Another month, another round of platform updates. With summer coming to an end <sigh> advertisers are busy optimizing their back to school campaigns and gearing up for the most wonderful time of the year: the holidays! From live video, to new ad placements and trends, here’s the latest from our platform partners.
Search as a Placement
Facebook continues to increase its ad placement inventory, adding search to the list. While still in its test and learn phase, advertisers can now choose to run ads in search results with Facebook’s main search bar and within Facebook Marketplace.
The placement aims to reach people with relevant content based on their search terms. Search ads will look similar to News Feed ads, accompanied with a headline, image and copy text.
Delivery View
As an advertiser, getting the most out of your budget means knowing which adjustments and optimizations are needed to succeed. Delivery view allows you to quickly see different factors to help you make changes to improve your ad performance.
Delivery view enables you to take a closer look into bid strategy, audience competition, saturation and auction overlap. Below is an example of auction overlap. The chart shows how frequently your ad sets might be entering the same auction with other ad sets in your account. The last thing you want is to have your ad sets competition against each other.
Bringing Ads to Explore
Instagram has announced that in the coming weeks, they will be introducing ads in the Explore feed. Offering brand placement amongst culturally relevant and trending content while reaching new audiences who are looking to discover something new.
Dynamic Ads on Instagram Stories
Instagram users are increasingly spending their time on Instagram Stories, so it only makes sense that Dynamic ads have also made their way there. Now you can show your most relevant products to the most relevant people in a full-screen, interactive format on Instagram Stories.
IGTV Success
As IGTV continues to build momentum, Thrillist has put together an infographic based on what they’ve learned from their experiments with IGTV. With a test and iterate mentality Thrillist wanted to know what content would perform best on IGTV. The below infographic explains what they did in order to see a 29X video performance increase within six months.
Snapchat
Instant Create
Snapchat is hoping to attract new advertisers (and hopefully help those already using the platform) with the launch of a new tool called Instant Create. With three easy steps, advertisers simply select their objective, add their business website and targeting.
Available using Snapchat’s self-serve Ads Manager, Instant Create currently only supports Snap Ads. To learn more visit Snapchat’s campaign guide here.
Snappy Holidays
With the summer coming to an end marketer’s are switching gears to holiday planning. And platforms like Snapchat have released their insights and tips to win over consumers this holiday season. Download your Snapchat Holiday Guide here!
LinkedIn Live
LinkedIn is slowly expanding the usage of their live-streaming option and this week published a best practice guide on how to get started. The guide offers top use cases to build out your live streaming strategy with examples of how brands are using LinkedIn Live.
So why is LinkedIn suggesting you invest in a live video strategy? According to the guide, 73% of B2B marketers say video positively impacts marketing ROI. And companies that include video in their marketing grew revenue 49% faster than those that didn’t.
LinkedIn Live is currently available to those who apply for entry into the beta program.
Gallery Ads
75% of smartphone users expect immediate info while using their phone. In an effort to keep the pace Google has announced Gallery ads for search campaigns.
Currently in beta, Gallery Ads are a swipeable, image-based ad format that will give customers information they need about your products and services—right at the top of the search results page. A visual opportunity to attract and connect with consumers before they visit your site.
Make the most of video on Pinterest
As an inspirational platform people come to Pinterest ready to try something new. In fact, over the last year searches for “inspirational videos” have increased by 31%. With that in mind, Pinterest has rolled out new video features for creators and business to reach their audiences. This includes an improved uploader, video tab, lifetime analytics, and Pin scheduling.
Picked-just-for-you
In an effort to make Pinterest a more personalized shoppable experience, Pinterest is rolling ideas at the top of home feed and browsable catalogs alongside Pins. In addition to personalized shopping hubs at the top of your home feed, shopping section is rolling out below Pins. The idea is to make it easier for consumers to browse into the catalogs of brands of all sizes like Birdies Slippers in the image above.
Back-to-School
Pinterest is the ultimate guide for back-to-school inspo. From what to wear, to lunch ideas, check out the top trends for back to school season this season.
Quick Recap
- Facebook: Search as a placement and Delivery View
- Instagram: Ads within the Explore Feed, Dynamic Ads, IGTV tips
- SnapChat: Instant Create and Snappy Holidays
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn Live
- Google: Gallery Ads
- Pinterest: Videos, personalization and Back-to-School trends
If you are looking to improve your social media results or have questions regarding latest platform updates we’d love to chat!