Tag: messaging

Facebook To Expand Its Messenger App Into Multifaceted Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: TechCrunch

Taking a page straight out of WeChat’s and LINE’s playbooks, Facebook has unveiled its plan to expand its Messenger app into a full-fledged media platform by allowing third-party integration with content, information, and new functionality. Until now, the Messenger App has basically been copying the monotonous messaging experience on Facebook, and it should be interesting to see how it will experiment with new developer capabilities to offer new functions for users and new opportunities for brands.

Why Snapchat Is Looking To Broadcast Live Sports

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Digiday

As part of its continuing effort to diversify content and evolve into a media platform, Snapchat is now working to get live sports in its “Our Story” feature, starting with the NCAA Final Four, by making media-rights deals with sports leagues and broadcast networks. The popular messaging app is also reportedly raising money from Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba at a $15 billion valuation, up from its $10 billion valuation last year.

3 Challenges That Publishers Face On WhatsApp

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: DIgiday

Digital publishers such as The Huffington Post and Daily Mirror have started experimenting with popular messaging app WhatsApp to push breaking news alerts to readers. But challenges abound for brands trying to connect with WhatsApp users, namely:

  1. A lengthy sign-up process
  2. A broadcast system limited to 256 members only per list
  3. The lack of dependable measurements, especially its “dark social” referrals.

These issues are partly due to the fact that WhatsApp was designed for small-scale commutation, not large-scale broadcasting. Nevertheless, for the publishers that put in the work to overcome those challenges, the platform is worth the effort. Huffington Post, for instance, reported click-through rates via its WhatsApp alerts to be as high as 60%.

Snapchat Is Getting More Local

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

After dipping their toes into original content development, Snapchat has started locally curating its content. The chat app is now turning its previously open-to-public, event-based curating feature “Our Stories” into a geo-fenced content channel that hightlights local Snapchat contents that can only be seen by people nearby. If Yik Yak’s recent rise in popularity proves that there is a market demand for location-specific social sharing apps, then this new localized feature might just be a timely addition for Snapchat.

 

Another Messaging App Ventures Into Video Content

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

LINE, Japan’s most popular messaging app, continues to expand its core business as it starts testing LINE TV, a YouTube-like video service in Thailand. Available via Android and iOS apps as well as on the web, the platform features a wide range of TV shows and music videos from local Asian markets.

More importantly, LINE TV is deeply integrated with LINE’s messaging app so that users can easily share content with friends. Some videos even contain quick links to follow the official accounts of featured actors within the messaging app. By trying to take control of both the media channel and content, LINE is ambitiously building its business towards a multi-faceted media channel, not unlike what Snapchat is doing.

Snapchat Makes Super Bowl Ad Debut; 50% Feature Hashtags

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Marketing Land

Among all 56 commercials aired nationally during last night’s Super Bowl, hashtags made an appearance in half of them. From Budweiser’s #BestBuds to Nationwide Insurance’s #MakeSafeHappen, marketers are putting the universal search tag across major social platforms into good use, as social activities on second screen continue to rise.

Moreover, Snapchat made its Super Bowl debut with a featured nod at the end of trailer for Pitch Perfect 2, whose target demo matches with the messaging app’s young user base quite well. Overall, Facebook still takes the top spot as the most mentioned social media with 4 mentions, with Twitter closely behind with 3 nods.

Snapchat Experiments With Original Web Series

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: AdAge

We reported last week that Snapchat is venturing into original content with its new Discovery feature, and now the company is taking that foray one step further. On Tuesday, Snapchat announced a “scripted series” of mini-movies made by social media stars and sponsored by AT&T. Dubbed “SnapperHero”, the soon-to-debut 12-episode original web series marks an important step in Snapchat’s continuing evolution from messaging app to media platform.

Twitter Adds Group Messages And Video Uploads: Is It Too Late?

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Read the original story on: The Verge

In an obvious attempt to catch up with Instagram and increasingly popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat, Twitter started rolling out two long-awaited features today: direct video uploads (limited to 30 seconds only) and group messaging in DM. These features should make Twitter more versatile and completive, but it might be too little too late as users have already been comfortably enjoying similar features on rival platforms. Still, brands should explore these new features to find new ways to connect with the audience.