Social video platforms kicked off the new year with a host of updates and features. We know marketers will be better equipped to reach target audiences and surpass business objectives with a deeper understanding of these platforms’ offerings and insight into the future of social video — so let’s take a look at what’s new!
YouTube
YouTube is rolling out new targeting options to help advertisers reach their audiences across devices: advertisers can now target against a user’s Google Search history, and can now use more sophisticated third party data to reach viewers through Customer Match. In today’s mobile-first world, social video platforms can no longer rely on anonymous cookies and simple tracking pixels, but YouTube continues to develop innovative new feature to enable advertisers to make an impact among the right audience. Speaking of pixels, YouTube recently released an update to ease this transition to more sophisticated tracking, allowing advertisers to use up to three pixels for in-stream and bumper ads, and will soon offer approved vendors for implementation.
YouTube also rolled out Super Chat, which allows viewers to pay to pin comments to the top of a livestream discussion. Brand marketers now have the opportunity to experiment with pinning messages to the top of relevant creators’ livestreams to reach an engaged audience.
Simultaneously, YouTube shuttered Fan Funding, a tool that enabled fans to support their favorite influencers.
Facebook’s standalone Messenger app unveiled several Snapchat-esque creative tools, including masks and effects.
Facebook is also testing mid-roll ads within content that’s longer than 90 seconds. Facebook has previously stated its aversion to pre-roll ads — mid-roll may be an elegant way to increase inventory without enabling pre-roll advertising.
Five months after the release of Instagram Stories, the platform is testing ads within the new product. Appearing between friends’ Stories, these mid-roll video ads are only available to select publishers. However, we anticipate a full release soon, as Instagram seeks to monetize its latest product.
Twitter is rolling out support for 360-degree live video. As we’ve previously highlighted, Twitter is pursuing live video in attempt to jumpstart user growth and attract more advertising revenue. This latest feature extends that effort, showing that Twitter is willing to bet big on combining cutting-edge technology in order to attract audiences and ad dollars.
Snapchat
The flagship app of Snap, Inc. is getting a major redesign, including a search bar and a new global live story. The new search functionality is a major win for marketers, enabling users to more easily discover and follow their favorite brands.
Snapchat also inked a deal with Oracle Data Cloud to allow marketers to target users through third party data. In September, Snapchat rolled out Snap Audience Match to allow marketers to target against mobile IDs and email addresses — this latest update unlocks more sophisticated targeting options, such as targeting against purchase histories, and allows marketers to measure the impact of Snap Ads on real world sales.
Snapchat is moving toward an IPO, so enhancing its platform for advertisers is key to proving its viability as a company — opening up the platform’s search capability, and targeting against third party data, are major steps in that direction.
Pinterest recently rolled out ad groups to allow for increased campaign segmentation, giving marketers a greater degree of control over their campaigns’ budget, flighting, and targeting. Pinterest has been rapidly expanding its advertising capabilities as it seeks to compete with other social video platforms. This platform is a newcomer to the digital video ecosystem, but it offers significant direct response opportunities for cutting-edge advertisers that are willing to experiment with new video ad products.
Contact us today if you’d like to learn more about how Pixability’s technology can help you or your clients achieve advertising success across social video platforms.