This Week’s Top Stories
Want Maximum Reach On Facebook? Don’t Post Photos
“In a major reversal, photo posts are now the worst performing of all posts by Facebook brand pages, according to new data from social media analytics company Socialbakers. Photo posts are half as likely to be seen as videos, the new king of engagement on the Facebook platform.”
PNConnect Insight – While many have been calling this a “contrarian” point of view, it’s actually in line with many of the updates Facebook has been making recently. While image posts used to be a great way to increase reach and engagement they’ve recently been part of what Facebook has termed “overly promotional.” Essentially they look too much like ads and so are being pushed down in the Newsfeed algorithm in favor of what Facebook deems “news.”
Social Media
Pinterest bans all affiliate links, asks power users to monetize in other ways
“Pinterest warned select “power pinners” this evening that it will now “automatically remove all affiliate links, redirects and trackers on Pins.” According to an email forwarded to VentureBeat, Pinterest began removing these links today, and specifically targeted links from popular affiliate networks RewardStyle and Hello Society. This is not the first time Pinterest has banned affiliate networks, but the company has never issued a total ban.”
PNConnect Insight – It’s unclear whether this includes stripping all tracking codes, not just affiliate links, from pins. There’s been some speculation that this was to get out in front of any potential FTC action since people sharing affiliate links don’t always make that clear when they do so. Whatever the case, it’s clear that Pinterest is taking steps to police its own community while people will have to adjust to the new reality.
Is Tumblr Cracking Down Harder on Copyright Infringement By Users?
“Tumblr appears to be taking a harder stance against content infringement by its users. The popular blogging platform has reportedly been enforcing a “three strikes” policy and terminating some users’ accounts. In another move, Tumblr is blocking uploads of copyrighted songs and providing links to legal alternatives.”
PNConnect Insight – This is going to be a fine line for Tumblr to walk. While they certainly want to be a friendly place for the brands they’re hoping to lure as both publishers and advertisers they don’t want to go too far and alienate the media-producing young demographic that has made it among the fastest-growing social network platforms.
Publishing
Vox experimented with a new format for its daily email and the audience really hated it
“Vox tried out a different style in its email and asked for feedback. The change: The bullet points were turned into meaty paragraphs, rich with context, links, and something closer to traditional narrative prose.”
PNConnect Insight – There’s a lot to take in here. Not only does it show that there’s not one perfect way to do an email newsletter but it’s also important to not just ask for audience feedback about changes that are made but to also then listen to that feedback. It also shows just how big an impact a seemingly small design change can have.
Media/Journalism
Sharing our members’ stories via @AP
“We look for strong member and customer enterprise content, in all formats, and choose some to highlight from @AP. This can give the member a big boost in engagement and clicks, and @AP followers are served a strong piece of content that they might not otherwise know about. It’s win-win.”
PNConnect Insight – What may seem like Social Media 101 for most – do what you do best and link to/curate the rest – can still be a very big step for established media companies, particularly ones as entrenched as the AP, whose business model is built on a unique value proposition. So for it to embrace this is a pretty big step in terms of embracing social media ethos.
Inside The New York Times Instagram strategy
“Each New York Times desk — be it food, fashion, sports or video — operates its own Instagram feed, determining what and when to post, according to MacCallum. Some editors choose to repurpose existing photos and videos for their Instagram feeds, but others share certain things exclusively on Instagram.”
PNConnect Insight – What’s important to note here is that they’ve fully embraced Instagram as a platform that does not have link or conversion potential. Instead for them it’s just about branding and engagement. Each department seems free to run their own channel and have their own strategy, but no one is trying to shoehorn something into Instagram that the platform doesn’t support.
Tools
Install the best new iPhone and iPad apps from Pinterest
“When you come across an app Pin, tap Install to download the app right to your iPhone or iPad without ever leaving Pinterest (you’ll only see app Pins when you’re using the Pinterest app on your iPhone or iPad).”
PNConnect Interest – This hits a number of interesting points. First, discovery on the iOS App Store has always been under fire, so this takes that onto a platform that is increasingly optimized not just for search and discovery but also for purchasing. Second, this is a shot across the bow at Twitter and Facebook, for whom “App install ads” have been an increasingly large source of revenue.
“TweetDeck Teams is a simple solution to Twitter account sharing. It enables you to delegate access to as many people as you like, and remove accounts when they no longer need access. In order to use this new feature, you must log in to TweetDeck with your Twitter account.”
PNConnect Insight – This is clearly a move by Twitter/Tweetdeck against enterprise-level platforms like Hootsuite, SocialEngage and others. But while it’s been touted as a security feature it actually has the same weaknesses as Facebook admin accounts, meaning if an individual’s account gets hacked it could theoretically expose the team-managed account as well.
Retail
Pinterest Is Working on a Plan to Introduce a ‘Buy’ Button as Soon as This Year
“Pinterest, the digital scrapbooking service, is laying the groundwork for an e-commerce offering with a “Buy” button that could launch in as little as three to six months, according to multiple sources. One of the people cautioned Pinterest may wait longer to roll it out, while another said the shopping feature would likely start as a limited test.”
PNConnect Insight – That sound you hear is every retail brand waiting in extreme anticipation. As long as there are trackable metrics associated with it, this could take Pinterest commerce up several levels.
Mobile Is Still for Upper-Funnel Shopping Activities
“Mobile shopping is widespread—eMarketer estimates that more than 150 million people used a mobile device to research, browse or compare products last year, including 79.0% of smartphone users and 86.0% of tablet users. But it’s still largely an upper-funnel affair, with fewer than seven in 10 of those mobile shoppers actually making a purchase on their device.”
PNConnect Insight – Similar to what other studies have shown, mobile and social media continue to be great for awareness and may significantly impact future purchase decisions but in terms of direct sales it’s still not a universal consumer behavior.