Hello, and welcome to the third of four installments of Status Update in 2017, our quarterly trend report.
We know how hard it is to keep up with all the updates and changes in social media. That’s why every 3 months, we put together this handy report, detailing all the key themes, updates, and announcements from around the industry.
So, what went down in Q3?
Platforms were busy in tackling three key themes to appease brands, advertisers, users, and influencers alike.
Increasing Feed Curation
The social media feed is an oversaturated content space in which it is impossible for users to keep up with what’s happening with all of their favorite follows. As a result, platforms are consistently updating algorithms to show users more of what they think users want to see.
The movement is as prevalent in paid content as it is in organic, with the “you have to pay to play” sentiment creating an ever-growing supply of advertisements. Just as in organic, the more content created, the harder it is for people to consume said content, which means algorithms are brought in to determine relevance and competition, which drives up costs in CPM and CPE.
This isn’t a completely negative model, though, not if you (the platform) are the one making the rules.
Keep reading…
Improving Transparency
From return on investment, to branded partnerships and influencer marketing, to dishonest posts, to fake accounts, social networks are making strong strides in appeasing the crowds.
This is no small mountain to climb, and platforms are leveraging artificial intelligence, human teams, and content filters to simultaneously eliminate inauthentic content and prove their value to marketers.
Keep reading…
Amazon Eyeing Social
From one-to-one messaging to influencer networks to AI-enabled glasses, Amazon is on the cusp of disrupting the social media industry. The move would likely force other platform’s hands in eCommerce, bringing social buying to the forefront.
Current social platforms have the communication and networking down, so efforts are turned to generating and converting sales leads. Amazon, however, has the sales side of the equation solved, now needing only to generate the conversation.
Keep reading…
Anything else?
Where do we begin. To start, you’ll find what new advertising opportunities Snapchat announced in Q3, programming announcements across Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, as well as what Pinterest has been up to in visual search.
You’ll also see some nuggets on up-and-coming platforms, how brands can prepare for an Amazon-fueled social space, and why advertisers are seeing a decline in ROI in their paid efforts.
Find all this, along with all your updates from around the social sphere, in our quarterly publication, Status Update.
