Facebook Goes Big, Twitter Makes Marketers Happy | Social Marketing Cluster Facts

Welcome to this week’s Social Marketing Cluster Facts! Every week we dig into the social media marketing news scene and uncover the goods. What’s up this week?

Facebook takes flight. Twitter simplifies marketers lives and Snapchat 2.0. Want more? Watch SMCF!

Transcript:
I’m Lea Scudamore from AIMCLEAR and this is Social Marketing Cluster Facts.

Twitter announced Wednesday, the end of multiple conversion codes! They have now implemented a “universal website tag.” (hallelujah!!! Music) The single-event website tag is still available for those marketers that need to non-page loading conversion events, like a registration form. Gone are the days of creating a new snippet code for each and every conversion or tailored audience. One and Done. Now marketers can easily set up conversions and add up to 200 tailored audiences. Can you smell it? That’s the smell of a few more minutes of freedom. Keep it up Twitter: Marketers will love you for it.

Twitter also revealed improvements to Twitter Cards and the REST API that make images available to visually impared. What’s the mean? The new update allows publishers to add up to 420 characters to describe aka add alt text to images they tweet. Since the beginning, images have been an important piece of some of the biggest moments on Twitter and that core element of the experience will now be available to everyone.

Snapchat unleashed a slew of new features in Snapchat 2.0. Most of the updates focus on the chat aspect of messaging by creating a seamless experience while interacting via video, audio, stickers and GIFs. Snapchat’s goal was to create a more human experience by allowing snappers to use multiple forms of communication simultaneously during chatting.

While most the features are being warmly welcomed, millennials are whining up a storm about the update to “stories” which now autoplays. While the idea was to get more views and encourage more posting on stories, the result is a frustrated user base that can’t stop complaining. Which is inevitable when most of your users are more than likely getting their cell phone bills payed for by their parents.

LinkedIn is putting to use its purchase of the video learning company, Lynda.com. The social networking platform is unrolling algorithms that will pair users with informational videos that fit their aspirations. Are you a recent college grad aiming to advance your career in digital marketing? Soon, there could be a video for that — and you’ll likely see it served up to you on LinkedIn.

The Facebook owned, Oculus Rift, has started shipping and Facebook’s shareholders are banking on its success. The platform which is $599 not including the PC needed to run it, is reaching users this week. While it’s gotten some flack for being awkward and expensive, Facebook share holders are hoping for a rise in stock along with the popularity of the immersive platform.

One step beyond Uber integration, a Dutch airline KLM is integrating customer service with Facebook messenger. After opting in to the new feature, KLM will start a chat with users where they’re sent confirmation information, flight status, scheduling changes and more. Users can also use the chat feature to talk with customer service or receive additional info. This could be the most convenient way of flying short of finding Doc and Marty on Uber (photo of flying delorean).

How-to-pins are rolling out to users in the US, France, Germany and the UK- on Android and Web. IOS devices will have to wait until the next update. Without leaving Pinterest’s platform, the pins encourage users to click on any of the individual step for detailed instructions and even a supplies list. How Handy! The first how-to pins will come from companies like Home Depot, Food.com, and Marie Claire. It’s not yet clear how they plan to monetize the new pins. But hey, Pinterest is doing ok, the network reportedly expects to rake in $3 billion in revenue in 2018. Wait? Did I get one the DeLorean in that last story? What year am I in 2016?

60- second video ad units have been available now for about a month. But, Instagram announced that they are rolling out the ability for users and brands to upload minute long videos to their accounts. The reason, seems to be that people are simply watching more videos now. And it gives them a competitive edge vs. Vine, 6-second video and snapchat’s 10 second snaps.

And that does it for Social Marketing Cluster Facts. Make sure to subscribe, follow, share, like and comment below. Check out the AIMCLEAR Blog for more of what we do. I’m Lea Scudamore. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Sources:

Website conversion tracking and remarketing made easier and more flexible, Twitter Blog

Accessible images for everyone, Twitter Blog

Snapchat seamlessly combines video, audio, GIFs, stickers in “Chat 2.0”, @joshconstine, Tech Crunch

Snapchat just added autoplaying stories, and everyone hates it, @selenalarson, The Daily Dot

LinkedIn Buddies Up Closer to Lynda.com, Adds Course Recommendations Based on Your Career, @KurtWagner8, ReCode

Facebook’s Oculus Starts Shipping Rift Virtual Reality Headset, Reuters

KLM using Facebook Messenger as social portal for boarding passes, customer service, @CdeLooper, Digital Trends

Pinterest Rolls Out How-To Pins, @mp_gavin, MediaPost