Budgets shift to video, the top 10 apps worldwide, the common thread between US and Chinese consumers, Brazilian mobile habits, Facebook video ads are coming, Yahoo! finds its content mojo, teens disclose their most important social network (it may surprise you), content marketing needs help, the future of the business model and more, it's This Week in Digital & Social.
A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.
Each week at Ford, I compose a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, social media, mobile, digital communications and marketing in order to keep the wider team up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in their jobs. These are those links.
If you have additional links, sources or ideas that might be helpful, I'd encourage you to add some via a comment below. And if you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links by subscribing to the This Week in Digital & Social Magazine.
Industry
- The State of the Video Industry report indicates that 86% brands are increasing their spend on online video. The chart below shows which budgets are being sacrificed for the shift. (Adap.tv/Digiday via Marketing Charts)
- Which are the top 10 countries with the most digital natives? It should be no surprise that China ranks first with 75.2 million, followed by the U.S. with 41.3 million. India and Brazil follow with 22.7 and 20.1 million each. (Mashable)
- What do consumers in China and the U.S. have in common? They demand honesty and ethics from global brands. Listen to an in-depth 5-minute discussion about the report. (Cohn & Wolfe via For Immediate Release)
- Transparency stands alongside price and quality in importance in the decision-making process for consumers.
- Mistrust in companies' transparency remains.
- Consumers don't just vote with their feet, but with their friends, families and influence.
- Chinese consumers are the most demanding of businesses.
- CEO = Chief Ethics Officer.
- Mobile usage in Brazil cuts across income and age groups, as middle class consumers have caught up with mobile use of higher income consumers. What are they using their mobile devices for? Primarily social networks and communication, maps and navigation and music, videos and photos. (Interactive Advertising Bureau via eMarketer)
The Platforms
- The 10 fastest growing apps worldwide this year has a lot of visual appeal - Vine, Flickr and Instagram stand out, as does the Asian frontrunner WeChat. (Mashable)
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| Source: Statista |
- Facebook has done an about-about-face on violent videos. The originally banned violent beheading videos, then earlier this week allowed them, as long as they were being used to protest the objectionable behavior. Now they're banned again. (All Things Digital)
- Facebook has seen referrals to media sites rise by 170% this year and has announced a new "Stories to Share" feature that suggests which articles media sites might post to their Pages. (TechCrunch)
- Last week we reported that Google was joining the real-time ad-bidding Facebook Exchange (FBX); this week, it looks as if Amazon will next gain access to FBX. (AllFacebook)
- They're coming: Facebook has launched video ads within its mobile app. (The Guardian)
- Twitter's latest partner is BBC Global News. The deal allows the media company to serve sponsored video clips inside paid tweets in Twitter's Amplify program. (AdAge)
- Twitter gives its followers the option of receiving direct messages from people they aren't following. (The Next Web)
- As many as 40% of Instagram's most popular 15-second videos are from brands. (AdWeek)
- Yahoo! has hired New York Times tech journalist David Pogue and may be finalizing a deal with Katie Couric for a new video show, indicating their desire to move deeply into content. (Wired and All Things Digital)
- This is after eBay founder Pierre Omidyar announced that he will be creating a news startup headed by Glenn Greenwald (of The Guardian) for $250 million. (Forbes)
- Quick - which social network has replaced Facebook as the most important for teens? The answer is in the Commentary section below. (Piper Jaffray via Marketing Charts)
Measurement / Metrics / Big Data
- Four major companies have adopted the new standards submitted by the Coalition for Public Relations Research Standards )
Legal / HR
- Samsung was fined $340,000 for posting negative comments about competitors and positive comments about itself on sites in Taiwan. (The Verge)
Content
- The practice of content marketing needs help. There's too much content in too many places. Ultimately, it's a question of distribution. (Twist Image and Online Media Daily)
- In this first of a three-part series, Jonathan Gottschall looks at the power of storytelling, noting that narrative cuts through distraction like nothing else, showing there is a science to storytelling. (Fast Company)
- In the second part, he looks at what makes great stories spread. (Fast Company)
Bookmark / Read / Watch Later
- Excellent two-part series on the Evolution of Community Management - Part 1 and Part 2. (Marketing Magazine of Canada)
- Superb presentation by Jeremiah Owyang of the newly-formed Crowd Companies on The Future of the Business Model - people's needs have changed and there will be changes in business models that reflect the new reality. (Slideshare)
Commentary
We're betting that you guessed Instagram when we asked you "which social network has replaced Facebook as the most important for teens?" If you did, you'd be wrong.
According to the latest Piper Jaffray semi-annual "Taking Stock with Teens" survey, teens say that "friends" have the strongest influence over their purchase decisions currently, but that "Internet" is rising in influence. More than half have indicated that Twitter is the most important, surpassing Facebook and then Instagram.
But here's the clincher:
Only 23% of teens cited Facebook as the most important, which is down from 33% six months ago and 42% a year ago.
The anecdotal information I hear is that the reason teens are considering other platforms is that their parents and brands have disrupted the Facebook experience for them. This may be a concern to the social network leader.
"Facebook's got nothing to worry about," I hear you saying. "After all, Baby Boomers have more spending power than Millennials." While that's true, it won't be true for long.
According to the study "What Happens when Millennials Get the Wallet" by Berglass + Associates and Women's Wear Daily, Millennials are set to outspend Baby Boomers by 2017. That should give Facebook and marketers everywhere reason for pause.
So what's the answer? It can't be more advertising. It has to be more personalization. The Piper Jaffray survey also indicated that teens are shopping less in single brand, vertically integrated stores and more in multi-branded, multi-category and online retail environments. This means they'll need two -way conversation, content that matters to them that they can easily share, and experiences that draw them in.
Of course, Twitter may not hold the title for long. Which is why it's important to have a well-rounded digital strategy that transcends platforms.
Image credit: circulating (Flickr)
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