Category: In the News

Curated Performance Marketing News – Consumer and Industry Trends-Affiliate Networks, Business Insights and more.

Six months in, Facebook News remains a question mark to publishers

Publishers who are used to seeing Facebook launch a new product with much fanfare, then have momentum fizzle, are starting to get a familiar feeling.

Six months after a glitzy launch announcement, Facebook News is still not available to all U.S. users as a tab, and has only been available to all U.S. users in the bookmark section of the app since April. A Facebook spokesperson said that “millions” of people use the News tab today, but would not be more specific. And sources at seven different publishers in the tab say that there is not much to get excited about yet as Facebook continues to tinker with the product.

And while Facebook has begun taking some tentative steps to promote News, mostly using editorial collections of stories around major events sourced from News participants called news digests, Facebook ads that will promote News are not going to be rolled out until later in the year.

The checks that Facebook cut to many of the largest publishers participating in News buy Facebook time to experiment, in ways that an ad-powered revenue-sharing program wouldn’t have. And sources at many participating publishers say that Facebook was careful to stress that it would take its time with Facebook News.

“They were very clear that it was going to be slow,” a
source at one news publisher participating in News said. “They had a lot to
experiment with…Watch took a long time to find its audience too.”

But even with those expectations set, some participants have begun to worry that News has slid down Facebook’s list of priorities. When Facebook rolled out the COVID-19 Information Center, a product designed to share the latest information about the pandemic, and stuck it at the top of users’ news feeds, some saw a different product solving precisely the kind of problem they thought the News tab was going to solve.

“I would have thought they’d want to redirect people to
news,” one said.

For most of those users, News lives in the bookmark section of Facebook’s mobile app along with other Facebook products, including Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Dating, where only a small percentage of those users engage with it. A Facebook spokesperson said engagement has increased recently, but did not provide more specifics.

If a user engages with News regularly, Facebook
automatically migrates the product out of the menu and into that user’s tabs.

Some participants are trying to establish more direct relationships with News tab readers. A few publishers, including Thrillist and the New York Daily News, have been experimenting with a “follow” button that would allow Facebook users to get more of their content. Sources at two publishers using the tab say that they do not have any way to tell what effect the buttons are having.

Facebook referral traffic has played a major role in the content consumption spikes publishers have experienced over the past two months. Facebook referrals grew 44% month over month from February to March 2020. And while the surge in traffic declined somewhat the following month, referrals from Facebook in April 2020 were up 80% year over year, according to Parsely data.

But publishers say that it is difficult to have a firm opinion about how News is faring because they do not have the data necessary to draw any conclusions. Facebook’s product team hasn’t yet made it possible for publishers to distinguish Facebook News referrals from referrals that come from other parts of Facebook, such as news feed. That capability is in the works, according to a source inside Facebook.

“When you don’t know how many people are using it, and what they’re doing, it’s like, ‘What’s the point?’” a source at a second publisher participating in News said. “There are more pressing things to worry about.”

The post Six months in, Facebook News remains a question mark to publishers appeared first on Digiday.

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8 Snapchat Ad Tips for Increasing Affiliate Marketing Conversions

The more Snapchat continues to expand on their advertising platform by adding new functions and targeting capabilities, the greater social media traffic option it becomes for affiliate marketers.

However, it’s important to realize that Snapchat is quite different than most other social platforms for a variety of reasons. One being how content is consumed by its users.   

A common theme among the following tips is reducing resistance between your ad and the user. By that we mean eliminating anything that can interfere with users absorbing the content and information you’re giving to them. The reason that’s so crucial is because people on snapchat typically interact with the platform in a quick, frenzied manner. Therefore, eliminating unnecessary time, space, or messaging can dramatically improve your conversion rate.

Let’s look at some ways to do just that.

1. Keep Your Video Short

Simple but incredibly important. If your video is too long, users are not going to put in the time to get to your call-to-action let alone your landing page.

Keep your video length is under 10 seconds, but if possible go even shorter than that. We recommend somewhere between five and seven seconds if your angle and message can be conveyed in that amount of time.

2. Understand the Audience

The more you know about your audience the more you’ll understand what types of campaigns are likely to create engagement.  

