Adweek’s upfront week postmortems with ad sales chiefs presenters continue. We’ve already spoken with NBCU’s Linda Yaccarino, Fox’s Marianne Gambelli, TelevisaUnivision’s Donna Speciale and Disney’s Rita Ferro. Now, it’s time for Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. advertising sales officer, Warner Bros. Discovery. WarnerMedia and Discovery completed their $43 billion merger last month, giving Steinlauf mere weeks…Read More
Cruise company Holland America Line has named Cincinnati advertising agency Curiosity its creative agency of record to handle all brand, creative and social media duties as Holland embarks on its 150th year of service. Curiosity will develop a honed brand platform, including a brand refresh and updated positioning, and will create fully integrated campaigns supporting…Read More
Absurd 911 calls are regular fodder for online jokes or clickbait articles. A Google search brings up real, ridiculous situations that prompted emergency calls, such as, “a man called saying someone had vandalized his snowman” or “a stolen TV remote.” Burger King pokes fun at this phenomenon by imagining if people phoned 911 to complain…Read More
If art director Jane Jin could identify one key to a successful career in creativity advertising, it’s the idea that you have to, in her words, “really love people” in order to make it work. “A lot of successful campaigns are driven by human insights and human truths,” she tells Adweek for the AAPI Creative…Read More
Ann Marinovich, former general manager b-to-b at The Information, is joining Adweek as chief content officer, starting May 31. Marinovich, a longtime reader and member of the Adweek community, will oversee the editorial department, event programming, the Adweek Branded content studio and the community team. “I am excited to further the great work Adweek does…Read More
Facebook is getting rid of some location-tracking features due to ‘low usage’
Facebook will stop collecting data associated with these features on May 31st.
Facebook is discontinuing several services associated with tracking your real-time location, including Nearby Friends, weather alerts, location history, and background location this decision was made due to “low usage,” as spotted by 9to5Mac. In a notification sent to people who’ve used the feature in the past, Facebook says it will stop collecting data associated with these features on May 31st and will wipe any stored data on August 1st.
You can update your current Location History and Background Location settings in the Facebook App until May 31, 2022. After this date, the settings will be disabled. Facebook whoever said it will “continue collecting location information for other experiences” to serve up relevant ads and location check-ins in line with its data policy.
Instagram post-pinning feature in testing
You know how Twitter and Facebook Groups allow you to pin posts you want users to see at the top of your feed?
A similar feature is currently being tested on Instagram. Users with access to the feature will be able to pin posts to the top of their profile, making their favorite or most popular posts immediately visible to new followers.
Here is how to do it: Users who have this feature can access it by clicking on the three dots at the top right of a post and selecting the Pin to your profile option.
Wondering how brands and creators can take advantage of this feature? Here are a few ideas:
Keep new product announcements at the top of the feed
Make sure high-engagement opportunities (like contests) are immediately visible to users who view your profile
Highlight user-generated content (UGC) that drives significant results
Share top-performing content to engage new followers as soon as they visit your profile
Instagram Reel length now 90 seconds
Since the introduction of Reels in 2020, Instagram Reels have boomed in popularity and become an incredibly valuable tool for brands. Hootsuite’s experiment showed that using Reels can increase an account’s overall engagement and follower count.
The max Reel length has increased from 60 seconds to 90 seconds long.
Reels are the fastest-growing content feature on both Facebook and Instagram, this isn’t a huge surprise. Still, it will be interesting to see whether creators take advantage of the longer video time option. Many Reels don’t use the full 60 seconds as it is, knowing that sometimes shorter, more engaging videos may have higher video completion rates.
The longer time frames will likely be valuable for creators and businesses who share tutorial-style content, especially if they need that extra time to be thorough.
Chronological feed is back on Instagram
Hey, did you know that the chronological view feature has returned to Instagram, but not for everyone, only those who want it. The chronological feed view shows you content from accounts you follow in chronological order. It doesn’t use the platform’s overarching algorithm that takes your preferences and behaviors into account when arranging content on feeds.
If you select “Favorites,” you’ll see content from users that you consider to be your favorites. You can find these by visiting the home page in the app and tapping on the Instagram icon in the top left. The main feed, however, will use the same basic algorithm that prioritizes what you have engaged with in the past. There are no controls yet for Stories.
