Trying to keep up with every social platform’s latest updates, insights
Some Twitter Users Would Be Willing To Pay For Service
According to a report from Morning Consult, some Twitter users would be willing to pay for Twitter as a service, eventually.
Why it matters: Twitter seems to have turned a corner recently, having logged it’s first profitable year after many years of operating at a loss. But, all of this is ad revenue, would a subscription service work or would it push users away?
The details: According to the survey, “88% of Twitter users say they use the platform ‘mostly for fun,'” but “when asked which of the four major social media platforms they’d give up if forced to choose, youngest adults were least likely to pick Twitter. “
The report calculated the optimum cost for a Twitter subscription would be $4 a month and that 27 percent of each age group surveyed say “they would ‘definitely’ or ‘maybe’ pay for the social media service.”
Facebook The Invincible
Facebook’s Q1 2019 update shows an increase in daily users of 55 million since last quarter.
Why it matters: The Q1 report shows the platform’s healthy user growth, despite all the turmoil Facebook has been founding itself in lately.
The details: According to the report, Facebook now has 2.37 billion monthly active users, 1.56 billion of which log in every day (this demonstrates a 39 million increase since Q4 2018).
Per the report, the social media platform’s growth in North America and Europe has slowed, but doubled in India since 2015 and continues in the Asia Pacific and other countries around the world. Facebook reported a 26 percent year-over-year increase in revenue, bringing in $15.08 billion for the first quarter.
The Shocking Facebook Stories Stats
On Wednesday, following Facebook’s Q1 2019 report release, Mark Zuckerberg revealed some impressive Facebook Stories statistics during the call with investors.
Why it matters: After a rough couple of years, these new user numbers show Facebook has, to an extent, weathered the storm.
The details: According to the company’s CEO, Facebook Stories hit 500 million daily active users. Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said that 3 million advertisers have made use of the Stories format across Facebook’s overall app ecosystem. Financial information about the ads’ performance is unavailable at this time.
China’s Gen Z Doesn’t Care For Traditional Shopping
Bloomberg reported that traditional retail and ecommerce are not attractive to China’s Gen Z population.
Why it matters: To the generation born after 1996, social media is not just a place to connect, show off or get inspired, it’s the place, where they want to shop.
The details: According to Bloomberg, China’s Gen Zs are interested neither in big brand names nor in traditional ad campaigns. Most of the time, they buy what’s recommended by influencers and make their purchases using messaging, short videos, livestreaming and social media apps.
The researcher, Frost & Sullivan, predicts that by 2022 in China, $413 billion in goods will be sold through social ecommerce, compared to $90 billion in 2017. This trend is expected to quickly catch on throughout the world.
Twitter Increases Ad Payments To Publishers By 60 Percent
According to Digiday, Twitter said they paid 60 percent more revenue back to publishers last year than in 2017.
Why it matters: Twitter sees 139 million “monetizable” daily active users, according to Merket.US data, and has 950 media partners. The platform has deals for original and exclusive content with media companies such as NBA, BuzzFeed and CNN. These deals, in fact, drive the lion’s share of the revenue that Twitter is sending back to publishers.
The details: “Since the business has hit its stride over the past two, three years, we have grown to more than 950 global content publishers. We’re doing more content through more partnerships and deals than ever before. Even with the people we were already working with, we have gone back to the drawing board to make those relationships bigger,” Kay Madati, Twitter’s head of content partnerships told Digiday.
Pew Survey Explains What Twitter Users Are Like
Pew Research Center surveyed 2,791 US adult Twitter users to get an insight into the platform’s demographic’s behavioral patterns and habits.
Why it matters: The findings of the survey show some characteristics and attitudes of Twitter users in the US and connect them to the users’ behaviors, such as tweet frequency and the number of accounts they follow on the platform.
The details: Here are the main takeaways:
- 42 percent of adult Twitter users have at least a bachelor’s degree, which is 11 percentage points higher than the overall share of the public with this level of education (31 percent).
