Tag Archive for: ads
Facebook Groups Getting Ads, Pinterest Users Grow
Are Facebook Groups getting ads?
Credit: TechCrunch
For their next trick Facebook may be rolling out ads to Facebook Groups. People in some overseas countries have reportedly been seeing ads in their Groups – which could mark a new way to earn revenue for the social network.
Facebook confirmed that the ads will look just like the ads seen in News Feeds and utilize the same targeting utilized in other ad types on the site – but also include the ability to target based on Facebook Groups.
This new ad type could be a great way for Facebook to expand given that Facebook expects to hit maximum News Feed ad load in mid-2017. Read more
Facebook Prefetching and Periscope Branding
Prefetching a Mobile-Friendly Experience
Mobile is massive on Facebook. That should come as no surprise at this point as 91% of Facebook’s daily users do so on a mobile device. Because of this, Facebook is working to make a better experience for mobile users through “prefetching”. A Facebook blog this week explained:
“…we’re introducing prefetching – pre-loading mobile content in the Facebook in-app browser before a link is tapped. This can shorten mobile site load time by 29 per cent or 8.5 seconds, improving the experience and decreasing the risk of site abandonment.”
While 8 seconds may not seem like a lot I implore you to count that out right now just to realize how long it actually is in an age where our attention spans are less than that of a goldfish. Read more
Facebook Ad Preferences and Algorithm Updates
Facebook Ad Preferences Hone Interests 
New Facebook ad preferences available to Facebook users may seem detrimental at first – but let us explain. Facebook is using pictures to help users determine the kinds of content they want to see ads from – including travel. This means a more relevant audience for our ads – even if that audience is a bit smaller than what it previously was.
Even better, when a user taps on a particular image they’ll be provided with additional sub-categories to help select the kinds of ads they want to see. This means users will be able to be presented with the kinds of content they want to engage and interact with.
Interestingly, Facebook is also reportedly blocking ad blockers. The preferences are available for many users now, but will be fully available by the end of the month.
Another Facebook Algorithm Update
Another week and another Facebook algorithm update. The social network’s new algorithm aims to make our newsfeeds provide us with more valuable information. Facebook is updating its Feed Quality Program, a database analyzing thousands of surveys with feedback on newsfeeds each day, to create a new ranking system to identify what people find more informative.
Naturally, what may be informative to one person may not be interesting at all to another. Because of that, Facebook is working to tailor each feed to each user to provide a better experience. Facebook predicts some pages may see a “small increase” in referrals and engagement while others may see a small decline. This is likely dependent on the kinds of content published. The new algorithm was announced Thursday and takes effect immediately.
Pinterest Ads Open, Facebook Reach Grows
Pinterest ads now open for your business
This week Pinterest finally opened up its Ads Manager to everyone interested in scheduled Promoted Pins. Up until now Pinterest ads were only in the beta phase.
Along with this opening up, Pinterest unveiled more detailed ad targeting tools to enable advertisers to more accurately promote pins. These targeting tools include some items similar to those seen on the Facebook Ads Manager, like interest and customer database targeting. Pinterest has one different type of targeting that may work in advertisers favor though: keyword targeting, which allows the serving of ads up to people exploring the platform using certain keywords.
Time will tell how successful these ads are, but Pinterest says people who saw Promoted Pins had a 40% greater awareness of new products and had a 50% higher purchase intent.
While this is great for individual advertisers with one client, Pinterest currently lacks the ability to switch between multiple ad accounts. This means that agencies with multiple clients will need to set up accounts and switch between them for different clients.
Facebook Reach reportedly still surging
Facebook post reach continues to rise, despite recent algorithm changes many expected to take a bite out of reach. Locowise reports the average reach for posts in February was up 5.33% from January.
Locowise also reported an increase in post engagements from January to February, but it will be interesting to see what happens to engagements rates once a full month of Reactions are able to be recorded.
Social Engagement Custom Audiences and Likes vs Favorites
Custom audiences by social engagement on posts?
Facebook Marketing Strategist Jon Loomer discovered what could be a new targeting tool for Facebook advertisers: the ability to create custom audiences based on social engagement.
Loomer posted his discovery in a blog post noting that when he went to create a custom audience he had more than the regular 3 option types for creating a custom audience. He had one additional option: people who have engaged with your content! This new targeting option does not appear to be an available for the majority of advertisers yet, but opens up some interesting possibilities. Loomer notes that he’s only able to create custom audiences off of people engaging with videos, but it appears the function is built for multiple types of content. Imagine how dialed in a custom audience list could be by targeting people who had already engaged with your content previously!
While Twitter recently introduced a similar feature, something like this has been a long time coming for Facebook. Time will tell when it rolls out for the rest of us and in what capacity.
