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Facebook Unveils New Brand Pages Video Tools

Facebook has announced that new brand admin tools centered around video content will roll out by the end of the month. Facebook’s video offering and updates for brands have been fast and furious, and these tools should give marketers added flexibility and control over branded content. The updates include “secret videos,” which are specific clips accessible only via a direct URL, restricting viewer audience based on specific demographics, and the choice to allow or prohibit video embeds on third-party sites.

Twitter Adds Easy Targeting Around Big Events

Agencies and brands spend readily on Twitter ads targeted around large major events. The platform has remained king of real-time marketing, and its integration with sporting events, TV premieres, and award shows has been integral to its place in the paid social mix for big brands. Now, Twitter is looking to make the picking and targeting around big events even easier for brands. Now, brands and advertisers with a twitter ads account can simply review a calendar of live events, and pick it off the shelf based on desired demographics  with the targeting built in. Not only will Twitter’s new offering make it easier for brands of all sizes to target, but Twitter’s methods include users searching for content around the event without necessarily tweeting.

Facebook Continues Video Transformation, Tests “Live” Brand Q&As

Facebook’s relentless assault on Youtube as the dominant video publishing platform is being helped along by BumeBox, a social platform tool that can post directly to Facebook. It has been used recently by brands like iHeartRadio and Sony to promote celebrity projects, by hosting real-time Q&A sessions on Facebook through the platform. Celebrities respond to fan questions (based on popularity and likes, not chronological order) with short video clips instead of text answers, giving fans multiple chances to share short pieces of content. The uploads also contain a custom branded logo, and can be saved and uploaded to the brand’s page for later viewing.

Burberry Garners 100 Million Impressions On Snapchat, Periscope

Brands and marketers have approached Snapchat, and more recently Periscope, with varying degrees of excitement and hesitation. Both apps represent newer and distinct mobile behaviors, and where fleeting short form content and live streaming fit into brands content mix can be daunting. The benefits of reaching engaged, more organic feeling applications (and the tech savvy millennials that dominate them) are many - confidence in impact on brand KPIs is still lacking. But legendary fashion stalwart Burberry might change that. In a recent case study, the brand revealed they saw over 100 million impressions through Snapchat and Periscope in one quarter. The culprit was likely the posting and broadcast of the quarter’s biggest moments: a fashion show in LA, and the unveiling of their new menswear. The brand’s new dedication to mobile sales and engagement was a deciding factor in its Snapchat and Periscope adoption, and the sheer number of impressions proved it to be a smart bet.

Facebook Teases “Floating” Video Player

Twitter has never been shy taking cues from it’s platform peers, so when users began asking for floating video players (a la Twitter, Youtube) social giant had to take action. Facebook will introduce a button to its native video player that minimizes and places the video to the side of the window, and follows the user as they scroll and browse. Facebook also mentioned this week that they are actively tracking which videos users are viewing, and incorporating the data when serving ads. Video continues to be a primary focus for Facebook’s evolution.

Video Previews Now Playing On Twitter’s App Download Ads

Twitter’s “Download” button has helped immensely to drive huge sales and awareness for developers advertising on the platform. Despite this, there was an immediately apparent issue. Other CTA buttons on Twitter’s ad products are naturally much easier for consumers to decide on. Some text and an image done well can go a long way in convincing someone to click to a website - but what about downloading an app? In order to bridge the disconnect, Twitter has introduced a video preview that plays within the ad card, which serves as a short trailer for the game. Twitter hopes the new format can help drive even better downloads for app developers who depend heavily on the ad product for new users, including heavy hitters like Lyft.

Instagram Goes “Viral” By Introducing Trending Content

As users explore Instagram content outside their feed with a desired tag, content is quickly buried as fresh batches of content rises to the surface. But outside of their specific searches, there’s been no real “news” function to the photo sharing platform - until now. Instagram will unveil a revamped explore tab that features trending content in real time. In addition to trending tags, locations users have checked into will appear as “trending places.” The explore tab can break out trending content into those separate views, or as a consolidated trending snapshot.

Facebook Addresses Organic Reach Concerns, Allows Users To “See First”

With over 94% of revenue coming from advertisers, Facebook’s success is largely due to its endless firehose of targeting data, allowing marketers to reach their ideal consumers with content, deals and more. The platform has unveiled feature after feature to boost the power of their paid ad offerings - but has much less frequently updated the way brands perform through organic posting. Largely in response to these qualms, Facebook will begin giving users the ability to prioritize the posts that show up in their news feed. When looking at a page, a user can click “See First” under the “Follow” tab. This will allow for greatly improved visibility on posts from pages that matter - from friends and family to their favorite brands.