AdParlor November 30 2023 Newsletter: Social Media Updates

Meta Meets Amazon: The Tech Giants Connect to Offer A New Shopping Experience to Customers

Meta and Amazon have joined forces to introduce a new in-app shopping feature on Facebook and Instagram, allowing users to link their accounts to Amazon for seamless shopping. This update follows a similar announcement between Amazon and Pinterest that was introduced back in April of 2023. More recently, a similar partnership was also announced with Snapchat. Customers in the U.S. can now shop Amazon’s ads on Facebook and Instagram (in addition to Pinterest and Snapchat) and the feature allows the user to check out without leaving the social media apps by using their saved Amazon payment and shipping information. The partnership aims to enhance targeting and optimization for Meta by utilizing Amazon’s data to show consumers relevant ads, leading to better conversion rates. The deal also bypasses challenges with Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy, providing a considerably closed loop performance engine. Meta will continue to support its own checkout experience, which includes processing fees on sales (for non-Shopify sellers). Meta will not be passing fees to Amazon sellers as part of this new deal since Amazon will be processing its own payments. This benefits Amazon sellers while expanding Amazon’s presence on popular social media platforms.

AdParlor POV:

This partnership offers exciting opportunities for both companies, connecting one of the largest advertising (and social) platforms with one of the largest commerce platforms. At a time when TikTok Shops is starting to take off, this strategic move will help Amazon in an area they’ve previously struggled. Amazon has tried to create their own social media experiences in the past with Spark in 2019 and, more recently, Inspire. This partnership will allow them to piggyback off the already-established mass of users across Facebook and Instagram and connect them with their powerhouse e-commerce storefront. The primary advantage from a consumer perspective is a more seamless shopping experience with real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, accurate delivery estimates and product details, all without needing to leave social media platforms. Meta stands to gain better targeting and optimization through stronger data connections with Amazon. Amazon, in turn, benefits from increased transactions from a prominent discovery platform. While the fine print of the exact data being shared is a bit unclear, if the two parties collaborate to share more data this partnership will allow for a more closed-loop performance engine in a world where both parties have been fairly closed off from an attribution standpoint. Sellers will benefit by having the ability to create data-driven marketing campaigns that are measurable using the Amazon Attribution Tool. An additional success this partnership might bring is added validity to Facebook shops, as users now have the trustworthiness of Amazon behind their Meta purchases. As advertisers and businesses alike continue to try to achieve what once was, prior to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy implementation, we also commend them for their collaboration.

Source: Meta and Amazon team up on new in-app shopping feature on Facebook & Instagram

Platforms continue to bet big on content creators

As of December 16th, TikTok will be shutting down its creator fund, a fund that was set up in 2020 to provide incentives to micro-influencers with at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days. The fund seems to have been met with criticism from creators dissatisfied with pay outs they had received on their content. The fund will be replaced with TikTok’s “Creativity Program Beta” which incentivizes creators to publish high-quality, longer-form video content, capitalizing on the trend of TikTok users now spending 50% of their time on 1 minute+ content. The Creativity Program claims it has the potential to earn up to 20 times the amount that was previously offered by the Creator Fund.

Meta is also introducing a handful of features to enhance the performance and experience of content creators on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram has added a feature to share post replies on IG stories, with the aim of increasing community engagement. Alongside fostering more engagement, Meta is adding a handful of tools to help content creators garner better insight into the performance of their work. These new utilities include: adding an A/B testing option for Reels creators, a new interface for creating reels from existing content, a new content management element to the Professional Dashboard and lastly, an Achievements hub. The Achievements hub will be a place to display the various achievements creators have garnered across various categories like education, stars, reels and progression. A feature likely to be of major interest for creators on the platform: any creator 18+ that finishes all Progression levels can become eligible for increased visibility in Feed or can get the “Rising Creator” label featured on their page or profile – both of which can help them get discovered.

AdParlor POV:

Content creators are the heart and soul of social media platforms. It is only befitting that platforms continue to equip creators with tools and incentives to maximize their content from start to finish. With Meta’s new features like creative testing, creators can better gauge what works and what doesn’t, while achievements show what types of content and performance favors the algorithm and will enhance a creators visibility. TikTok’s incentives have historically prioritized creator payouts and has been light on the testing + tool options. It will be interesting to see if they roll out any additional features in light of Meta’s rollout. At AdParlor we are well aware of the importance that content creators play and we’re pleased to provide CreatorFuel, our comprehensive and results-oriented influencer marketing solution. CreatorFuel intends to drive impactful business growth through authentic creator content, going beyond brand awareness and focusing on delivering tangible results at every stage of the funnel. Incorporating influencer marketing is quintessential in today’s social media spaces to really make the most of your advertising dollars, and we’re here to help.

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Agencies are adapting omnichannel strategies as stores return to pre-pandemic traffic

Agencies are adjusting omnichannel strategies as physical store traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels. This includes leveraging third-party relationships, robust retargeting strategies, and enhanced customer engagement tactics in response to the significant rebound in brick-and-mortar shopping. As consumer expectations rise, agencies are assisting retailers in thinking long-term and by helping them focus on improving customer experiences to enhance shopper loyalty. Agencies are helping retailers achieve this through the following:

Removing friction in the retail experience to help achieve longer dwell times, more complete carts and stronger shopper loyalty.
Facilitating category workshops for retailers and suppliers to experience & improve customer journey scenarios.
Placing an emphasis on campaigns that promote and measure foot traffic.

AdParlor POV:

As in-store traffic increases, the potential and necessity for social media advertising increases. As Americans spend more time with social media than any other media platform on a daily basis, ads within the social ecosystem can carry more weight and go beyond immediate conversions and website traffic. Staying top of mind as a retail brand by raising upper funnel awareness results in conversions both online and offline. This also furthers the need to focus on omnichannel metrics and measurement, to truly realize the potential and impact of paid social. While Meta has pivoted away from the Store Traffic campaign objective for lower funnel conversion, there are ways to leverage Store Sets within upper funnel campaigns to show the most relevant locations and products in the consumer’s area. AdParlor is well equipped to handle and accustomed to omnichannel marketing and measurement, actively working with many major retailers in this space.

We can help maximize retailer’s 1st party customer data for acquisition + retention, provide personalized creative to leverage throughout the campaign journey, and can help measure the impact of those campaigns by providing data for MMM models or through conversion lift, A/B and geo lift testing. We offer a level of expertise and high touch service that can help translate online advertising to offline results.

Source: Media Buying Briefing: How agencies are adapting omnichannel strategies as stores return to pre-pandemic traffic