Meta Announces New Generative AI Tools for Facebook and Instagram

The popularity of generative AI is rapidly changing how businesses and their agency partners create and develop content ranging from videos to images for paid and organic media. Big Tech firms are accelerating the uptake of gen AI as they use their considerable resources to develop tools that they want businesses to rely on. A case in point: Meta recently unveiled two generative AI tools designed for video asset creation and image editing.

Introducing Emu Video and Emu Edit

The first new product, Emu Video is a text-to-video generation tool that can create short, four-second videos from a caption, photo, or image, along with a description. Emu Edit, on the other hand, is a video editing tool that allows users to easily modify or edit videos using text prompts.

Derived from the technology of the company’s Emu AI research project, Emu Video is intended to help creators generate short video clips based on text prompts. Emu Video can generate high-quality video content from basic text (e.g., “a dog running in a field”) or a photo paired with a description. Additionally, it can animate user-provided images based on a text prompt, surpassing previous achievements and establishing a new state-of-the-art standard.

On the other hand, Emu Edit is a new picture editing tool offering flexibility through detailed instructions. It handles various tasks, including local and global edits, background removal and addition, color and geometry transformations, detection, segmentation, and more. Emu Edit precisely follows instructions, ensuring that pixels unrelated to the specified tasks in the input image remain unchanged.

Both tools are powered by Meta’s generative AI technology and are designed to make it easier for creators to produce high-quality video content. Meta claims that Emu Video is particularly well-suited for creating social media videos and short-form content, while Emu Edit is ideal for editing longer-form videos and making more complex edits.

Meta has emphasized that while these technologies are not intended to replace professional artists and animators, tools like Emu Video and Emu Edit can empower individuals to express themselves in new ways. Whether it’s an art director conceptualizing a new idea, a creator enhancing their latest reel, or a friend sharing a unique birthday greeting, these technologies offer new avenues for self-expression and creativity.

These projects are slated for future integration into Facebook and Instagram, providing agencies and advertisers with the capability to quickly generate videos and edit in-stream images using text prompts. Meta believes that Emu Video and Emu Edit will significantly reduce the turnaround time between creative and media teams. This will allow for more efficient resource allocation towards strategic tasks like audience analysis, targeting, and campaign optimization.

With the introduction of Emu Video and Emu Edit, Meta seeks to solidifying its position as a leader in AI-powered video creation by making it easier for creators with all levels of experience to make videos.

Reactions to Emu Video and Emu Edit

Both Emu Video and Emu Edit have attracted considerable interest because they simplify tasks that have to date been complicated and time consuming.

As Search Engine Land noted, “Instantly generating various video assets and image edits reduces the back-and-forth time between creative and media teams, freeing up resources for strategic tasks like audience analysis. Quick access to diverse creatives can also serve as inspiration for marketers.”

Venture Beat noted that Emu Video and Emu Edit may “revolutionize text-to-video generation and image editing.”

Tech Crunch indicated that the tools bring us “a step closer to AI generated movies.” However, Tech Crunch also flagged some of the weaknesses of the tools. For instance, Emu Video doesn’t appear to have a strong grasp of action verbs, and the tool is capable of committing inexplicable visual errors, such as toes that curl behind feet and legs that blend into each other. Tech Crunch also warned that Emu Video and Edit are a threat to visual content creators, despite Meta’s claims to the contrary.

What Businesses Should Do

At True Interactive, we believe that businesses should embrace generative AI tools but with eyes wide open. Here are some tips:

Understand the capabilities and limitations. Familiarize yourself with what these tools can and cannot do (as noted in the Tech Crunch article cited above). Be mindful of their mistakes and their strengths. This knowledge will help you set realistic expectations and plan projects accordingly.

Prioritize ethical usage. Ensure the content generated adheres to ethical standards. This includes avoiding misinformation, respecting privacy rights, and ensuring the content is not offensive or harmful.

Maintain brand consistency. Avoid the temptation of creating visual images “just because you can.” AI tools should be used to enhance your brand message, not detract from it. Make sure the content aligns with your brand’s voice, style, and ethos.

