With Q3 in the books, we thought now would be a good time to introduce the first edition of “The Social Media Water Cooler.” We’re launching this new initiative to provide a platform to discuss popular social media trends and topics that are incredibly relevant to the digital marketing industry.
Water•cooler: noun
1 formal. A dispenser of cooled drinking water, typically used in places of work.
2 informal. Used to refer to the type of informal conversation among office workers that takes place around a water cooler.
Know This Social Media Advertising Term:
Lookalike Audience (LLA or LAL): Lookalike Audiences are created by Facebook to help advertisers reach people who are similar to (or “look like”) an audience that the advertiser is interested in targeting. To create a Lookalike Audience, you need a Custom Audience, which is a list of your current customers or people who have engaged with your website (and are tracked by the Facebook pixel).
Facebook Q2 Earnings & Results
The Short
“Our community and business continue to grow quickly,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. After a rocky 1H full of headlines and publicity, Facebook continues to see growth across daily active users (11% YoY), monthly active users (11% YoY), and advertising revenue (42% YoY).
Due to this continued growth and relevance, Facebook should continue to be considered a significant part of the overall digital ecosystem in any successful marketing campaign. [The Long]
Facebook’s Increased Transparency
The Short
Earlier this year, Facebook announced plans to ensure authenticity and transparency in response to concerns of foreign interference on Facebook during the 2016 election and public criticism of data misuse and dark posts.
Since, Facebook has rolled out multiple features throughout Q2/Q3 to increase accountability across the platform. Through the ‘Info and Ads’ section on Pages, advertisers can now view paid advertising efforts of competitors and partners, providing significant opportunity for creative research. [The Long]
Facebook Can Now Understand Text in Images
The Short
Facebook has been working for years on its advanced image recognition technology, which can now automatically categorize images based on their content. Searching for images with text allows you to find people who already buy your products or related products, and target those users.
By providing the users with special offers, you can enable a strategy to not only reach people who would be expected to be interested, but who you know are also likely to continue to post images in the future. [The Long]
Snapchat Lenses & Augmented Reality
The Short
After losing 2% of its daily active users post-redesign, Snapchat continues to experiment and affirm its commitment to its augmented reality lenses. Recently, the company launched new lenses that will respond to a user’s voice.
With augmented reality continuing to be a hot topic within social media, this could provide new opportunities for content delivery and targeting in the future. [The Long]
Pinterest Hits a New Milestone
The Short
If Pinterest were a country, it’d be the fifth largest in the world. While more prominent social networks are facing slightly slower growth or even seeing user numbers dip a little, Pinterest has quietly become bigger than ever with over 250M monthly active users.
According to a TalkShoppe study, Pinterest ads are 1.4X more relevant and useful than those on other platforms, providing an opportunity to capitalize on an ever-expanding platform.
This concludes the Q3 edition of “The Social Media Water Cooler”. We hope you gained some solid insights into the current trends and topics that are dominating the social landscape.
Looking for even more social media insights? You need to download our exclusive ebook, The Facebook Advertising Dilemma. This outstanding resource outlines the pros and cons of Facebook advertising. It will open your eyes to the potential that Facebook has to grow your business and build your brand. It’s a must-read for anyone currently advertising or even considering advertising on Facebook.