Let’s take a look at just two statistics in regard to Snapchat’s userbase:

  • 76% of users are ages 25 or younger
  • 70% of users are female

This is an audience that is both young and primarily female. That should guide you in choosing a vertical to promote on the platform. Health, Beauty, Sweepstakes, and Fitness are just some examples that pair well with Snapchat’s audience.

Ask yourself if someone under 30 would care about the product or service you want to promote. If the answer is no, it’s probably best to look at other options.

3. Don’t Underestimate Quality

If your ad looks amateur, it’s likely the people viewing it will think what you’re promoting is too.

Put in the extra effort to ensure you don’t turn potential leads away before your message is even read.

The two easiest things you can do to automatically make your video look professional is:

1. Use high-quality video

This can be accomplished by knowing where to find stock video that doesn’t look like stock video.

Pexels.com and Pond5 are both excellent resources that can make the foundation of your ad look legitimate.  

2. Use high-quality video editing software

Even if your base video looks like it could be in a Hollywood movie, poor editing can quickly make your ad look amateur.

Invest in a professional grade, easy-to-use editor like Adobe Premiere or Apple Final Cut Pro. Alternatively, if you don’t have any confidence in your editing skills, pay someone you know to do it or acquire someone’s services on a website like Fiverr.

4. Select the Right Campaign Objective

Before you begin creating your ad, Snapchat will give you the ability to select a Campaign Objective. This includes a multitude of options including Awareness, App Installs, and Video Views.

Although several of these options may seem like they could match for the type of campaign you’re promoting, we recommend sticking to one of two:

  • Drive Traffic to Website
  • Website Conversions

In general, these are the most successful for affiliate marketers because the ad types they offer simply suit the process of lead generation. Make them your go-to objectives for anything CPA.

5. Now is the time for Direct Linking

A major benefit to using snapchat as a traffic source over other social media platforms like Facebook is the ability to direct link your campaigns.

Unlike Facebook ads, Snapchat ads that direct link to affiliate marketing campaigns are usually approved.

This can greatly accelerate the speed of your sales funnel which is especially beneficial when advertising to Snapchat’s impatient audience.

A landing page can still be useful depending on the type of campaign you’re promoting and your ad’s angle. However, if the content of your ad effectively connects to the campaign and its landing page, direct linking should be your method of choice.

6. Experiment with a Native Approach

Snapchat 3D selfie feature available exclusively on the iPhone X ...

Snapchat shows its ads between stories from friends of the targeted user. It’s the same philosophy behind native ads – integrating advertising with content the user wants to see and thus making that advertising less obtrusive.

You the creator can take this approach one step further by making your ads look like actual Snapchat stories one might see from one of their friends.

This can be accomplished by:

  •  Using imagery or video content someone could have taken from their phone. ie. a selfie of someone’s face when promoting skin products.
  • Overlaying simple text that users apply.

With this strategy, you’re not tricking the user into thinking you’re one of their friends (they’re likely smarter than that), you’re just reducing that off-putting feeling of being advertised to that we’ve all felt. This in return can lead to increased engagement and higher conversion rates.

7. Be Aware of the Pre-Load Feature

Snapchat offers an intriguing feature in their advertising platform that pre-loads your landing page before a users swipes up.

This once again accomplishes the goal of reducing friction and time throughout the sales funnel. However, you need to be aware of a significant negative by-product to enabling this feature.

If you’re using a third-party tracker, this pre-load feature can cause inaccurate stat tracking. This is obviously not an ideal scenario and it’s a risk you’ll need to consider if you choose to enable the feature.

You can read more about Snapchat’s Pre-Load here to help you with that decision.

8. Make Your Point Immediately

Let’s say you’ve created an ad that’s eight seconds long. You might think it’s fine to wait until the seventh second to communicate what you want the user to do. Afterall, it’s just five seconds, right?

This is the wrong approach.

Although users should know what to do at the end of your ad, it’s a good idea to also be clear at the beginning. This provides an opportunity for users to “check out” early and tapping your call-to-action button before the conclusion of your ad.

Simply put, not every user will need to consume the entirety of your ad to make the decision to swipe up and check out your landing page.

The post 8 Snapchat Ad Tips for Increasing Affiliate Marketing Conversions appeared first on MaxBounty Blog.

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