S.M.I.L.E.

amyrumpler
- Feb 16
- 3 min read

S.M.I.L.E. in February 2021

Welcome to the newest addition of Social Media Innovation List Email! Here are some resources to keep you up-to-date on the latest in Social:

Social Platforms Celebrating Black History Month

Here’s a look at what each social platform is doing to support Black History Month and highlight content by black creators. Highly encourage you to check these out!

Report: Social Commerce in 2021

eMarketer recently released a new report discussing the US retail social commerce market, which platforms are most effective at driving social commerce, and which brands should consider investing in the social commerce environment. The report also includes a forward looking forecast at estimated social commerce growth, and states that by 2023 more than 101 Million Americans will have completed a purchase via a social channel. Read on for tips on social commerce strategy and for a better understanding of the opportunities this presents for marketers.

Shopify Adds Shop Pay to Facebook/Instagram

Shopify recently announced an expansion of Shop Pay that allows merchants selling on Facebook and Instagram to enable in-app payments and order fulfillment. With this integration, consumers will see Shop Pay as a payment option in Facebook Pay, which pre-populates their information and facilitates fast, secure commerce.

TikTok Lays Out Plans for eCommerce Integrations

Speaking of eCommerce, TikTok recently highlighted some new eCommerce options coming to their app, which lets creators share links to products and earn commissions on sales, brands showcase catalogs of products, and facilitates “livestream” shopping where users can buy goods immediately after seeing them showcased by TikTok stars.

(LISTEN) Snapchat Surprises and Alternative Social Media Platforms Challenging the Giants (27:22)

eMarketer’s Behind the Numbers podcast recently discussed Snapchat’s healthy Q4 performance. The big takeaway is that the platform’s revenue intake blew predictions out of the water, potentially due to their positioning as a more brand safe platform, but also an increase in user engagement around AR kept users engaged (an area Snapchat excels in.) They also discuss competition from TikTok, and how over 90% of the US Gen Z population are still active Snapchatters. And finally, what alternative platforms are likely to compete for attention in the future.

Twitter Explores Tweet Subscription Options, Paid Tools for Tweet Deck

Rumor has it Twitter is looking for new ways to maximize revenue opportunities, as Bloomberg reported recently (via Social Media Today) that Twitter is considering letting users “tip” people in exchange for receiving exclusive content, in addition to charging for services like Tweetdeck (as social media management dashboard many marketers user to oversee posting across multiple twitter accounts.) This article speculates on what the future of Twitter might look like as a result.

Pinterest Announces “Pinterest Presents” Virtual Summit

According to Pinterest, they will use this event to “share a different vision for the future. A more inspired internet. Where the best of offline shopping comes online. Where conversions matter more than likes. A place that’s positive – for people and your bottom line.” You can register to attend here!

21 Big Content Ideas for 2021

Pattern89’s AI-driven predictions report highlights what colors, copy, videos and imagery are going to lead to creative success this year. Here you’ll find ideas on the top performing creative for videos and Stories, based on billions of data points analyzed across Facebook and Instagram.

Insights from 22 Million Business Posts in 2020

SocialInsider recently conducted a social media industry benchmark study in which they compared over 22 million brand posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter across 35 different industries. The analysis discussed the trending platforms of the moment, which industries are seeing the most engagement, and more.

TikTok Trend Report: Discover What’s Next

TikTok’s new report details what topics have become important to users, and provides insight into what trends are likely to arise in 2021. Many different countries are covered in the report, but for a shortcut to the US insights, you can click here. One trending category discussed is cooking/food interest, which is interesting timing given TikTok also recently announced they are adding new recipe integrations. This could provide interesting opportunities for CPG advertisers, long term.

2021 Guide to Instagram Listening Strategy

NetBase Quid discussed in this recent report why Instagram is such a crucial channel for marketers, and how you can take advantage of the platform to its full potential. Also covered in detail is Instagram’s rise as an ecommerce contender, and how they might compete with Amazon in the future. By harnessing data available to better understand how consumers are interacting with Instagram content, marketers can get a deeper understanding for how to drive maximum impact for your efforts on this platform.

How Chipotle Mexican Grill Leverages Memes on Social Media

Obviously a fan of a good meme, I found this interview eMarketer recently conducted with Candice Beck, senior manager of social and digital at Chipotle, to be very interesting. They use memes in day-to-day content, paid campaigns, and as a way to unlock new insights around social listening.

S.M.I.L.E.

amyrumpler
- Jan 15
- 5 min read

S.M.I.L.E. in January 2021

Welcome to the newest addition of Social Media Innovation List Email! Here are some resources to keep you up-to-date on the latest in Social:

US Social Trends for 2021 Report - eMarketer

Following up on their Q4 Social Media Report, which discussed how social media was transformed in 2020 and what key opportunities each platform now provides advertisers, eMarketer also released a 2021 report full of predictions for the year ahead. In summary: video (and short form video specifically) will continue to reign supreme; brand safety will remain top of mind for advertisers; social commerce will continue to evolve with new features and tools; and influencers as well as UGC will play a very strong role in marketing initiatives. In fact, more than 2/3 of US marketers are expected to tap into influencer marketing in some capacity this year. Read more about their top 10 trends here.

