In an effort to expand its multimedia capabilities, Twitter is testing an automatic, in-stream image preview. Currently Twitter.com supports two-step in-stream previews, which means that some photos can be displayed in a user’s timeline after the user clicks anywhere inside the tweet. Some users have even reported noticing in-stream previews without the need to click. What this means for sponsored images or posts remains to be seen, but keep an eye out for this important new feature that looks to be rolling out soon.
Tag: social media
SeatGeek Partners With State Farm
SeatGeek is an Entertainment ticket search engine that uses its data to index popularity, helping brands spot up and coming bands to sponsor. One such brand is insurer State Farm, who has partnered with the startup to look for the next big thing. By watching ticket sales across the web, along with the size of the ticket resale market, SeatGeek believes it can identify bands on the verge of popularity among younger crowds that brands want to reach. This data will help State Farm to sponsor bands that will generate buzz for the brand within the younger age group that it often fails to reach.
Teens Share More Information On Social Media
According to a study by Pew Internet, Teens now share more information about themselves on social media sites than they have in the past. At the same time, though, they are more protective about privacy issues, and take privacy-protective actions. Contrarily, Teens do not express concerns about third-parties accessing their data, and only 9% of teens say that they are “very” concerned. Teens are sharing more information about themselves than they were in 2006: 91% post a photo of themselves; 71% post their school name, and 53% post their email addresses. At the same time, 60% have their profiles set to private, and report high levels of confidence in being able to manage their privacy settings. Whether this view is naive or not remains to be seen, but what is sure is that Teens are sharing data at an increasing rate, and believe that this data is at least partially secure from third parties. Companies like Ghostery have begun to expose the third-party tracking and the extent to which it stretches, but for the most part the population remains relatively unaware of the extent of third-party tracking.
LocalResponse revenue up 716%
LocalResponse uses special algorithms to monitor social media and power re-targeting based on users’ published social interactions. So for example, if a user tweets “I’m hungry”, Pizza Hut can re-target them with a banner ad.
VineTune Lets You Rock Out 6 Seconds at a Time
We learned earlier this year that 6 seconds of video can make quite a statement, and since the launch of Vine, marketers have been excited about the platform’s possibilities. Designers at London ad agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay launched a creative use of the service called VineTune that crowd sources Vine videos based on specific set of hash tags pulled from the lyrics of a song selected by the VineTune team and uses them to cobble together a music video. All of this is done with a slick visual design. Certainly advertisers will take notice and follow suit with more creative uses for the Vine platform.
Ribbon Launches Hashtag-Free Payments On Twitter & YouTube
Payments startup Ribbon, which enables purchases on social media sites, is launching new Twitter and YouTube platforms. On Twitter the service takes full advantage of the expanded Cards feature— users simply click on a “Buy Now” button and then input credit card information all within Twitter. On YouTube, the integration comes via in-video annotations, which allow you to click to purchase on a Ribbon checkout page. The conventional wisdom is that conversion rates are highest when you don’t have to leave a site to purchase, so expect Ribbon to create great opportunities for brands.
Startup Slim Eliminates Obsessive Update Checking
A new San Francisco-based startup called Slim is aiming to tackle the state of information overload that’s created by the many social networks we’re expected to keep tabs on. Slim allows you to discover and be alerted to the most important life events from friends and colleagues, all in one central location. There are many apps currently that allow us to search through information on social networks quickly, but Slim is targeted to the business user who has little time but wants to be given reasons to maintain contact with friends and colleagues. Slim builds a customized feed of Facebook and LinkedIn events, and alerts the user via push; it also allows you to star updates you want and mark updates you don’t, so it will gradually learn your preferences. Slim further sets itself apart by offering mechanisms for reaching out – text messages, calls, emails, and more. Thus far the startup only supports Facebook and LinkedIn, but they will soon follow with Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Salesforce, and Yammer.
Time Warner Medialab Releases Study on Second Screen Viewing
Multi-screen viewing is a buzzy topic for marketers and in an attempt to quantify its impacts, Time Warner Medialab conducted a series of studies on this multitasking behavior. In almost any case, owners of combinations of TVs, smartphones and computers are likely to multitask while using them, incorporating social media into their viewing experience. Digital natives have been shown to switch platforms almost 30 times per hour, and this multitasking behavior has been shown to increase emotional engagement and favorability of the advertiser. The full report is certainly worth a look for marketers interested in second screen viewing and its implications.
Oreo Blackout Ad Was Only the Beginning
Oreo’s marketing touchdown during the Super Bowl has managed to rock more than just Twitter, and has foreshadowed what may be the future of marketing in general: brands reacting via social media to breaking news to compliment more traditional methods. Every marketing agency in the world that let a collective sigh after the perfect Oreo ad went viral and became a news sensation as much as the blackout that triggered it watched and learned from the example, and examples of the new wave of social advertising are already cropping up. After winter storm Nemo struck the east coast, Starbucks generated targeted posts in areas where local Starbucks stores had been forced to close by weather, offering free coffee. As part of a multi-pronged approach, this sort of reactive marketing is seen as the way of the future, and during major media events of the next year, it is certain brands will be watching and waiting for their Oreo-Blackout moment.
Chute Live Real-World Photo Aggregator Launches Today
Chute, a startup that helps publishers and brands incorporate photos and media, submitted by users and social media, within their websites, is now expanding its functionality to include real-world locations through a feature called Chute Live. This entails pulling photos from social media and putting them onto screens installed in spaces anywhere the hiring company might want – for example the Cosmopolitan Hotel launched a “Pop Up Wedding Chapel” that aggregates photos from Twitter the #PopUpChapel hashtag. Customers can build their own applications to do similar aggregation efforts, and Chute is already incorporated into the House of Blues and the NBA All-Star game.