Emphasize creativity and originality. Use these tools to create unique, engaging content. Avoid overly generic or repetitive outputs that don’t add value to your audience.

Be mindful of legal considerations. Be aware of copyright and intellectual property laws. Ensure that any generated content doesn’t infringe on others’ rights. Tech Crunch questioned whether Meta has honored copyright in sourcing images for Emu Video and Edit, and Meta responded by saying the company uses only licensed content. Meta should make these important points clearer. If you are unsure, do press Meta for clarity.

Stay updated on technological advancements. AI technology is rapidly evolving. Keep abreast of the latest developments to leverage new features and capabilities. For Emu Video and Emu Edit, this means following blogs (like ours) and digging deeper into Meta’s own content to understand how to use these tools. (Meta’s own blog contains a white paper and how-to detail about Emu Video and Emu Edit.)

Keep people involved. This is the most important tip. All of the above tips cannot be managed effectively without humans being in the loop. Always have a human manage the entire content creation and editing process to ensure quality and appropriateness. In addition, people are needed to monitor performance of all content (whether AI-generated or not) and use feedback to refine strategies and improve future content. People also needed for broader, more strategic needs such as creating policies and governance models for using AI, an example being how transparent your company will be about the use of AI in your work.

True Interactive can help you with all your social advertising needs. Contact us to learn more about our social media advertising experience

All images sourced from Meta

BeReal: the Power of Authenticity in a Curated World

by Amanda Cortese Social media

Did anyone ever truly believe social media could be kicked to the curb? Back in 2018, some users thought so. But the reality of social usage tells a different story: according to Statista, the number of United States users on social has been steadily growing year over year, with the prediction being more growth to come. Perhaps social’s ability to survive is no surprise: new apps keep emerging all the time to keep users engaged. One example? BeReal.

What

BeReal is the (currently) ad-free photo-sharing app that allows users to post two images within a two-minute window. Users receive a notification once a day, at random times, prompting them to take the photos; one from the front camera, one from the back. The app then combines the images into a single post, resizing the selfie to fit into the corner of the back camera shot. BeReal has no filters, no edit buttons, and does not allow videos. Follower counts are not displayed. The conceit is that the window of opportunity is too short for curated images, resulting in snapshots more reflective of a user’s “real life.”

Why

Gen Z in particular, with its penchant for raw, less polished content, has embraced BeReal as a way to connect with friends. As college student Meredith Mueller puts it, the app is “a judgment-free zone,” down-to-earth enough that users are spared the inherent pressure to always look good.

The app may also be the poster child for the small moments in life. Chris Stedman, the author of IRL: Finding Our Real Selves in a Digital World, in commenting on BeReal’s appeal, had this to say: “I do think one of the big challenges people feel on social media is I’m seeing everybody else’s highlight reel, but I’m experiencing the fullness of my own life with all of the mundane stuff. To be able to get this reminder that everyone else’s lives largely are made up of mundane moments too, I can definitely see some value in that.”

How

BeReal is currently, and proudly, a no-ads zone, but some brands are creating a presence on the platform anyway, particularly those looking to connect with a Gen Z audience. Erika Priestly, the VP of global marketing for computer peripheral and software manufacturer Logitech, notes that BeReal is “where our target is, and therefore we need to be there, too.” To that end, in the days leading up to the holidays 2022, Logitech used BeReal to promote its annual “12 Days of Deals” campaign. With the goal of driving email sign-ups and purchases on Logitech’s website, the brand posted images of Elf on the Shelf next to products chosen to appeal to the Gen Z audience. This wasn’t an ad in the traditional sense, and its efficacy was measured differently also. In fact, Priestly has said that BeReal has her team thinking about value beyond the typical metrics like click-throughs: the focus, instead, is on brand health.

Tressie Lieberman, VP of digital marketing and off-premise at Chipotle, concurs. For Lieberman, BeReal is a good complement to the brand’s other social accounts—not so much a way of reaching new customers, she notes, as a means of making existing Chipotle fans “feel like they’re happy to be a part of this smaller group.” How does that vibe manifest? In Chipotle’s case, BeReal has been an engine for sharing exclusive brand codes and content, giving followers a first look at a “Buy the Dip” campaign, for example.

