A weekend read about Facebook, machine learning and the focus on engagement
What we’re about to share isn’t specifically about Facebook Ads, but the platform as a whole.
It’s Karen Hao’s new piece, and we strongly recommend bookmarking it for your weekend reading.
It’s a fascinating read to understand more about how Facebook thinks when it decides what machine learning models it chooses, and which ones it cancels.
It’s the story of how Facebook prioritises engagement above all else when it comes to machine learning, and how that causes many of the issues you see with the platform – especially the spread of misinformation.
With 200 so-called traits attached to each user, their algorithm is a powerhouse when it comes to serving content (and ads) people are most likely to engage with. But is this what a social platform should optimise for?
Karen talked to Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, a director of AI at Facebook, to find out.
Twitter’s on a roll
It’s safe to say that Twitter’s been very active with their development in 2021. While not as focused on their advertising arm, they certainly are delivering interesting features. So what happened in the last 24 hours?
- Twitter Spaces should launch publicly in April. If you can’t get your hands on a Clubhouse invitation (or you just use an Android device) but you want to try out the audio-only, drop-in format, Spaces will be here for you.
- Business Profiles and customization options. At the moment, company profiles are no different from regular accounts but Twitter is working on some business-focused profiles and features.
We do feel like Twitter is a good place for spontaneous conversations, whether as a business or individual. It’s the social platform where we’re most active and we definitely find it’s worth it!
SPONSORED BY INSIGHTS
The Botfather is joining us on 19th March
That’s not a typo…
Rutger Thole, aka the Botfather, will join us on 19th March (next Friday) at 4pm GMT for a Q&A about all things chat marketing.
Rutger specializes in enhancing the pre- and post-purchase shopping experience using AI-powered live chat marketing strategies with tools like Messenger, SMS and email.
If you have an online business and want to know the best ways to interact with your website visitors, at the right time, giving them the right information, using the right tools, this session is for you!
Ask Rutger your questions live on Insights.
And it’s not just Q&As: The core of Insights is our deep dives, where we spend 200+ hours of research to compile a 100+ page report dissecting the full marketing strategy of a brand every single month.
Check out this preview of our deep dive for Snow, a direct-to-consumer brand with over $100M in sales.
Whether that’s through our deep dives, interviews, Q&As or other activities – giving you valuable and timely marketing insights is our main purpose.
Join Insights for $49 per month using the code STACKED49 – valid through March 2021.
No long term commitments, cancel any time, and a risk-free 24 hours refund period – no questions asked.
Turning Instagram into a complete sales funnel
Ann Smarty shared a post on how to use Instagram organic content to bring your followers down the purchasing funnel, where they take their card out and buy your stuff.
If you’re already producing content on the ‘Gram, this post might be helpful.
Top of the funnel: Here, you can use swipe-up links to start getting relevant clicks, however, Ann suggests not to blatantly sell. Instead, you should focus on:
- Use creative ideas that are able to soft-sell without being too “salesy”
- Build engaging stories that catch an eye and hold attention.
Middle of the funnel: Curate and display social proof. This is the phase where the customer decides if it’s worth staying and checking your products or leaving. And social proof can play a key role here.
Search for real people that have featured your products and ask them to utilize their content. Use it in your organic posts to encourage users to click on your links.
Bottom of the funnel: Here, Ann suggests going straight with retargeting Instagram Ads to reach customers that abandoned the cart.
Alternatively, you can share bottom of the funnel content in your stories and posts, like announcing discounts, addressing common objections, or clarifying how to use your product and how your customers can benefit from it in their real life.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
YOUTUBE: Nielsen digital ad ratings are rolling out for YouTube CTV (connected TV).
SEO: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before – there might have been a search algorithm update from Google yesterday. If your rankings are more volatile than GameStop stock, it’s not just you.
TIKTOK: Pakistan is the latest country to ban TikTok.
SEO: Here’s a cool SEO tip from Glen Allsopp that’s worth testing. Show social proof on articles upfront to try and get more time on site.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS: There are more posts than usual being rejected by Google. If this happens to you, try reposting. Google is looking into it so it should be fixed in a few days, according to Joyanne Hawkins.
BRAIN TEASER
2 in a corner, 1 in a room, 0 in a house, but 1 in a shelter. What am I?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Beeple created a piece of digital art every day for 5,000 days, then this happened…
Those things called NFTs (non-fungible tokens) took off and digital artists could actually prove which are the original pieces.
Beeple took off.
And the peak is a piece called The First 5000 Days. It’s a collage of the first 5,000 days of creating digital art that was sold for $69M by Christie’s.
It’s quite the step towards recognizing digital art in the mainstream. And it’s just another crazy thing to mention in already crazy times.