We heart the Heart more than the Star
Many people bemoaned Twitter’s decision to kill off the Favorite button and replace that with a Like button similar to Facebook. However, the move appears to be paying off for the social network. Locowise reports Twitter has seen a nearly 29% increase in people liking tweets vs favoriting them. The study included 1,500 Twitter accounts over a three month period with more than 2.2 million tweets.
Locowise noted that a big reason for the increase is due to the favorite button being used to archive material for later compared to the like button. That’s in comparison to a like which provides an immediate representation of your approval of something. While Twitter has been struggling in recent months, positive news like this is promising for the social network.
Facebook Launches Canvas Ads and Reactions
Facebook introduces Canvas
Facebook advertisers now have access to a new immersive type of ad called “Canvas“. While previously available to certain advertisers, the new ad works to open up a full screen experience once an ad is clicked by a user.
This full screen experience is said to load ten times faster than traditional ads. Canvases provide advanced functions for ads like animations, carousels, product catalogs, tilt-to-view images, and videos.
The user-friendly feature is available through Power Editor for all advertisers. Facebook says it wanted to provide everyone with the means to make great looking ads while also elevating the ad content being served to users – from Fortune 500 companies to mom and pop coffee shops.
According to Facebook, 53% of users that open a Canvas view at least half of it, and the average view time is 31 seconds. The top Canvas ads can see more than 70 seconds of view time per user. Read more
Instagram on Hootsuite and Google Hotel Finder
Instagram on Hootsuite and Google Hotel Finder
Welcome to Hootsuite, Instagram!
Social media managers rejoice! Photo-sharing, social media behemoth Instagram is now integrated with Hootsuite. This means Hootsuite users can now schedule those pesky weekend and evening Instagram posts without having to set constant reminders on their phones and alarm clocks.
Hootsuite users will also be able to interact and engage with their audience while also being able to schedule and simultaneously push out Instagram posts onto other platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. You can check out the short video on the integration below.
Google Quietly Launches Hotel Finder
Search giant, Google, may be setting its sights on the travel industry. Google recently (very quietly) launched a new feature allowing users to book hotel rooms directly through the search engine. Called “Google Hotel Finder,” the tool can use Google Wallet to make the transaction quite easy and quick.
At this time, the options are reportedly a bit limited, which may not result in the best deals for consumers.
Changes Coming to Facebook Ads
Changes Coming to Facebook Ads
Some interesting new upgrades and changes are coming to Facebook ads! The social network made the announcement this week in order to prepare ad managers for what to expect. Facebook says the plan is to work harder for ad managers so they don’t have to work quite so hard (yay!) Here is a short breakdown of what to expect:
Ads Manager
A new layout will streamline the look in Ads Manager and provide more information on ads’ performance.
The new data will display performance, audience and placement results. Doing so will provide managers a view of the performance of an ad when making necessary edits instead of memorizing details or having a second window open. This information can even be filtered and selected by date. Reports can also be set to send out at intervals to provide updates as needed, meaning updates can be provided easily and frequently to show progress.
Power Editor
Power EditorWhile the changes in Power Editor may not be as drastic, the new and improved Power Editor will boast a larger display and an edit pane. This will provide more room and a quicker way to edit ads. Ads may also be searched by name or ID and be filtered.
Overall, Facebook says these changes are designed to help ad managers speed up and enhance the ad creation, editing and reporting process. The changes will roll out to all ad accounts in the coming months with no set date announced yet
Most Popular City, Google Maps Everywhere, Instagram Ads
Most Popular City, Google Maps Everywhere, Instagram Ads
Credit: Mastercard
Top Cities Listed
London is the most popular city in the world. That’s according to Mastercard‘s latest Global Destination Cities Index, ranking 132 destination cities around the world in terms of total international overnight visitor arrivals and cross-border spending. This is the second year in a row London has topped the list. The city is expected to receive more than 18.8 million visitors this year.
While Bangkok came in second in anticipated overnight stays, New York was number two when it came to visitor spending, while London remained at number one.
Google Maps and Nav – Even when Offline!
A major announcement from Google this week: the search giant will begin offering maps and navigation even when a user is offline. This should prove especially helpful for people when they need it most, like traveling internationally where data rates are higher – or when signal is especially weak and you’re lost (you know, when you need it most!).
This will, undoubtedly, make the decision to use Google much easier for people in developing parts of the world where signal and coverage are unreliable. The function is expected to roll out later this year.
Instagram Buttons up the Ante
A new feature from Instagram will allow a direct response button to be placed on ads. These four different calls to action will allow advertisers and marketers to better reach the audiences they may have previously had difficulty reaching.
The button will appear under and image and be clickable. The function will begin rolling out in limited number in the coming days, but should quickly find promise among those longing for a clickable option for advertisements on the Facebook-owned platform. You can check out what the buttons will look like below.
Credit: Instagram