TikTok (and Others) Respond

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, TikTok has signaled it considers the BeReal phenom to be more than a fad. Last September, TikTok announced a new offering, TikTok Now, which invites users to post spontaneous videos or images. The similarities between the apps are striking: it’s essentially the same premise (spontaneity, a daily notification), but in TikTok Now there is the option of video (which can be 10 seconds long), and a slightly larger three-minute window in which to post.

Instagram has also joined the party. In December, the platform debuted Candid Stories, their own take on the “what are you doing right now?” phenom. The takeaway here? BeReal is here to stay—at least for a while.

Tips

Whether BeReal and its imitators will thrive for the long haul remains to be seen (remember Clubhouse?). But there’s no denying that, for the time being at least, BeReal seems to have tapped into a need—and the Gen Z market.

Eager to experiment with how BeReal might elevate your brand? If the answer is yes, we recommend that you:

Be authentic. The BeReal audience isn’t looking for polish—in fact, perfect posts come across as a little suspect. To embrace the BeReal phenom, brands will need to be comfortable with raw, unedited, and unfiltered images.

Be creative. In the ad-free zone of BeReal, brands are invited to get creative and think outside the box. Are you prepared to create a connection with your audience in a fresh way, one that doesn’t fall back on the usual advertising tropes?

Be ready. Establish a team member (or an entire team) as dedicated BeReal reps. Because of the random nature of the daily notification, staffers will need to understand that they’ll be, in essence, “on call.” They’ll also need to have the autonomy to post in real time without constraint; there will be no time for a complicated approvals process, for example.

Contact True Interactive

If your brand is intrigued by the prospect of less curated content, we can work with you to figure out if incorporating a platform like BeReal into your marketing strategy makes sense. Contact us. We’re ready to help!

Will Brands Cozy up to Geneva, the No-Like Zone?

by Amanda Cortese Social media

Group chat app Geneva is setting out to disrupt some established norms: unlike its peers, the group communication platform is jettisoning familiar benchmarks like follower counts and Likes. An unconventional approach, perhaps, but people are responding: the app’s user base has quadrupled since the beginning of 2022.

Unique as Geneva is, it’s making its way in an undeniably crowded field. What exactly are its chances in an arena where social apps can enjoy a moment in the sun, only to disappear seemingly overnight? Let’s take a closer look.

Geneva Has a Historic Name — and Aspirations

Geneva was launched in March 2020, named by founder Justin Hauser after the Geneva Conventions. If the historic treaties created after World War II were meant to define what humane treatment of people during wartime should look like, Hauser wants Geneva the app to redefine what it means to connect online. Hauser sees the treaties as having made the world a better place. If he has his way, his app will do much the same thing, fostering healthy conversation in a safe place. As noted on the Geneva website, “We believe technology products can bring out the best in us or the worst in us and we’ve poured our hearts and minds into ensuring Geneva is for the better.”

It’s no pipe dream. Geneva has walked the walk from the get-go, eschewing the sense of exclusivity fostered by services like Clubhouse and its invite-only model. Instead, Geneva leans into the idea of inclusivity. Come one come all seems to be the mandate — an attitude that embraces wide-ranging interests as well as personalities. That said, the app takes protecting its users seriously. Trolls need not apply.

The setup is pretty simple: users log in, at which point they can join one of the existing “homes” on the app, or create their own. The core architecture here draws its inspiration from Slack, and what drives the app is the idea of creating community around shared passions, which on Geneva run the gamut from thrifting to wellness. What’s missing from this equation? The social pressures that heat up when users become consumed with user numbers, Likes, or a highly curated online persona. “Rooms” within Geneva further define user experience:

Chat rooms: Similar to Slack channels, the chat rooms facilitate casual, spontaneous conversations, whether users are making plans or sharing favorite pet photos.

Post rooms: Announcements, internship bulletins, and recipes all find a home in the post rooms, which allow for structured, asynchronous sharing of content.

Audio rooms: Likened to a big group phone call, audio rooms allow users to pop in and out for casual conversation or scheduled meetings.

