Our weekly social media news roundup helps marketers to stay on top of every social platform’s latest updates, insights, campaigns and more.

Everything You Need To Know From Snap’s Partner Summit

On Thursday, Snapchat held its first Partner Summit in Los Angeles, announcing a myriad of new tools, features and additions to the app.

Why it matters: The new additions will provide an opportunity for the developers to use Snap’s technology with more convenience, collaborate, create more engaging content and advertise more effectively.

The details: Here are the main announcements:

  1. Snap Games

Snap Games can be now launched right from the Chat bar, allowing the users to instantly play together. Snap Games six new titles include Bitmoji Party, Tiny Royale, Snake Squad, C.A.T.S. Drift Race, Zombie Rescue Squad, Alphabear Hustle.

  1. New Snaps Originals

The new Snap’s Originals genres include span docuseries and scripted, comedies and teen dramas. Here are the titles of a few: Two Sides, Can’t Talk Now, Sneakerheads, Commanders, Denton’s Death Date, While Black, BuzzFeed’s daily afternoon show, Dead of Night, Compton Dreams and Stranded with Sam and Colby.

  1. The Future Of Lenses

Lens Studio update includes more templates for augmented reality creators, such as Landmarkers, which enables creators to develop Lenses that transform the world’s landmarks in real-time.

  1. Plug In To Snap Kit

The new Snap Kit experiences will include App Stories, Creative Kit, Bitmoji kit and most importantly, Ad Kit, which allows developers to access Snap’s Audience Network and use Snap ads.

Twitter Tries Out New Labels To Make Tweet Responses More Clear

Twitter shared in a tweet this week a new update to tweet labels to clarify who’s tweeting at whom.

Why it matters: This new addition will allow Twitter users to better distinguish responses and therefore, make the communication on the app easier and more engaging.

The details: “We want it to be easy to follow and join conversations on Twitter. We’re testing out labels on replies: author mentioned and following. If you see them, let us know what you think!” the tweet said.

Online Predators Is A Continuous Problem On TikTok

According to BBC, hundreds of sexually explicit comments have been found on TikTok videos posted by children (as young as nine years old), but the app is so far failing to suspend the predators’ accounts.

Why it matters: Hostile environment might ruin the app’s reputation and make both users and brands turn away from the app.

The details: The company is working hard on deleting the sexual messages directed at children, however, most users who posted these messages were able to remain on the platform. TikTok says that child protection is an “industry wide-challenge” and that promoting a “safe and positive app environment” remains the company’s top priority.

England’s Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield told BBC that she will be requesting a meeting with TikTok to discuss the findings of the BBC’s investigation.

“I want children to be able to enjoy everything that the app can offer, but we need to make sure that those responsibilities are taken seriously,” she said.

Snap Introduces ‘Audience Network’ To Bring Snap Ads To Third-Party Apps

On Thursday, at their Partner Summit, Snap announced a new offering, which will integrate ads within third-party apps.

Why it matters: Audience Network will enable developers to run vertical video ads directly from Snapchat within their apps.

The details: Audience Network will launch later in 2019 in the US, first on Apple devices. And Snap is currently accepting applications to join the network. Snap will take a portion of the ad revenue as third-parties pull ads as they need.

Snapchat To Discuss Gaming Platform, Stories At The First Partner Summit

According to AdAge, Snapchat will discuss expanding access to its camera and AI features at its first Snap Partner Summit in Los Angeles.

Why it matters: This move should provide an opportunity for more app developers to get a better understanding of Snap’s proprietary technology and open more ways for further collaboration. (In 2018, Snap worked with a number of developers, including Tinder, Twitch, Giphy, Postmates and Pandora. At the moment, Tinder is working to integrate Snapchat Stories into its app, AdAge reported.)

The details: Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, and co-founder, Bobby Murphy, will take the stage on Thursday and outline the company’s priorities for the year. Some of the features and updates to be discussed at the summit on Thursday are camera improvements, games, livestreaming video and Snap’s Spectacles.

Marketers Are Boosting Influencer Budgets In 2019

Linqia recently published a new report which aids the belief that influencer content outperforms brand-created content.