- Twitter users are more likely to identify with the Democratic Party (36 percent) compared to US adults at large (30 percent)
- 64 percent of Twitter users vs. 54 percent of Americans say black Americans are treated less fairly than white Americans. They are also more likely than the U.S. general public to say that immigrants strengthen the U.S. (66 percent vs. 57 percent) and that barriers exist in the society that
make it harder for women to get ahead (62 percent vs. 56 percent). - The most prolific 10 percent of Twitter users produce about 138 tweets monthly. These active tweeters are also more likely to be female: 65 percent, compared with 48 percent of the bottom 90 percent of tweeters.
Twitter’s New Reporting Feature For Elections
Twitter posted a blog post on Wednesday about strengthening its approach to deliberate attempts to mislead voters by creating a new dedicated reporting feature.
Why it matters:The new dedicated reporting feature will make it easier for Twitter users to report misleading content.
The details: According to Twitter, the feature is an addition to the already existing approach to control platform manipulations.
Misleading information about how to vote, register to vote or requirements to vote, as well as false information about the official date or time of an election, is considered content in violation.
“We will start with 2019 Lok Sabha in India and the EU elections and then roll out to other elections globally throughout the rest of the year,” the company said in a blog post.
Snap Is Shutting Down Some Sponsored Content
Earlier this month, Snap added a new clause to its community guidelines, Digiday reports. A new bullet point under “Impersonation & Spam” section states, “We prohibit spam and deceptive practices, including content that imitates Snapchat ad formats.”
Why it matters: For many creators on Snapchat, this addition finally provided an explanation to why their sponsored posts have been mysteriously disappearing from the platform.
The details: Snap’s spokesperson told Digiday that the change was made to help preserve the integrity of its ad product. The company doesn’t want the users to be under the impression that the posts they see within a Snapchat story are official Snap Ads. A Snap spokesperson also said that as long as the terms and guidelines are followed, the company will not stand in the way of creators and stop them from monetizing.
The Amount Of Accounts Promoting Fake Luxury Products On Instagram Triples
Researchers investigating groups of organized criminals promoting fake luxury products on Instagram found that the number of accounts involved in this activity (linked to such luxury brands as Gucci, Chanel, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton
Why it matters: Instagram’s shift from social media to ecommerce platform created opportunities to conveniently shop, but it also created more opportunities for fraud.
The details: The team conducting the research used special logo-recognition tool along with hashtag and keyword searches, and scanned almost four million Instagram posts. The researchers found almost 56,769 accounts involved in
Andrea Stroppa, CEO of Ghost Data, who spearheaded the research, told NBC News, “The luxury brands I speak to are frustrated because it’s so easy to find these accounts, but Instagram is not very responsive.”
Twitter Announces Q1 Results
On Tuesday morning, Twitter released the report on its First Quarter 2019 results.
Why it matters: Although, compared to the same quarter last year, the monthly user growth figure is not significantly higher, the user base is growing steadily (from 321 million last quarter to 330 million in Q1).
The details: According to the report, Twitter’s Q1 revenue totaled $787 million, an increase of 18 percent YoY or 20 percent on a constant currency basis. Advertising revenue totaled $679 million, an increase of 18 percent YoY or 20 percent on a constant currency basis. Total ad engagements increased by 23 percent YoY. Cost per engagement (CPE) decreased by 4 percent YoY.
Ad engagements increase on Twitter can be explained by the company’s recent efforts to make the platform less toxic and safer for brands.
“We are taking a more proactive approach to
Publishers Actively Use TikTok
According to Digiday, publishers are actively employing TikTok into their marketing strategies.
Why it matters: TikTok is among the platforms most suitable for reaching young audiences, as approximately 60 percent of its monthly active users in the U.S. are between 16 and 24 years old. These users are also very engaged with the app, spending about 46 minutes per day on TikTok.
The details: TikTok doesn’t have a way for publishers to directly monetize on the app yet (although they are testing biddable ads). But some publishers are still taking their chances with the wildly popular app. For example, since February, NBC News’ “Stay Tuned” has posted 26 videos on TikTok. And in March, ESPN joined the app with a video set to TikTok-sensation-turned-billboard-hit “Old Town Road.”