Video rooms: For the times when we want to see one another’s faces, video rooms are go-tos for everything from book club discussions to live study meets.

Broadcast rooms: A nice alternative for hosting planned virtual events or expert panels, broadcast rooms allow up to nine people to live stream to thousands. Audience members can “raise their hands” and access the stage, or communicate via a live chat feed.

Geneva combats the ubiquitous threat of misinformation via features like “Gates,” which use “House Keys” and questionnaires to control access to Geneva homes and manage who can or can’t exert control over message moderation or invites.

Influencers Dig Geneva

Influencers are spiking an interest in the platform, drawn by the promise of real connection. The Washington Post notes, “[N]ow content creators are setting up accounts on chat apps, like Geneva . . . where they can connect privately and directly with people they know are listening.”

The intimacy of a give-and-take chat is appealing, as content creator Kate Glavan notes: “It’s more about what the community wants instead of just [me and best friend Emma Roepke] posting,” she says.

In short, the old model — creators putting out a steady stream of content, sometimes into the void — has been upended. So is the natural hierarchy that can be created between creators on the one hand and users on the other.

In Geneva, home creators don’t direct the discussion; they simply provide a place for people to connect. It’s like that great friend in college who always knew how to bring people together and create a space where the fun could commence. Again, we’re talking friendly, troll-free fun: as Hauser puts it, “People are fed up and they’re seeking salvation in safer spaces.” If Hauser has his way, that safe space will be Geneva.

Why Geneva Matters to Brands

Brands are taking note, though the app is currently free and does not incorporate paid advertising tools. Suncare brand Supergoop and haircare line Ceremonia are examples of brands that have created Geneva homes and rooms to foster conversation, offer product training, and facilitate product development.

And for marketers interested in reaching Gen Z, Geneva may prove a profound tool. Gen Z is drawn to the ideas of community, mutual support, and cooperation, all mandates that Geneva embraces. And because Gen Zers like to do something — whether it’s engage in discussion or tap and click — the Geneva platform, predicated as it is on the idea of engagement, is an obvious go-to for the Gen Z demographic.

The platform also underlines a powerful lesson for brands: numbers (as in Likes and user stats) aren’t everything. In fact, Geneva seems to be out to prove that less can be more. The one-on-one connections fostered by the app can offer a profound exchange that almost certainly pays off for businesses in the long run, regardless of that business’s size. When a consumer has a question about a product, the importance of that question getting answered by a human being — not an algorithm, not a phone tree, in a friendly space — cannot be overstated. In Geneva, users are heard.

And being heard creates loyalty.

Contact True Interactive

Curious as to whether experimenting with an app like Geneva might make sense for your brand? Contact us. We can help.

The Most Popular Social Media Apps for Teens

by Patrick Wool Social media

How are teens spending their time on social media these days? This is an important question for advertisers. That’s because teens spend money. They talk about their favorite brands with each other. Their preferences influence the popular cultural trends that advertisers need to understand in order to stay relevant. And if advertisers play their cards right, they can, in turn, influence teen behavior.

A new survey of Americans aged 13-17 from Pew Research Center reports some eye-opening findings about where and how teens are spending their time online. Key findings:

YouTube reigns. 95 percent of teens use YouTube, followed by TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.

Only 32 percent use Facebook, compared to 71 percent in 2014-15. Not only is there a smaller share of teenage Facebook users than there was in 2014-15, teens who do use Facebook are also relatively less frequent users of the platform compared to the other platforms covered in this survey. Just 7 percent of teen Facebook users say they are on the site or app almost constantly (representing 2 percent of all teens). Still, about six-in-ten teen Facebook users (57 percent) visit the platform daily.

Many teens are always on. 46 percent of teens say they’re on the internet “almost constantly,” up from 24 percent in 2014-2015. Roughy one in five teens are almost constantly on YouTube, which leads all platforms.

The vast majority of teens have access to digital devices, such as smartphones (95 percent), desktop or laptop computers (90 percent) and gaming consoles (80 percent). Since 2014-15, there has been a 22 percentage point rise in the share of teens who report having access to a smartphone (95 percent now and 73 percent then). While teens’ access to smartphones has increased over roughly the past eight years, their access to other digital technologies, such as desktop or laptop computers or gaming consoles, has remained statistically unchanged.

