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Welcome to our weekly edition of what's hot in social media news.
To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What's New This Week
Snapchat Introduces Story Explorer: “When you see a moment that inspires or excites you, simply swipe up to see more Snaps of that same moment – from every perspective.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Is5MVYepFBE
Twitter Launches Native Video Support for Twitter Kit on iOS 8+: “Users will be able to watch full-screen Twitter videos and GIFs without having to open up a web view or leave your app.”
Vine Adds New Discovery Tool for iOS: You “can now swipe left on any post to see more Vines” on the iPhone app. Vine is also now available on the Apple Watch.
Facebook at Work Introduces Companion Messaging App for Android: Facebook launched Work Chat, “a messaging app on Android for companies that use its Facebook at Work collaboration service.”
Snapchat Adds Chat Prompt to Individual Story Snaps: When viewing a story snap, you can “send that user a direct chat message” and start a “private message thread tied directly to the original snap.”
More news worth noting
Skype Releases Update for iOS Devices: Skype 6.6 for iPhone and iPad is a “new version that helps make multi-tasking with Skype a little bit easier.”
Quora Launches Writing Sessions: A new Quora feature, Writing Sessions, “lets askers (1) know when a domain expert is looking for interesting questions to answer and (2) collaborate to assemble a great set of questions for the expert to answer.”
Other upcoming social media news worth following
Instagram Testing Multiple Account Support on Android: “Instagram is working on multiple account support on Android and if you're lucky enough you might already have the option inside your app.”
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GET THE DETAILSBlab Homepage Will Feature More Personalization: “Over the next week, you will see a number of small tweaks to the [Blab] homepage that makes it more personalized for you.”
Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages Project Will Go Live Early Next Year: “Google will begin sending traffic to your AMP pages in Google Search early next year.” Google plans to “share more concrete specifics on timing very soon.”
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Some Interesting Studies to Note:
Understanding Employee Advocacy on Social Media: Hinge Research Institute and Social Media Today examined the state of employee advocacy programs and how they benefit both firms and advocates. The primary benefits to firms mentioned were increased visibility (79%) and brand recognition (65%). Almost 86% of employees say their involvement in a formal advocacy program has had a positive impact on their career. The top-rated benefits include an expanded professional network (87%) and keeping up with industry trends (76%).
Maximizing the Digital Video Advertising Opportunity: According to a recent study from SocialCode, Q3 2015 marks the first time that spending on Facebook video ads has exceeded spending on Facebook photo ads. Video ads accounted for 29% of total spend in Q3 2015, an increase from 23% in the Q2 2015 and 14% percent in the Q3 2014. Video posts also had the largest increase in ad spend quarter-over-quarter compared to photo and link posts.
The Content That Compels People to Buy: Blue Nile Research examined the type of content and channels that compel shoppers to buy. The study also compared what content resonated best with B2B versus B2C buyers. Almost half of all B2B and B2C buyers prefer headlines containing data and statistics. More B2C than B2B buying decisions are influenced by “personal experiences” and “recommendations” found in blog posts. However, B2B buyers prefer video at a greater rate than B2C buyers.
Conversion Rate Optimization Report 2015: Based on an online survey of nearly 900 client-side and supply-side digital marketers and ecommerce professionals, customer journey analysis is one of the most used and valued methods for improving conversion rates. The latest annual Conversion Rate Optimization Report from Econsultancy and RedEye shows that 93% of respondents are using or planning to use customer journey analysis. The report also examined the effectiveness of other types of conversion strategies such as usability testing, segmentation, website personalization and copy optimization.
The Fraud Report: How Fake Users Are Impacting Business: A report from mobile identity solutions provider TeleSign examines the impact of fake users on businesses and the possible financial and brand damage to companies caused by them. Eighty-two percent of companies surveyed struggle with fake users, but 43% report doing nothing to stop them in the interest of keeping their registration process simple. The report also highlights how lax policies toward fake users are hurting companies and their genuine user base with spam, threats to confidential information, damaged reputations and other costs.
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What do you think of the latest Snapchat feature? Have you tried using story snaps in your marketing? Please share your comments below.
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