Facebook: US Emerging Trends Report

This Facebook report explores some of the “forces shaping the future now,” for consumers across the United States. Most importantly, there’s some good information on what this means for marketers; tips to keep in mind when it comes to your social strategies in the coming year. For more market reports across the globe, you can also check out this full series of insights here.

YouTube’s Culture and Trends Report

YouTube’s new insights report shows how consumer video trends have shifted in 2020. Key themes include data on how the “content creator” role has evolved, how video is becoming more interactive overall through watch-alongs and live streams, and a summary on how digital video is helping people face personal and societal issues. The report itself is interactive and fun, and worth checking out if you’re looking to finetune your YouTube content strategy in 2021.

iPhone 12 Supercharges Mobile AR in 2021

AR is a key trend to watch this year, according to eMarketer. With the release of the Lidar back-facing light detection and ranging camera on these new devices, users will be able to enable more sophisticated AR experiences, like full-body Snapchat lenses. This eMarketer report predicts that new technologies like these will drive AR advertising up from $1.4 Billion in 2020 to $8 Billion by the end of 2024.

Snapchat Salutes Brands’ Use of AR in 2020

The social platform shared new insights recently speaking to the growth in users last year, their changing behaviors, and the importance of experiences designed to enhance both physical and digital experiences. Virtual try-on particularly added value to shoppers during the pandemic, as did AR experiences now that 75% of Snapchatters interact with AR Lenses daily. This report shares some examples of how brands made the most of these trends last year, and some important things to keep in mind when planning for your Snapchat strategies.

Facebook Preview of New AR Glasses

Social Media Today covered recent news around the company’s strategy when it comes to AR and VR. Most notably, it sounds like a smart glasses release will come sooner rather than later, allowing them to compete with Snapchat Spectacles and upcoming products from Google, Apple, Samsung and others.

Facebook and WhatsApp Video Calls Reach Record Highs

This past New Year’s Eve highlighted an important trend of people becoming increasingly accustomed to staying in touch remotely. Putting more emphasis on video and messaging, in addition to the insights shared here Facebook also recently shared some tips for improving your customer experience using these new tools.

What Social Networks Experienced a Boost in 2020?

According to an eMarketer end of year report, 81% of all internet users worldwide are now social network users. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter all gained new users this year – although not all benefitted equally from growth. Instagram users grew the most this year: by nearly 23%.

App Annie’s State of Mobile Report for 2021 This report is a good indication of comparative performance among all mobile devices and apps in the last year. Key findings discussed include how the rise in time spent on mobile devices now exceeds time spent watching TV, and the staggering growth of certain apps that fueled that consumption (hello, TikTok.) According to their findings, TikTok is on pace to hit 1.2 Billion active users by 2021, and will grow by triple digit percentages in many countries. The report also discusses the rise in ecommerce, which could have major implications for Instagram and Pinterest growth this year.

CMO’s: Adapt Social Strategy for a Post-Pandemic World

This Harvard Business Review article makes 10 recommendations (based on a recent survey of CMO’s) to help marketers maximize returns on social media investments. The survey found that companies are seeing historic return on investment, with overall performance rising 24% since February, and budgets increasing as a result. One tidbit I found interesting: 24% of companies’ social media activities are performed by outside agencies (an increase from 17% in 2014), showing the importance of building a strong relationship with your social media partners. (As a side note, a similar survey from SocialBakers showed that Q4 ad spend rose more than 50% year over year, as many brands looked to invest at record rates.)

Brand Safety on Social Platforms: Opinion

AdWeek discusses in this article the importance of embracing positivity in social programming this year in order to facilitate deeper trust between social platforms and users. This trend is leading toward a resurgence of feel-good content from advertisers also looking to craft deeper brand associations.

Facebook De-emphasizes Page Likes for Public Figures

The newly released page layout for creators and public figures places more emphasis on following a page than liking it. This ensures that followers will be alerted to more updates from the page, and shows a more accurate snapshot of people who have explicitly chosen to get updates from it. This is even further evidence that Like’s don’t mean what they once did – even to Facebook themselves.

Upcoming Webinar Alert: LinkedIn New Product Releases

Register here to attend Wednesday, January 27th for an exclusive look at upcoming feature releases from LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions team.

2021 Twitter Planning Guide

Rather than release tips in their typical monthly event highlight format, this year Twitter put together a very lengthy best practices guide to help brainstorm and plan all of your campaigns for 2021. This workbook is intended to guide marketers through developing a playbook to follow throughout the year, in order to make the most of your tweet-worthy initiatives.