More affluent teens are particularly likely to have access to all three devices. Fully 76 percent of teens that live in households that make at least $75,000 a year say they have or have access to a smartphone, a gaming console and a desktop or laptop computer, compared with smaller shares of teens from households that make less than $30,000 or teens from households making $30,000 to $74,999 a year who say they have access to all three (60 percent and 69 percent of teens, respectively).

U.S. teens living in households that make $75,000 or more annually are 12 points more likely to have access to gaming consoles and 15 points more likely to have access to a desktop or laptop computer than teens from households with incomes under $30,000.

Habits vary by demographic. Teen boys are more likely than teen girls to say they use YouTube, Twitch and Reddit. Teen girls are more likely than teen boys to use TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. Higher shares of Black and Hispanic teens report using TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp compared with white teens.

Implications for Brands

Short-form content on TikTok is popular, but so is longer-form content on YouTube. Within just a few years, TikTok has famously rocketed to popularity by featuring videos that are about 30 seconds in length (often shorter). But YouTube’s popularity demonstrates that teens also like more in-depth video content, as Mashable points out. Longer-form content lends itself to content marketing, such as “how to” topics and podcasts, as noted here. On the other hand, shorter-form TikTok videos lend themselves to catchy, engaging micro-moments. To use a television analogy, TikTok is the place for 30-second spots, and YouTube for advertorials. As one influencer on LinkedIn wrote, “If digital media is hunger, TikTok feels like McDonalds, and YouTube feels like [insert fairly decent quality restaurant]. TikTok gives you dopamine hits. It’s addicting, you can become consumed by it, but it doesn’t mean you’re satisfied with the quality. Each swipe is, ‘okay, now what’s next.’ Before you know it, it’s an hour. YouTube, even with most videos watched being through recommendations, provides a deeper connection with the viewer. If you watch a video for >1min, you’re truly invested. This also means that creators will build more meaningful viewer connections through YouTube. All data shows that Gen Z appreciates the quality and connections of YouTube.”

Teens are not all the same. Variances exist by income level and demographic, as noted above. It’s important to understand the differences depending on your audience. In addition to the statistics cited above, we also noticed the popularity of gaming consoles among more affluent teens. And overall, Hispanic (47 percent) and Black teens (45 percent) are more likely than white teens (26 percent) to say they use at least one of the five most popular social media online platforms almost constantly. And teen girls are most likely to be social media loyal than teen boys: teen girls are more likely than teen boys to express it would be difficult to give up social media (58 percent versus 49 percent). All of these nuances influence any company that wants to launch a credible multi-cultural marketing strategy.

Facebook still matters, but Instagram does even more. Even though it’s less popular among teens than it was in 2014-15, it’s still more popular with teens than Twitter, Twitch, WhatsApp, Reddit, and Tumblr. As teens get older, they may very well spend more time on Facebook. And Facebook the platform still enjoys widespread usage among adults, as seen in other recent Center studies. However, it’s clear that among Meta’s brands, Instagram is more important for reaching teens, especially as Instagram morphs into a social selling site.

Contact True Interactive

We deliver results for clients across all ad formats, including social media, video, and mobile. To learn how we can help you, contact us.

Photo by Rami Al-zayat on Unsplash

How Brands Are Celebrating Women’s History Month

by Amanda Cortese Advertising Social media

In March, businesses are stepping up to celebrate Women’s History Month, not to mention International Women’s Day on March 8. Of course, it’s always a good idea to uplift women; savvy brands also understand that women happen to possess incredible purchasing power. As Inc. points out, women drive the majority of consumer purchasing, making buying decisions not only for themselves but for their families, in so doing driving a whopping 70 to 80 percent of all consumer purchasing. Here’s how some brands are responding to Women’s History Month:

Taking Action

According to Adweek, Pinterest is honoring the month by supporting 10 women-owned businesses on its platform. The initiative is part of the company’s Pinterest Elevates program; participants receive not only ad credits but also a personal coach to help boost their brand visibility and better connect with Pinners. As Pinterest global head of inclusion and diversity Nichole Barnes Marshall blogged, “At Pinterest, it’s important that the content on our platform accurately represents and reflects the world we live in. We’re excited to honor these women and the work that they do, bringing them greater awareness and attention this Women’s History Month and beyond.”