The idea behind social commerce is straightforward. It usually involves brands using social media to sell their goods or services instead of relying on a stand-alone eCommerce site. Things are not quite so clear-cut in practice, however, as social commerce often includes sales of products promoted on social media that link to a stand-alone eCommerce store.
What is the Difference Between Social Commerce and eCommerce?
The two forms of online commerce are very similar. You can easily think of social commerce as a specialist form of eCommerce. Technically, eCommerce happens on a website where you built an online store. Social commerce sales, however, occur on social media.
However, definitions are quite fluid, and you might widen the meaning of social commerce to include all sales facilitated by social media. With this broader definition, you would include sales made due to social media advertising, even if people follow a link in the ad through to your main online store.
5G connectivity will enable XR experiences across connected devices
Aside from edge cloud processing and advanced AI, the continuous global deployment of 5G wireless connectivity will enhance social commerce. It will enable seamless mixed reality experiences across a wide variety of connected devices.
An eMarketer report forecasts AR users in the U.S. to grow to 101.6 million people in 2022 from just 83.7 million in 2020. If brands are able to leverage new technologies and the power of 5G to deliver more immersive shopping experiences to the consumers, this growth forecast will likely be surpassed.
While influencers will still play a key role in promoting clothing, digital avatars are poised to walk along digital fashion runways. They will give brands more flexibility in layering digital clothing, promoting new collections, and enabling digital sampling. Consumers will also have more realistic views of how clothes and accessories look when worn even when shopping online.
The rise of the Metaverse will further spur the use of digital avatars. Fashion retailers can take advantage of this trend by offering digital accessories and digital clothing that these avatars can use.
Mainstream use of NFTs still in contention
This year, the demand for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) went mainstream with the increased popularity of the Metaverse. This was further boosted by Facebook’s rebranding as Meta. Many independent artists and digital creators welcomed this revolutionary form of compensation for their work.
However, much debate remains on the use and nature of NFTs. Among the criticisms for its use are its significant environmental impact, unreliability, lack of regulations, and volatile nature. Still, brands engaged in social commerce and eCommerce should look deeper into how NFTs can potentially benefit them in the emerging creative economy and digital ecosystem.
As a new form of social commerce, NFTs can empower creators, collectors, and small businesses alike. Before you dive into it though, make sure to exercise due diligence. Identify your potential use cases, assess risks, and determine if NFTs can add true, long-term value to your business.
Micro-influencers to continue helping brands increase reach
Collaborating with micro-influencers isn’t exactly a new trend but it is still relevant today and will remain so in 2022. Small businesses in particular will find that micro-influencers can enable them to balance ad budgets better while achieving wider audience reach.
Unlike some big name influencers that have hundreds of thousands to millions of followers, micro-influencers collaborate with brands at budgets that even small enterprises can afford. They often have very specific audience types that simplifies segmentation and ad targeting. Moreover, they are usually perceived to be more authentic and transparent about paid collaborations than major influencers. Considering all these factors, micro-influencers definitely have an impact on helping brands drive conversions.
When working with micro-influencers, choose those in a niche within your industry and whose followers are similar to your target persona. Look for people who engage with their audience on a personal level and who have established relationships with their loyal followers.
Frictionless experiences will win hearts and loyalty
Consumers today have very little tolerance for digital inconvenience. Brands still using outdated business models with complicated and a long buyers’ journey will inevitably frustrate them. In contrast, brands that offer frictionless and seamless experiences across all platforms are bound to see increased acquisition and retention rates.
Go through your customer experience map and spot bottlenecks in the buyers’ journey. Remove any unnecessary steps and aim to streamline the entire process. Make it easy for your customers to complete purchases on your social platforms. By continuously improving your customer experience, you can provide the digital convenience that consumers today are looking for.
User-Generated Content Still an Essential Marketing Strategy
The essence of social media involves people communicating and sharing information. While this may in some ways seem at odds with social commerce, it wouldn’t be a problem as long as brands avoid hard-sell or blatant advertising.
Of course, brands have advertised on social media for years. People accept Facebook Ads as a legitimate part of the platform now. However, it should be noted that the most successful brands don’t create ads that look like traditional ads. They’re more subtle and less “in-your-face.” Brands tend to offer useful and relevant information about a product to provide value to those fed these ads. Anything that resembles a traditional ad tends to be simply ignored and scrolled past by social media users.
