were able to hijack popular Pinterest categories with colourful bursts of Pins that appear to move as you scroll through.

3. Pin to win

There are lots of opportunities to create competitions on Pinterest. The Jetsetter took full advantage of this with their ‘Pin it to win it’ campaign which increased traffic to their website by 150%. Followers were invited to Pin with the hashtag #JetsetterCurator to categories including escape, adventure and style, for the chance to win a holiday. For a further incentive to share, the most followed-board won $1,000 in Jetsetter credit.

4. Puzzles

Quizzes are another fun way to interact with followers and attract new ones. Peugeot Panama’s Pinterest scavenger hunt was particularly engaging as it tied the platform to their other social channels too. They posted photos on Pinterest with sections missing and user’s needed to search for pictures on Peugeot’s Facebook and Twitter pages to complete the Pinterest phots. It was also incentivized with a prize.

5. Bring your board to life

A few brands, have managed to bring Pinterest into the real world, including Caribou Coffee and Target. Kotex Tel Aviv also brought Pinterest to the streets with their pop-up Pinterest store. Taking the pin it to win it idea even further, participants were able to choose a box from a wall of gifts, snap a photo, upload it to Pinterest and then win its contents. They were also encouraged to share photos of their prize on Facebook and Instagram after opening their boxes.

6. Exclusive previews

Treating followers to a first-look at new products can boost repins. This approach works especially well for fashion brands. In 2012, Oscar de la Renta was one of the first brands on Pinterest to live-Pin photos from their bridalwear show, both on the catwalk and backstage. This is a great way to make followers feel involved and generate excitement online by giving fans exclusive, real-time access

7. Tutorials

How-to videos and other guides perform extremely well on Pinterest. Everything from DIY, to crafts to cooking can be found, and it is often a way for brands to incorporate user generated content into their page by displaying a mixture of their own content and re-pins from their followers. Dunkin’ Donuts has its own Cooking w/ Dunkin’ board full of recipes and Chiquitas banana company inspires followers with how to put their over-ripe bananas to good use. Rimmel is among the make-up brands that have a board dedicated to make-up tutorials. 

8. Be colourful

Studies show that images with multiple dominant colours can get around 300% more repins than less colourful images. Although colour pallets for brand content will usually be dictated by their logo and general brand guidelines, it’s also useful to keep in mind that certain colours perform better than others on Pinterest - red, orange and brown images are x2 more likely to be repinned than blue ones.

9. Be relevant

As with all social media, catching a trend early can propel your content to reach higher engagement levels. 94% of Pinterest users will click through on Pins relating to trending topics, so be flexible about your posting schedule and keep your Pinterest page fresh and lively.

Bianca Ohannessian @Oh_Bianca_ Senior Content Manager, TBG

Paper has been compared to Flipboard, but it isn’t really the same thing. It’s not really a fully customisable news aggregator in the same vein as Flipboard. It’s more like an actual newspaper with a limited number of broad sections curated by editors. The lazy person’s newsreader Facebook Paper brings the ethos of Facebook—showing you the content that Facebook believes is most relevant to you—to a news service. You don’t need to customise it other than picking a few general topics; you can just pick it up and get going in a few taps. In a way it’s the lazy person’s newsreader. Also, you don’t need to use it as a newsreader. It can be used as a straight-swap Facebook replacement; and since the news sections are housed separately the news doesn’t get in the way of normal Facebook usage. Facebook doesn’t want you to use Paper It’s obvious that Facebook isn’t pushing Paper. It’s only available on the iPhone and only in the US. Facebook also said that it wasn’t planning to promote paper in the Facebook app. Messenger is a success because it first prompted users to download messenger when using messages within Facebook, then took that feature away from the main Facebook app. Users had to use it. Facebook isn’t promoting Paper at all, beyond the initial soft launch. No ads, no links to download from within the Facebook app when you view a news story. It was launched with a blog post and a video. The industry knows all about Paper, but to the majority of the United States, it doesn’t exist.

In the wake of this boom, Twitter announced plans for a Mobile App Promotion Suite, including a new app install placement, in April. Twitter’s app install ads are based on its Twitter App Card, launched a year ago, which allows app install posts to be shown to Twitter followers.

The launch Up until now, only companies invited into the beta test could run the placement. As of next week, through our partnership with Sprinklr, our clients will be able to run mobile app install ads. As expert users of paid social media tools, we’ve been working with Sprinklr over the last six months to help develop its paid module and its analytics offering. We have longstanding relationships with Twitter and Facebook, and we have drawn on our experience with their ad APIs to help Sprinklr expand its services from organic to paid social media. The Sprinklr platform Sprinklr is the first solution to offer true full integration of owned, earned, and paid media. Users of the platform can plan, execute, and optimise all their social media activities in the same environment, in real-time. Early users have seen a 25% increase in ad performance due to improved efficiencies. Sprinklr’s paid module includes a sophisticated rules engine, allowing users to automatically optimise or amplify content based on flexible, customisable rules. This allows advertisers to automatically allocate extra budget, pause creative and perform other actions. The Sprinklr platform was rated as a “Strong Performer” and “the most powerful technology on the market” in Forrester’s ‘Wave: Social Relationship Platform’ report last year.