Hershey’s, meanwhile, is highlighting the SHE in Hershey: as the candy powerhouse sees it, those three important letters in the middle of the iconic Hershey name deserve to be celebrated, and one way to do so is with limited edition packaging. Perhaps the Hershey site puts it best: “there is no Hershey’s without SHE.” This year, the company’s award-winning #HerSHE campaign, which originated two years ago in Brazil, will brighten seven international markets, from Brazil to Canada, with the Hershey’s milk chocolate bar wrapper celebrating cultural female icons in each country, their accomplishments, and the impact they’ve made. The chocolate company has also brought in a special influencer to help get the word out: actress and comedian Mindy Kaling appears in a special Celebrate SHE ad. As Kaling notes, “Girls rule. Celebrate accordingly.”

London-based jewelry brand Missoma has found a partner with which it can honor the month—and do good. Fifty percent of sales of Missoma’s limited edition Shine On necklace will go to Girls Out Loud, a social enterprise dedicated to raising the aspirations of teen girls in the U.K. Marisa Hordern, CEO and creative director at Missoma, gets why this collaboration is so powerful, explaining, “As a female-led brand with a female founder and CEO, and just over 85 percent of our leadership roles held by women, we [at Missoma] are invested in the female leaders of tomorrow. We really believe an important part of increasing female leadership is mentorship, confidence, and giving girls and women the opportunity to have a voice.”

Here in the U.S., American shoe brand Keds has been honoring women since the company first came on the scene in 1916. Their Champion Sneaker has always been made for men and women; the design remains iconic more than a century later. This year, Keds pledges to donate $25 from every pair of Champions sold on the official Keds e-commerce site to global nonprofit Dress for Success, an enterprise that supports low-income women by providing professional clothing to aid in the job search and interview process.

Online grocery platform Instacart has announced that it’s allocating $1 million to support women-owned food and beverage brands that advertise on the company’s website and app. Instacart has partnered with three women-led brands: gluten- and dairy-free cookie brand Sweet Loren’s; Three Wishes Cereal; and Twrl Milk Tea to expand an initiative that began last year to support Black-owned CPGs. According to Ali Miller, the head of ads product at Instacart, highlighting women entrepreneurs is a no-brainer: about 80 percent of Instacart customers are women. Women also make up 70 percent of Instacart’s shoppers—the folks who collect, purchase, and deliver items ordered by customers. As Miller notes, “Our goal is to continue to identify and amplify more women entrepreneurs and brands with Instacart Ads to help them drive discovery and business growth.”

Lessons Learned

What can we learn from the example these brands have set? For starters, it’s important to understand that:

Tone matters. Women’s History Month is about celebration! Hershey’s exemplifies this upbeat tone in their partnership with Kaling, who brings a spirit of lightness and fun to the topic of gender equity. Also celebratory: the bright designs on the Hershey milk chocolate bar wrappers.

Visuals have power. Missoma has encapsulated its messaging in a beautifully designed piece of jewelry. Every time a customer wears their Shine On necklace, they might think about the themes of Women’s History Month, long after March is over.

Actions matter. It’s not enough to talk the talk—savvy brands also demonstrate a commitment to equity and lifting women up. Keds’ efforts to support low-income women with sales from their shoes illustrate this principle perfectly.

Overthinking things can muddy the waters. In short, stay focused on uplifting your audience (see point 1), because getting too clever with purpose-driven advertising may distract from your message. One need look no further than McDonald’s disastrous 2018 International Women’s Day campaign, in which the brand tried to playfully overturn their logo, from an M to a W, on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. The stunt backfired, with critics ridiculing the brand’s purported commitment to women’s success—or anyone’s, for that matter—and calling on McDonald’s to pay its employees a living wage. McDonald’s learned the hard way that in this case, a cute stunt didn’t cut it.

