Talk about a busy week in social business! Score a handy new trend-brainstorming tool. Find out how Instagram is making high-quality visuals easier to produce and share. Get tips on how to optimize Twitter tracking and shares. And see how Apple plans to change the way we work... again. Skim to stay in tune.
You can delete some of those apps now. Apple's announced iOS8, its new operating system for iPhones and iPads. In the near future, your phone will natively do things you currently rely on apps to do (here's a whole list of "apps Apple killed"). Notably: send self-destructing text messages, like in Snapchat (with a one-hour minimum); iCloud looks more like Dropbox (shown below), making it more practical for on-the-go workers; make calls over Wi-Fi à la Skype; annotate images like in Skitch; install different keyboards (a potential marketing opportunity); and ask Siri what song you're listening to (like Shazam). More features here.
A little value's what you need. You've heard repeatedly that social marketing is more about adding value than finding interruptive new ways to advertise. Case in point: French water brand Vittel realized that people don't drink enough water, so it created a cap that reminds you to take a sip every hour. It's basically a tiny screw-top egg timer, but the idea is so resonant that over 150,000 people have watched the video since its launch two weeks ago. It's brand-relevant, easy to integrate into people's lives, and profits from the fact that everyone appreciates a "life hack." Honorable mention: Coca-Cola's plastic recycling campaign, which has nearly 600,000 views.
Who's taking a Lion home? As Cannes Lions draws near, the Gunn Report's rounded up 20 films that comprise the best in advertising over the past year. Vote for the prize you think each will win; the top scorer gets a one-year subscription. This is a good chance to review inspiring work that generated social attention, like Volvo's "The Epic Split" and viral darling Old Spice's "Momsong" (below, with 8.7 million views!).
Facebook's redesign: now available everywhere. From here on out, all business pages get access to Facebook's redesign, which provides a cleaner user experience and easier access to functionalities such as adjusting section placements and a "Send Feedback" link. For the complete skinny, check out Facebook's five questions about the update.
How to turn a viewer into a buyer? In "the coming weeks," Facebook plans to include new video ad features. People who work with a Facebook account rep will be able to create groups of "audiences" who've already watched their videos, making it easier to target them directly and convert them. Second, advertisers can create calls to action to drive people to a destination of choice, such as a dedicated page, after watching a video (shown below). Finally, advertisers will be able to control message frequency and will have the ability to "predictably" reach a significant number of users. Sounds like YouTube the way you always wanted it... on the platform people visit most often.
Which apps drive the most Twitter shares? Good question. For 85% of Twitter users, the answer is Twitter.com, followed by the Tweet button (71%), Twitter on iPhone (64%), Instagram (35%), and iOS (30%). As for dashboards, Hootsuite remains on top, with 28% of users using it to share. Mediabistro hastens to note that 9 of the 10 top apps and platforms used to share content on Twitter are mostly, or entirely, mobile.
Need good content to share? Speaking of sharing, it can take hours to trawl for great finds for Twitter, but a new Hootsuite feature recommends content to you, based on posts you've already created on social media. Once your content is scanned, it'll suggest ideal content categories, then produce a calendar with matching content that you can double-check and set to publish automatically at different times. All you have to do is engage users in-between. Curation just got way easier.