App install ads Twitter’s app install ads are based on its Twitter App Card, launched a year ago, which allows app install posts to be shown to Twitter followers. Twitter has reported promising results overall and the apps involved have been positive about the placement. The only specific results reported were for GrabTaxi: “Twitter has jumped to be our number one acquisition channel, we couldn’t be happier with the results of the Beta”.

  Targeting Twitter has developed a full suite of targeting, creative and measurement tools, at the moment we do not have full details, but we expect to hear about these at the launch event. When its mobile app install ads are available to all, users will be able to target over one billion unique devices on Twitter’s MoPub network. Again, it’s not clear at what point this will be available or how app install ads will be displayed inside MoPub’s network of apps, but the potential is there for app developers to reach huge audiences through a platform that delivers 130 billion ad requests every month. If you’d like to know more about Twitter’s app install ads and the Sprinklr platform, get in touch with TBG.

What is Instagram? Instagram is for sharing photos: selfies, landscapes, holiday snaps, food you’re about to eat, outfits or just for showing off. Instagram is not for sharing any old snap—it’s as much about the beauty of the image itself as the subject. Editing tools and retro filters make it very easy for amateur photographers to produce stunning images in a few taps. Real photographers may scoff at Instagram, but it gives easy access to the arty side of photography, without the need for expensive kit or the effort of processing the images. Instagram still has its share of bad photos, memes and jokes, but generally, the quality of images is higher than other major platforms, especially those from brands. The vast majority of posts are still photographs rather than videos.

The most liked post ever was this shot from Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s wedding:

West says that he spent days editing the image himself to get it just right (but then he neglected to crop it for Instagram’s square image ratio). Many serious Instagrammers take their photos with a camera and edit them using professional editing software or apps before uploading.

Like other social networks, users can follow their friends, celebrities and brands, as well as strangers whose content they like. It’s slightly more open than Facebook—users can search for content by hashtag and follow strangers based on the images that they post.

Arguably, Instagram is the second largest social network; certainly in terms of users and time spent on the platform. Here's our analysis on the true size of the app: Is Instagram actually the second biggest social network?

To see how Instagram compares with Vine, Snapchat, and other sharing apps read our definitive guide to video and image apps.

How does it work? Take an image or 15-second video (either pre-existing from your phone or take a new one from within the app), then add filters, crop or edit and upload—with or without a short text description or a location. Posts can also be manually or automatically shared to Facebook, Twitter or other accounts, depending on your settings.

The camera within Instagram and the home feed showing a post from Nike

Your followers will then see your post on their home page feed. All the posts by users you follow are shown in chronological order (no algorithms here). Your followers can then like or comment on your posts. Videos will auto play without audio as you scroll them into view. 

Why do people use it? Instagram is Facebook’s hipster little brother. Ninety percent of it’s users are under thirty-five. They use it both to keep track of what friends are up to and, to a lesser extent, enjoy good photography.

Instagram sits somewhere between Facebook and more private platforms like Snapchat or WhatsApp. Images are shared with friends and are viewable by the general public by default, but there’s minimal danger of parents or colleagues seeing what you are up to. Generally, users don’t use their real names. 

Why do brands use Instagram? Instagram is for brand campaigns. Click through links cannot be added to posts, as with Facebook or Twitter. It’s closer to TV, print or outdoor advertising, in that the objectives are visibility and recognition rather than direct conversions.

Nike’s Instagram account While videos are only around five percent of all post on Instagram, brands often use video on Instagram to share high quality video content.

Instagram sees far higher engagement rates than other platforms—58 times higher than Twitter and 120 times higher than Facebook. Users are more inclined to like and comment because a user’s every move isn’t broadcasted. Instagram doesn’t tell everyone you know when you like or comment, just the person who posted the image. These sky-high engagement levels are why seventy-one percent of the world top brands are now using Instagram. Promoted posts Brands can convert a standard Instagram post into a sponsored post. The only difference is that the post has a ‘Sponsored’ flag at the top, and it can be targeted to certain users, rather than a brand’s usual followers. Users can also hide any sponsored posts from their feed and submit feedback.

Promoted posts from Ralph Lauren and Ben & Jerry’s

Ads are targeted based on a user’s activity on Instagram (the people they follow and the posts they like) and if a user’s account is linked to Facebook, their Facebook interests and other basic profile information are used. Measurement focuses on reach, ad recall and awareness.

Instagram has been testing ads for around eight months in the US with a handful of big-budget advertisers. Promoted posts aren’t available to all yet, but if you want to be prepared for the full launch, read our guide for brands to being ready for Instagram ads. This includes a full review of brands currently using promoted posts. 

If you’d like to know more about Instagram, get in touch with TBG. 

Jamie O’Brien Social Editor, TBG

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