Contact True Interactive

How can your brand authentically, creatively, celebrate your customer base in the right spirit? Contact us. We can help.

Consumer Shopping Trends for the 2021 Holiday Season

by Clare O'Shea Amazon Google Social media

What does the holiday shopping season hold for businesses? We have already heard plenty about the potential problems that a global supply chain crisis will pose. They include product shipping delays, bare shelves, and higher prices. But how are consumers planning to research and buy as the shopping season kicks into full gear? A recently conducted webinar by ChannelAdvisor, “Navigating Online Consumer Behavior: 2021 E-Commerce Trends and Forecasts,” provided some answers.

ChannelAdvisor and Dynata surveyed 5,000 global consumers to learn how they are shopping this holiday season, including 1,000 U.S. consumers. ChannelAdvisor also relied on secondary research from sources such as eMarketer. Here are some major takeaways:

E-Commerce Is Exploding

E-commerce has accelerated by two-to-three years as a percentage of total retail sales. ChannelAdvisor says that the accelerated pace will continue for the next few years. That’s because Covid-19 forced more shoppers online. Nearly 60 percent of consumers are shopping online more frequently than before the pandemic, and 32 percent of U.S. consumers have more confidence shopping online than they did before the pandemic. A whopping 58 percent of consumers are spending more time on Amazon.

Key takeaway: businesses should expect the major ad platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok to integrate advertising and commerce more aggressively. We recently saw Google make it easier for shoppers to find products through visual search and display. TikTok continues to launch new shopping features. It’s important that businesses capitalize on these opportunities to capture revenue in these moments when people are searching and browsing on digital.

Get Ready for a Strong Holiday Shopping Season

More than half of U.S. consumers will shop online more than before the pandemic. By contrast, 38 percent of U.S. consumers said they’d shop more online when they were surveyed in May 2020. And 37 percent of U.S. consumers expect to do more holiday shopping online compared to 2020. Only 6 percent of shoppers will shop less.

This finding is not surprising. We saw that even during the hardest days of the pandemic when the world faced economic uncertainty, consumers were willing to open up their pocketbooks and spend. But as ChannelAdvisor noted, much of that spending happened online.

Key takeaway: it’s going to be a busy holiday shopping season, and savvy advertisers are already ramping up their holiday shopping advertising. According to Deloitte, consumers will spend 9 percent more this holiday season compared to 2020. A new survey from JLL says that consumers plan to spend an average of $870 per person on holiday expenses this year, a 25.4 percent increase from last year. Consumers are ready to shop. On the downside, if the global shipping crisis is as bad as economists say it’s going to be, those consumers may experience the disappointment of product shortages. So advertisers are encouraging people to shop sooner while inventory is in stock.

Amazon and Google Dominate Product Research and Purchase

Amazon is the Number One destination for people to research product: 41 percent use Amazon to research products. Google, though, is a strong second place finisher. Amazon has built strong trust because when people are checking reviews, prices, and product inventory, Amazon gives them one easy place to do all that. During the holiday shopping season, even more consumers will do research on Amazon, and 65 percent will purchase on Amazon.

Key takeaway: capitalizing on Amazon Advertising products is a must if you want your brand to be visible when shoppers are doing deep product research. But don’t shift your ad budget from Google if you’re already a Google Ads customer. A two-pronged approach works best.

Social Media Is More Important for Younger Audiences

Social is the key research channel for younger audiences. 53 percent of 18-to-25 year olds have researched products on Instagram. 51 percent have discovered products they purchased on social media sites. Facebook remains a strong source of product research for 26-to-35 year olds. Meanwhile, 30 percent of 26-to-45 year olds will do the majority of their holiday purchasing on social sites.

Key takeaway: although social media sites lag far behind Amazon and Google for product research, they index high for Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. Given the popularity of Instagram as a shopping destination, it’s important that advertisers capitalize on Instagram ad products such as Instagram Shop to reach younger shoppers. Essentially, Instagram ad products make it possible for businesses to turn posts and stories into ads. Instagram also makes it possible to create ads across Instagram and Facebook, which sounds very efficient – but remember that what works on Instagram might not be as effective on Facebook because Facebook appeals to a slightly older audience.