And finally, here are some of the latest vertical specific resources available:

Pinterest Planning Guide for Restaurants

Pinterest Planning Guide for Streaming Services

Pinterest Tech Consumer Insight Trends

Facebook Marketing Insights for Gaming

Facebook: Future of Shopping Report

Facebook Tips for Lead Generation

LinkedIn B2B Customer Engagment Strategies

TikTok Highlights Small Business Strategies

S.M.I.L.E.

amyrumpler
- Oct 22, 2020
- 5 min read

S.M.I.L.E. in October 2020

Report: Social Media Update Q3 2020

This latest installment from eMarketer in their quarterly social media update series addresses the latest and greatest predictions for user behavior, updated user statistics, the latest ad revenue information, top trends for TikTok and other platforms, and new product releases. Key takeaways include: ecommerce as a continued bright spot since the pandemic began--leading to improved shopping tools across social networks, continued focus on providing accurate information and news to social users, and a brief discussion on each platform’s approach to the upcoming election.

Listen: Where Americans Socially Network (32:16)

In this eMarketer podcast “Behind the Numbers”, analysts Peter Newman and Blake Droesch discuss how the pandemic affected social network usage across all major platforms. They also briefly discuss some of the predictions from the Q3 updates report, and whether the new feature releases that have recently come out will be likely to sway usage across the different platforms in the near-term.

Report: Facebook Ranked #1 in AppsFlyer Performance Marketing Index

This report ranks various sources on their ability to retain, monetize, and retarget users on mobile devices. Facebook’s top spot indicates they are able to drive app installs through high-quality users. These rankings include scoring on in-app purchases as well as their ability to produce monetizable ads. In this recap of the report, Business Insider predicts Facebook’s US share of the mobile ad market will grow to 34.4% by 2022, while Google’s will fall to 25.7% as Amazon also gets in the mobile search market.

Reddit’s Role in the Path to Purchase

Reddit partnered with Vetro Analytics to release this report detailing how their users participate in the purchase journey, compared to on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Pinterest. TL;DR: Reddit purchase journeys tend to be faster, result in deeper research, generate 15% more spend, and create higher NPS ratings. Unlike on other platforms, Reddit users skip more quickly to the consideration stage and spend more time there seeking product and brand information. As a result, they feel confident about their purchases and tend to have positive experiences with brands once the purchase has been made.

Announcing Instagram Reels Updates

The latest round of Reels updates lets users create videos up to 30 seconds in length, adds new abilities to insert audio, and includes updates to native editing tools—all in an effort to continue to compete with TikTok’s native content formats. In a separate article, eMarketer also covered the platform’s future plans to integrate new e-commerce and shopping features in Reels later this year, showing how important they feel the content format will be to the future of their app. TikTok’s platform continues to evolve just as quickly, however: for example they recently improved the Duets feature to make it easier for content creators to collaborate and build off of each other’s posts. Additional coverage on the latest Instagram updates can also be found here.

Facebook Report: New Insights on Groups Usage

As this article recaps, the platform recently conducted a survey of 15,000 people who are members of online communities in order to understand how they are using groups since the pandemic. They also shared new statistics showing groups have become a more important tool used to help communities thrive online, as people look to engage around their interests, learn new things, be entertained and make new connections virtually. To help brands tap into these highly engaged audiences, Facebook has also expanded their Collab Manager tool to allow marketers to connect with group owners and collaborate on ways to promote their products and services to group members.

The Complete Guide to IGTV

If you’re interested in learning more about how to maximize IGTV content, this is the article for you. Social Media Today breaks down how to create content for the channel, best practices including optimal dimensions, and a variety of tools that make it easy to create social video content—not just for IGTV, but for any format.

LinkedIn Redesign Features Stories

As another platform seeing a surge in usage due to the pandemic, LinkedIn is investing in making it easier for people to navigate working from home, finding connections and sharing the skills and content professionals want access to. While their new design features lots of softer elements such as updated color schemes and more streamlined search functionality, it also includes a full rollout of Stories to all users in the US and Canada. Heads up: Stories Ads should be coming by January, 2021!

Pinterest Announces New Pin Format: Stories

The platform has finally widely released their Story Pin format, giving creators the ability to use videos, images, voiceover and text overlay to design more interactive pin formats. Unlike on other platforms, these pins are found in the standard home feed as opposed to in a separate area, and they do not disappear after 24 hours. Also out now is a new Analytics dashboard that helps Pinners understand how their paid and organic content is performing over time. And finally, Pinterest recently released new shopping tools for Pinners and Advertisers: including ads in visual search results and deeper integrations with product catalogs.

Getting to Know the Snapchat Generation

In a recently released guide, Snapchat shares updated statistics on their user base, their behaviors, and how they engage via the platform. Did you know, for example, that 82% of Snapchatters believe they have a personal responsibility to create the change they want to see in the world? Or that they are 34% more likely than non-Snapchatters to buy from brands that support their local community? Read on for more information on this incredibly leaned-in user base. The timing for this report is perfect, as this quarter Piper Sandler research showed the Snapchat is still the #1 favorite social media platform for US teens, with TikTok following closely behind in the #2 spot.

In addition, here are a few other updated audience behavior reports that have been released in the last month:

And finally: like last month, I also wanted to send through some vertical specific resources that have been released recently via our social partners:

And finally, just for fun: check out this heartwarming story of Ocean Spray responding to the originator of the TikTok “Dreams” challenge, in which participants sip cranberry juice as they skateboard to Fleetwood Mac.

S.M.I.L.E.