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This week, social giants expand into new territory and chase after ad dollars: YouTube announces a cable-killing TV subscription service; Instagram opens up ads in Stories to all businesses; and Facebook introduces mid-roll ads.

Also: a guide to content marketing best-practices on LinkedIn; measuring success on Snapchat; B2B leads via Facebook ads; and much more...

Skim to stay in the know!

1. YouTube aims to kill cable with announcement of YouTubeTV

Google/Alphabet's YouTube on Tuesday took a big foray into television territory with the announcement of YouTubeTV, a new TV subscription service, set to launch in the next couple of months in the US. YouTubeTV looks to take advantage of Americans' increasing propensity to cutting the cable TV cord.

YouTube is offering unlimited access to a set of over 40 networks, including USA, FX, ESPN, Fox Sports, and more—starting at just $35 per month. Subscribers will be able to stream to various devices, including their televisions using Chromecast. In short, users will be able to tune into their favorite shows on their own terms, on their preferred device.

The TV space is getting more interesting by the minute as social giants test what approach works to their advantage in upending the traditional TV paradigm. Will you (have you?) cut the cord?

2. A modern guide to content marketing on LinkedIn

Adweek dives into the world of social media with in-depth looks at content marketing on the "four big platforms. Up this week: LinkedIn. If your company's content on LinkedIn can help users further their goals of building their personal brand, finding business prospects, or looking for jobs, you'll likely succeed.

From the basics of building functional content that creates value, to keys to creating mobile-optimized, sponsored content and pushing it via sophisticated targeting and InMail, LinkedIn can prove to be the most effective platform for building leads and product awareness. See how now.

3. All businesses can now run ads on Instagram Stories

Facebook-owned photo and video sharing social network Instagram has not held its punches to ensure its Snapchat Stories clone, Instagram Stories, succeeds. The company launched the Stories feature in August 2016 and announced in January that it was testing full-screen ads with 30 global brands; it's now ready to roll out the red carpet for all businesses.

All companies will be able to place ads between users' Stories in the next few weeks, with the primary key performance indicator being reach, which Instagram says the ad format is optimized for. Interested in finding out more? Click here to see how you can run ads on Instagram Stories.

4. Facebook takes mid-roll ad testing to new heights

The social network, looking to create new revenue streams, is expanding its trial of in-stream video ads beyond Facebook Live broadcasts, and creeping into the world of videos from publishers.

Facebook is testing the ads, which only appear after at least 20 seconds of a video has played, with a small number of US publishers, and letting them keep 55% of the ad revenue.

Mid-roll ads could also change how content creators produce videos for the platform: Brands might eventually need to build suspense in their video content to make sure it maintains viewers' interest through ad breaks. Challenge accepted.

5. It looks like Facebook's Reactions are finally catching on

It's been just over one year since the social network introduced alternatives to the "Like" button. They seemed slow to take off, but Facebook can now count over 300 billion reactions used on posts in the past year.

"Love" was the reaction most used, clocking in with over half of the total use of Reactions, and Mexico was the country that used Reactions most. The US stood at number eight, behind Greece, Chile, and Suriname, among others.

6. Periscope Producer now available to all

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#SocialSkim: YouTubeTV Challenges Cable, a Guide to LinkedIn Marketing: 12 Stories This Week

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Christian Neri

Christian Neri is a digital marketing professional in the film & television industry, and a contributor to MarketingProfs. An American expat in Paris, he recently completed his MS in digital marketing at IÉSEG School of Management.

Instagram: @christianneri

Twitter: @christianneri