For more insight into holiday shopping trends, read a recently published True Interactive post, “How Retailers Can Prepare for the Holiday Shopping Season.”

Contact True Interactive

To maximize the value of your holiday shopping ad campaigns, contact True Interactive. We help our clients create effective online advertising all year-round, including the holiday season, and we understand the nuances of creating effective holiday ad campaigns.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Why Discord Matters to Advertisers

by Amanda Cortese Social media Uncategorized

Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat app that’s used by people aged 13 and up to chat and essentially hang out. Initially launched in 2015 as a home for gamers, the app has since expanded its reach and now attracts users from gaming and non-gaming communities alike. To say it’s popular is something of an understatement: the app enjoys more than 150 million monthly active users as of July 2021. But it accepts no advertising.

Why should advertisers care about Discord? Read on to learn more.

What Is Discord?

Users have embraced Discord as a way to connect with friends on a daily basis. Available for Mac, PC, iPhone, and Android devices, the app facilitates talk around any number of topics, from homework to mental health to travel.

Discord is mostly used by small and active communities who like to connect regularly, and for these groups the app follows an invite-only protocol. But larger, more open communities also flourish on Discord; these larger communities can be public, and tend to focus on specific topics like gaming, the app’s original mandate. Minecraft, for example, draws a large following.

As Discord puts it, shared interests drive the conversation.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, an entire vocabulary exists to help users navigate the app: “servers” are the spaces created by communities or friend groups (as Business Insider describes it, servers are a less-formal version of the Slack app). Any user can initiate a new, free server, and invite their friends; individual servers promote their own topics and rules. Discord servers are subsequently organized into text and voice “channels,” which are typically devoted to specific topics. Users can post (type) messages on text channels; they can also upload files and share images. Voice channels allow users to communicate real-time through a voice or video call.

There are literally thousands of Discord servers, so whether your jam is cute cats or a game like Fortnite, a Discord server that reflects your interests probably already exists.

Why Discord Matters to Businesses

But there’s no advertising. So, why should businesses care?

In a word: presence. Even though Discord is an ad-free platform, brands can and do maintain a presence there. Think of Discord as a social-listening tool. As reported in Marketing Dive, Discord is a source for learning about emerging culture and trends. By following Discord, brands can figure out fresh was to become culturally relevant with their marketing.

What does that look like, exactly? Essentially, brands can create their own branded communities on Discord, places where they can interact head-on with their most loyal customers. These communities are a zone where brands and consumers connect over common interests — and there might be a perk or surprise in there for the customer, to boot.

Virtual events are popular on the app: consider the Q&A fashion retailer AllSaints hosted in May, in which the menswear designer gave users a peek into how its styles have changed over the years. Chipotle took a different tack, hosting a virtual job fair on Discord that allowed the fast-casual restaurant chain to announce a hike in wages (to $15 an hour), and gave current employees an opportunity to talk about benefits and career paths.

Of course, for some brands, the app’s gaming roots are a rich vein to mine. Consider teen retailer Hot Topic, which initiated a Discord server specifically targeting fans of Japanese anime. Hot Topic relies on its own presence to support anime fandom, which overlaps with Hot Topic’s own audience.

What Brands Should Do

What does all this mean for your brand? We recommend that you:

Keep in mind Discord’s audience. Are they your audience? In other words, does Discord promote a niche that represents common ground for your brand and a community of Discord users?

Do your homework and learn from how other brands are succeeding on Discord. Discord users seem to respond to authentic conversations and events on the app. How can you capitalize on this? Keep in mind the Hot Topic example: the retailer tapped into a theme already established as part of the Hot Topic brand — then ran with it. They didn’t pretend to be something they’re not or try to shoehorn themselves into a conversation that didn’t make sense.

Listen and watch closely for ideas to inform your advertising beyond Discord. What can you learn from the ways Discord connects with its audience?

Contact True Interactive

Interested in exploring Discord—or another chat app? Contact us. We can help you stake your claim.