02 Nov With Even Facebook Now Admitting Teen Use Failing, How Will Instagram Ads Go Over? | Social You Should Know
Facebook denied it as recently as last month, but they now admit what was obvious to anyone with teenagers: daily use of that network is down among teens.
Facebook’s Teen Problem Is Just the Beginning
The subtitle of my book (which officially launches on 11/8) is “The CMO’s Guide to Social Media Marketing in a Post-Facebook World.” It was obvious to me as I put the book together that while Facebook’s revenue was up, user interest was down, particularly among teens. Last quarter, Zuckerberg insisted it “just isn’t true,” but this week, Facebook’s CFO said, “We did see a decrease in [teenage] daily users, especially younger teens.” Separately, new research by Piper Jaffray found that Twitter (26%) is now the most important social network for teens, with Instagram tying Facebook at 23%. This is a huge difference from 2012, when 42% of teens listed Facebook number one. The problem nobody is talking about right now is that a lot of adults are finding Facebook less interesting. As marketers, we need to include more than one network in our plans.
Instagram Readies Ad Push
The good news for Facebook is their $1 billion purchase of Instagram, which has grown dramatically in popularity. The site is now running example ads on their site, to get users ready for the format. The time posted (on the upper right hand corner of posts) is replaced by the word “Sponsored” on ads, and the username (upper left) becomes the brand name. But as I point out in this article on TechNewsWorld, the potential problems with user’s accepting ads go way beyond the format. If people see the same kind of poorly targeted ads that Facebook has become known for, it could have a major negative impact on Instagram usage. Hopefully this won’t be the case. Partially, it’s up to us as marketers to ensure our promoted content fits our brand, the audience and the network.
Twitter Layout Change Helps Branded Tweets
Major changes this week to Twitter’s stream. As of Tuesday, the stream now shows users’ pictures that are shared and a frame from YouTube and Vine videos. While not everyone is happy about it, this change does have some impact we need to be aware of as marketers. Our visual content (already popular on Facebook and Instagram) will gain wider exposure on Twitter now, as people will see it without clicking. In addition, promoted tweets should perform better, as the visual will now be instantly seen. Of course, let’s hope that doesn’t lead marketers down the path of “large display ads” inserted into Twitter, as AdAge seems to encourage here.
That’s the week in review. Lots of talk about ads, but I hope we spend as much time on earning attention in social media as we do buying it. Have a great weekend.
