In the ever-evolving world of social media, our favorite platforms are constantly making updates.
Here are the top headlines that caught our eye this week.
As the lines start to blur between platforms, publishers, media and brands, it’s interesting to watch the ways they are adjusting to go beyond their traditional medium to capture attention and make content more accessible and valuable to everyone.
PINTEREST BECOMES MORE SEARCHABLE
Pinterest adds visual search for elements in images and through your camera
3 updates:
- Lens gives users a way to open their camera, look at any image and Pinterest’s Lens feature will automatically pick apart the objects in an image. That can drill down into foods, animals, or even patterns like hexagons. That gives users the ability to start searching for related elements through that. Lens is launching in beta today on iOS.
- Pinterest is also updating its visual search when it comes to finding specific products, isolating each product within an image. So if you’re looking at a pin from a company that may be selling a jacket, it will also pick up the image of the boots and let you jump to them. Users can also jump to additional related content to those products or elements in the photo.
- Instant Ideas adds a small little circle to the bottom of each pin, allowing them to jump straight into related elements and gather additional ideas related to that topic.
Pinterest Announces Search Ads to Help Businesses Tap Into User Interests
“Pinterest also notes that the majority of their two billion monthly searches are for products and services, while 97% of their top searches are non-branded, providing expanded opportunity for businesses to reach browsing buyers.”
What it means for you: These updates will make it easier to find items and lead you to other items that you might also like. Snap a photo of something you like and Pinterest will find it or something similar to it.
What it means for brands: Pinterest is helping make your products more discoverable. Be sure to update your boards regularly and feature your products in various ways to be more searchable.
FACEBOOK ALLOWS GIFS!
You Can Now Add Animated GIFs to Facebook Ads
“The GIF will autoplay in the News Feed.”
What it means for you: Your feed will have more movement to catch your eye.
What it means for brands: Make your products more eye catching with movement. Brands like Marc Jacobs and Target are currently doing this to show a product in different colors.
FACEBOOK ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING ON THE HORIZON?
Making moves into TV land, Facebook hires executive from MTV
“Her hire is the latest sign Facebook’s getting serious about hosting original programming. In late January it flagged that long videos that managed to hold viewer attention would get a “slight” priority in the newsfeed, and it’s reportedly looking at creating a video app for set-top boxes that would host premium content.”
What it means for you: If Facebook starts developing original content, you’ll have more choices of things to watch. You might also have another platform to host video content you create yourself.
What it means for brands: Brands can start thinking of content in both long form and short form as well as utilizing existing programming to target advertising.
MEDIA AND PUBLISHERS EXPAND SNAPCHAT CONTENT
Snapchat brings new episodes of Planet Earth to your mobile
“BBC Worldwide and Snap Inc. are partnering up to release six episodes on the mobile platform. These new episodes will run parallel to the debut of the hit show on BBC America on February 18. The Snapchat “show” premieres on Feb 17 and will be released weekly, covering the same content as the television show itself.”
‘NYT’ Plans Daily Edition On Snapchat Discover
“Intended to help readers start their day with a quick but comprehensive news roundup, Edition will be tailored to the Snapchat Discover platform, with a heavy emphasis on visual storytelling.
Snapchat’s Discover platform has been wooing legacy media companies with the promise of huge reach among a highly desirable demographic. According to Nielsen data cited by the companies, Snapchat reaches 41% of all adults ages 18-34 in the U.S. on an average day, while the global audience for Snapchat Discover tops 150 million daily.”
What it means for you: Snapchat is quickly becoming a great source of extended content and a one-stop shop for news and entertainment.
What it means for brands: New ways to reach younger audiences are emerging every day on Snapchat. Whether you’re building out exclusive content or want to be part of a larger movement, big brands and publishers are paving the way.