Why it matters: The report reinstates the importance of the value of using influencer marketing.

The details: According to the report, which focused primarily on how agencies are planning to employ influencer marketing this year, 57 percent said that the content created by influencers outperforms brand-created content when repurposed in other marketing channels. In fact, 18 percent of the respondents said they believe that it “greatly outperforms” brand-created content.

Twitter Allows Violation Appeals Within The App

On Wednesday, Twitter announced the release of a new feature, which will allow the app users to directly appeal the tweets that violate Twitter’s rules.

Why it matters: The new feature will speed up the process of recovering accounts, for good and bad, we predict.

“We move quickly to enforce our rules, but sometimes we don’t have the full context and can make mistakes. To fix that, we added a way for people to appeal our decision in the app and have been able to get back to people 60% faster than before,” the company’s tweet said.

The details: Until now, Twitter users would have to fill out an online form to appeal Twitter’s decision, but now they can appeal within the app.

Research Shows Correlation Between Ads And Live-Tweeting

ScienceDaily reported that a report titled “Social TV, Advertising, and Sales: Are Social Shows Good for Advertisers?” conducted by researchers from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and Emory University revealed that advertisers can see a boost in online shopping when television viewers multitask and engage in social media activity while watching certain programs.

Why it matters: “We found that this pattern varied with the mood of the advertisement, with funny and emotional advertisements seeing the largest increases in online shopping activity,” said Beth Fossen of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. “Our results shed light on how advertisers can encourage online shopping activity on their websites in the age of multiscreen consumers.”

The details: The research examined data from more than 1,600 ad instances for five retailers that advertised on 83 programs during the fall 2013 television season. The researchers, Beth Fossen and David Schweidel, took into account online traffic and sales on retailers’ websites, primetime television advertising for the retailers, social media chatter mentioning the TV program, the advertising and program characteristics.

Apple Promoted Apple+ On Twitter Only

On Wednesday, the competitive intelligence platform for social media marketers, BrandTotal, released data about Apple’s advertising strategy for its new Apple TV+ service.

Why it matters: According to the data from the BrandTotal report, titled “Social Marketing Snapshot: How Apple Launched Apple TV+,” Twitter was the only social media platform that Apple bought ads from to promote Apple TV+. No campaigns were run by the company on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.

The details: BrandTotal co-founder and CEO Alon Leibovich said in a press release, “Twitter has always been Apple’s go-to social marketing platform. They’ve used it to successfully promote their hardware business for years. Now, they’re continuing that strategy and embracing it for content services. This is great for Twitter. The more products Apple launches, the more they benefit. It’s also notable that Apple remains off of both Facebook and Google ad networks when it comes to paid campaigns.”

How BBC News Is Using LinkedIn

According to Digiday, BBC News has been working hard on its LinkedIn content strategy over the last 18 months, figuring out the types of content audiences respond to the best.

Why it matters: In the last 12 months, BBC News added over 1 million users.  According to BBC News, in the second half of 2018, referral traffic from LinkedIn to the company’s site more than doubled to 175,000 visitors YoY.

The details: According to Digiday‘s report, BBC News’ strategy included releasing three to five posts a day, which consisted of motivational and inspirational content, topics relating to identity, psychology and relationships and even housing.

“The audience on there is precious about what they believe to be on the platform,” said Dhruti Shah, journalist and manager of the BBC News LinkedIn account. “They are water-cooler moments: People are at work, but they take a break; this guided me with the strategy.”

Snapchat Spotted Testing Map Tools and Mention Stickers

Jane Manchun Wong caught Snapchat working on new tools to help encourage real-life meet-ups and location tracking.

Why it matters: The new interactive tool would enable the users to see what another user is doing at any time. A Bitmoji character which represents what the user is doing can be chosen and a description of where the user is at the time can be added. Sounds pretty similar to a Facebook update.

The details: Snap’s also building a new UI for the Map, which will enable the users to check-into locations with a chosen Bitmoji character. The status option will display what the user is up to on the map and will be active for four hours.