Vine’s Successor, Byte, Starts Beta Testing
Business Insider reported that a new video-sharing app, Byte, developed by a co-creator of Vine, starts beta testing for 100 users on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Taking into consideration that Vine was once a thriving company, attracting over 200 million active users, the venture might be successful.
The details: According to the former Vine co-creator and Byte app developer, Dom Hofman, Byte’s beta testing will most likely feel similar to Vine’s beta testing. However, the Byte app will change as it grows, he told Business Insider.
Twitter acquired Vine in 2012 but had to shut it down in 2016 because it struggled to make it profitable.
“Hey Google, Play YouTube Music”
YouTube Music is now offering free, ad-supported music experiences on Google Home speakers and other Google Assistant-powered speakers.
Why it matters: Ad-supported version of the service provides an opportunity for advertisers to invest their ad dollars and take advantage of unskippable commercials.
The details: The free ad-supported version doesn’t allow for skipping tracks, playing a previous song, accessing YouTube Music playlists directly or downloading tracks, but can be upgraded to Premium for $9.99/month.
The service is currently available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, and Austria. And is coming to more countries soon.
Credit-Card Companies Increase Spending On Social Media Ads
Big credit-card issuers, like American Express and Capital One, raise spending on Facebook ads, Wall Street Journal reported.
Why it matters: Credit-card companies are slowly moving away from direct-mail promotions and invest more in social media to attract new borrowers.
The details: Capital One and American Express spent an estimated $18.6 million and $13.5 million, respectively, on Facebook ads designed to sign up new consumer-credit-card holders in 2018, up from $2.8 million and $4 million in 2017, and Discover spent over $1 million on consumer-credit-card ads aimed at new borrowers on Facebook in 2018, up from $426,000 a year earlier, WSJ reported.
Snap Announces Snapchat Shows Regional Ad Partners
Snapchat recently revealed advertising partners for its new ad product, “Commercials,” Digitalstudiome reported.
Why it matters: The fact that some of the major global brands have already signed up for Commercials proves that publishers are able to monetize short-form original content created for social media digital platforms.
The details: Snapchat’s new six-second, unskippable ad format has already attracted Nestlé, BMW, Mini Cooper, Samsung, Louvre and Almarai. These companies were the first to try the new ad format, which will only be available in Snapchat Shows in UAE and KSA.
Snap’s Leadership Team Shifts
On Monday, Business Insider reported that Snapchat’s CEO, Evan Spiegel, appointed a new leadership team of seasoned deputies.
Why it matters: In the past two years, Snap has faced many issues, with executive churn one of the main issues. Building a strong, permanent team of leaders is crucial for the company’s future success.
The details: The two major appointments to the team are Snapchat’s co-founder, Bobby Murphy, and Jeremi Gorman, a former Amazon executive, who is now Snap’s chief business officer.
Murphy served as Snap’s chief technology officer since 2012, leading engineering and research at the company. He is Snap’s second-largest shareholder with 46.4 percent total voting power and is a member of Snap’s board of directors. Gorman’s previous career achievements include building Amazon’s ad business as the head of global advertising sales. At Snap, she will be responsible for developing the company’s business strategy, including revenue and advertising performance.
Facebook Photo Filter For ‘Happy’ Series
According to Mobile Marketer, NBCUniversal’s cable channel, Syfy, added AR experiences to the mobile app for promotion of its dark comedy series, Happy!
Why it matters: The interactive AR experiences offered to the app users should bring additional engagement and extend the campaign’s reach to mobile-savvy fans of Happy!
The details: The mobile users are now able to see a digital version of Happy–the flying unicorn that haunts the thoughts of a hitman, Nick Sax. The best part is that the fans can now interact with Happy through the Facebook photo filter and get fun selfies for their social media.
Instagram Considers Hiding Like Counts
The reverse-engineering expert, Jane Manchun Wong, spotted a design change test, which shows that Instagram is testing the feature that would hide likes count.
Why it matters: Although the feature might upset many users, it should improve some Instagram practices. For example, it might encourage the creators to post content that is authentic and reduce the pressure of gaining as many likes as possible.
The details: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only the person who shares a post will see the total number of likes it gets,” Instagram explained to Tech Crunch.
Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, April 19. 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.
