The world of marketing is constantly changing. Add in the “always on” mentality of social media, digital platforms and technology today, and brands are challenged to keep up with available capabilities and consumer behavior. Here’s what we’re hooked on this week!
Yo
If you’ve been waiting for an app that allows you to simply send a message, “Yo” to your friends, then your prayers have been answered! It seems ridiculous, but this has been the week of Yo. Plot twist: Investors have contributed more than $1 million toward the app.
Why we’re hooked: Besides the obvious buzz Yo has created this week, Or Arbel, former iOS designer at the company, explains that it’s much more than just sending a simple “Yo.” His vision is context-based messaging – adding a user “WorldCup” on Yo and receiving a “Yo” every time a goal is scored, or embedding it in a blog and get notified when a new story has published. Does your significant other bug you about not texting you thoughout the day? Now you can just “Yo” them. With $1 million in investments, the team must be on to something.
Snapchat Our Story
Snapchat introduced “Stories” back in October last year, and today more than 50 percent of Snapchat users view friends’ Stories, which are available for replay for 24 hours instead of instantly disappearing. This week the company introduced “Our Story,” which expands the capabilities of Stories, makes snaps public and focuses them around specific events.
The feature is kicking off this week at the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas. All users have to do is add the account “EDCLive” to their Snapchat contacts list, and they’ll be able to add snaps to “Our EDC Story” and view snaps from other users. Snapchat uses location services to make sure users are actually at the event, and it will be providing free Wi-Fi so users don’t have to worry about their data plan while snapping. Snapchat will also monitor the story for length and illegal or inappropriate snaps.
Why we’re hooked: The feature is similar to the appeal of Twitter; bringing people together around an event to share and interact with others. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have all been tweaking their ad platforms for brands, and Snapchat doesn’t seem to be an exception – it has several employees working on business and marketing partnerships, and recently hired a vice president of monetization. Our Story opens the door for event sponsors to include ads in an event story, for example, or increase engagement and awareness around a specific event.
Facebook Slingshot
In what seems like Facebook’s third strike to create a Snapchat copycat, Facebook introduced Slingshot this week – a messaging service similar to Snapchat but requires users to reply to unlock an unread message, focusing on not just telling and sharing stories, but asking others about theirs.
Why we’re hooked: It’s important for brands to keep up with the latest services, apps and capabilities available to consumers. Understanding how these social networks are competing with each other and ultimately winning over consumers means more insight into their behavior and interests. Snapchat seems to have a strong hold on Facebook’s diminishing younger user base, and Facebook continues to attempt to give them a credible alternative. How much time people spend in an app or on a site is an important metric for marketers. It’s also interesting to see how this compares to Snapchat – many brands have embraced Snapchat to increase engagement and offer behind-the-scenes access to their audiences, but Slingshot requires some engagement back.
Twitter Acquired SnappyTV
Many marketers today are no doubt familiar with the idea of the “second screen” – one of Twitter’s biggest advantages is to become a hub for insane engagement around real-time events or news. After working together over the years, Twitter is acquiring SnappyTV, a live video platform, to boost its Twitter Amplify program, which is Twitter’s partnership program to extend the two-screen viewing experience and lets partners promote television clips on Twitter.
Why we’re hooked: Twitter wants to become a true social TV service and attract more television ad revenue. In March this year, Twitter acquired two other companies to support this effort – Mesagraph and SecondSync. This acquisition expands offerings for live media partners.
Twitter’s GIFt
Twitter finally supports GIFs now! The media form that has completely taken over the Internet and become almost a signature part of BuzzFeed content can now be seen on Twitter.com or the iOS and Android Twitter apps. The GIFs will show up similar to Vines, where users have to press play in order to view them.
Starting today, you can share and view animated GIFs on http://t.co/wJD8Fp317i, Android and iPhone. http://t.co/XBrAbOm4Ya — Twitter Support (@Support) June 18, 2014
Why we’re hooked: Social media platforms continue to become more media friendly, supporting the idea that imagery and multimedia are huge draws for user engagement. It also offers yet another opportunity for brands to express creativity – check out how some rejoiced at the news.
University of Starbucks
Just kidding – Starbucks didn’t really launch a university this week. But it did announce a free online education program for any of its 135,000 U.S. employees with Arizona State University.
Why we’re hooked: Starbucks has made a name for itself as a trendsetter, with mobile payments, technology and other digital integration to enhance the customer experience. Starbucks approaches the traditionally low-wage service industry in unconventional ways, like providing health insurance and stock options for all employees, part-time and full-time. It thinks this move will lower attrition, increase performance and attract and retain better people – will other brands follow suit?