User-Generated Content (UGC) has proved highly beneficial to brands in recent years, and this will become even more so in the years to come. It helps social media users feel that they are working with a brand with an identity instead of just being fed a message. People are far more likely to share messages containing UGC, which increases the potential reach of a social marketing campaign.
The other advantage of UGC is that it can more effectively alter people’s perceptions. It is not just a brand plugging itself—this content is created by somebody perceived to be neutral and is therefore more trustworthy. It implies a high level of trust.
Conversational Commerce Now an Essential Element in Social Commerce
In 2021, chatbots via messaging apps became commonplace. Social media platforms enabled more responsive chat functions and real-time conversations. While consumers prefer to get support from a live agent, chatbots are still a welcome help if they help get issues addressed quickly.
As consumers have increased demand for quick answers and resolutions to their questions and problems, conversational commerce through messaging apps is now a necessity and not just something nice to have.
Of course, having somebody sitting on a messaging app all day may be beyond the resources of many businesses. This is where chatbots that can take full advantage of AI capabilities come to the fore. Modern chatbots can do much more than just provide answers to common questions. They can “speak” to people and carry on more natural conversations.
More Use-cases of AI, ML and AR in Social Commerce
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and augmented reality (AR) are all emerging technologies that see accelerated improvement over time. Brands are finding that all of them can help improve their ability to engage in social commerce when used efficiently. We have seen above how AI can make chatbots usable and how they can undertake a sensible conversation with potential buyers.
Perhaps the best example of AR on social media at the moment is on Instagram, where you can modify on-screen the look of your surroundings. TikTok has similar capabilities to help with the videos you create.
Brands have used AR to let you virtually decorate your house by “adding” new products to your rooms just by using the camera in your phone.
Another way firms use AI is to create an automated checkout. For example, if a firm uses a Facebook Shop, they can employ Jumper.ai. This helps you create a conversation with potential customers and talk them through the purchasing process.
Voice technology and conversational shopping continue to increase in popularity
Many Millennials and those in Generation Z prefer to search by voice as it can be much more convenient than typing. Many people who prefer to search using voice technology are also more likely to buy items using the same technology.
Both Android and Apple also integrate voice technology in their devices, and both of their respective voice assistants are becoming more sophisticated with each iteration. With stand-alone devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home becoming more commonplace, brands will need to leverage the power of voice technology to increase customer engagement and remain competitive.
According to Statista, eCommerce purchases made using voice technology are forecast to increase from USD4.6 billion this year to USD19.4 billion in 2023. That’s more than a quadruple increase in just two years. That’s also a huge market share you wouldn’t want to miss out on. This makes it the best time to optimize your brand for voice technology—from voice search to conversational shopping.
One way businesses adapted to lockdowns and restrictions in 2020 was the use of live streaming. Brands promoted products to a select group over Zoom and Microsoft Teams or to a broader audience via Facebook Live, Twitch, and many other streaming apps.
Brands and influencers working on their behalf have discovered how easily you can use live streaming to promote new products and services. You can target potential customers at every stage of the sales cycle, from generic streams highlighting the importance of an industry to streams focusing on specific product benefits and even streams offering customer service to existing clients.
And of course, you can combine live streaming with a social promotion where people can buy the products being featured in-app. For example, you could hold a Facebook Live stream promoting your product’s benefits and have a Facebook Marketplace Ad in the feeds of the same people watching your live stream.
In the next couple of years, consumer demand and faster connectivity will boost the growth of live streaming platforms. By 2023, the live streaming market is expected to bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in global annual sales.
The digital media company BDG has hired Jon Wilde, formerly the global digital director at GQ, to usher its Culture and Innovation portfolio into a stylish new era, one defined by a closer hewing to the world of celebrity and a budding slate of signature events. The C&I portfolio, which houses the titles Mic, Gawker,…Read More
This article is part of our coverage of the latest in AI research. For humans, working with deformable objects is not significantly more difficult than handling rigid objects. We learn naturally to shape them, fold them, and manipulate them in different ways and still recognize them. But for robots and artificial intelligence systems, manipulating deformable objects present a huge challenge. Consider the series of steps that a robot must take to shape a ball of dough into pizza crusts. It must keep track of the dough as it changes shape, and at the same time, it must choose the right…