Instagram Might Sell Ads In Instagram IGTV

According to AdAge, Instagram is talking with advertisers about selling ads on IGTV.

Why it matters: Just like Instagram Feed and Stories, IGTV has good chances of becoming a new source of profits for both content creators and brands.

The details: “While ads are not currently a part of IGTV, we are exploring ways to help creators monetize,” an Instagram spokeswoman wrote in an email statement. “Just like our thoughtful approach to introducing ads in Feed and Stories, we are taking our time to evaluate different monetization strategies in order to ensure we roll out features that are best for businesses and our community.”

IGTV is also considering ad breaks, similar to facebook’s Watch. It is important to note that along with YouTube, Watch offers publishers and creators a split on ad revenue from commercials, and Facebook gives the partners 55 percent, AdAge reported.

Facebook Will Now Explain Why The Users See Each Post In The News Feed

Facebook introduces “Why am I seeing this post?” to provide more information about the ads and content users see in their feeds.

Why it matters: The feature is being added to help the users better understand and easily control the posts they see from friends, Pages, Groups and advertisers.

The details: From now on, the users will be able to know why they’re seeing a certain post in their News Feed, as well as what information generally has the largest influence over the order of posts. Facebook is also updated “Why am I seeing this ad?” in particular, “Businesses can reach their customers by uploading information they already have, such as emails or phone numbers. We then try to match the ad to the most relevant audience without revealing any identifiable information back to the business. “Why am I seeing this ad?” will now provide details such as when the advertiser uploaded the information or if the advertiser worked with another marketing partner to run the ad.”

Mark Zuckerberg Might Be Willing To Pay For High-Quality News

Mark Zuckerberg said in a conversation with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of publisher Axel Springer, that he wants to create a section of his social network that would be devoted to “high-quality news,” and may pay publishers that share on the platform.

Why it matters: After announcing Facebook would feature less news over a year ago, the company is now considering building stronger relationships with publishers, making their content more accessible and maybe even paying them licensing fees.

The details: “That’s definitely something that I think we should be thinking about here, because the relationship between us and publishers is different in a surface where we’re showing the content on the basis of us believing that it’s high-quality, trustworthy content,” Zuckerberg told Döpfner.

Ad Buyers Are Still Recovering From Facebook Outage

Digiday reported on Monday that since the Facebook outage two weeks ago, ad buying as fluctuated across Facebook and Instagram.

Why it matters: Six ad buyers told Digiday that the price of ads across Facebook and Instagram surged immediately following the outage, while the ads manager tool used to buy and optimize campaigns slowed down.

The details: For one agency the cost-per-thousand of impressions bought sat between $41 (£31.38) and $46 (£35) after the outage; the cost was previously $7 (£5) and $11 (£8). The cost-per-acquisition on ads was four to six times more compared to the price before the glitch, said the agency. For the affected advertisers, which tend to spend no more than $50,000 (£38,272) a month across the social networks, no strategies used by the agency have been able to wrangle the wayward auctions.

“We understand the frustration the March 13th Ads Manager outage may have caused,” said a Facebook spokesperson. “Our team is working hard to investigate the impact on advertisers, including reviewing any refundable cases.”

Fake Accounts Slow Down Influencer Marketing In India 

According to Quartz, even as influencer marketing is rapidly growing around the world, in some countries like India, it is losing its trust factor due to fakery.

Why it matters: Companies spend a lot of money on influencer marketing campaigns and in many cases don’t get the desired results due to the ease of influencers inflating their number of followers, likes and comments.

The details: “There is a huge challenge for brands to weed out elements that are gaming the system by inflating the number of followers they have. They do it through bots sitting in several click farms dotted globally,” independent brand strategist Ambi Parameswaran, said. It is important to mention that the concerns with influencer marketing are not limited to India. Recently, Unilever’s chief marketing officer, Keith Weed, made a public call for a change, announcing that the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant will no longer work with influencers who buy followers.


Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, April 5. Have a news tip? We’re looking for changes to and news surrounding social media platforms as they relate to marketing. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.