Social Media News Roundup: Pinterest Debuts Click-to-Play Video Ads

James Allen brings you the latest in social media marketing news, including Pinterest’s new ad feature, Facebook’s most recent change to the Newsfeed, Instagram’s new Video Events, and more.

Pinterest Rolls Out New Mobile Video Ads

In 2015, Pinterest rolled out a lite version of video ads for mobile Pinterest users. Now, in August 2016, Pinterest has released a full version. The new Promoted Video format is mobile-only, and runs in a similar fashion to video ads on Facebook. Unlike Facebook however, when you scroll past the video, you will be presented with a Cinematic Pin – a sound free auto-playing teaser of what is in the video – that must be clicked to trigger the video, rather than having the video play from the moment you scroll past.

Pinterest click-to-play adverts will work on a cost-per-impression basis, and advertisers will be charged for every thousand times the Cinematic Pin is seen.

Facebook Updates News Feed Again

Facebook has once again updated its news feed algorithm, in an attempt to make it more ‘informative’.

Facebook is updating its news feed algorithm in order to show people more informative stories. What does Facebook mean by informative stories?

According to their recent blog post:

This could be a news article on a current event, a story about your favourite celebrity, a piece of local news, a review of an upcoming movie, a recipe or anything that informs you.

Facebook will be using a huge focus group to determine what content is classed as informative, and then basing what should be projected to each user on their interests, likes, and shares.

Facebook said “We anticipate that most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed,” to reassure paying brands and advertisers that the new algorithm update will not have a large impact on impressions.

Instagram Adds Video Channel

Instagram has added a video events channel to the Explore tab. The new Instagram feature is designed to present users with videos related to a recent event, such as a concert, or sporting event.

Instagram Video Events will be tailored to each person, specifically dependent on their interests. The way Instagram will determine this is to take a look at the accounts a user follows on Instagram, and target them with related event videos.

In a recent blog post, Instagram said:

Starting today, you can experience events as they happen around the world with a new video channel on Explore.
This channel collects the best videos from concerts, sporting events and more so you can feel like you’re in the front row. Like the rest of Explore, this new channel is personalized for you and highlights events you might like.

Currently, the new feature is available in the US only, however Instagram announced that it will be moving to the rest of the world – “These updates to Explore are currently only available in the U.S. We’re working to bring this experience to the rest of the world soon.”

Facebook Restricts Messenger Bots

Facebook has added a restriction to its messenger bot platform in an attempt to make them more active.

Other than for certain exceptions, Facebook’s Messenger bots can only message someone within a 24-hour timescale after they have been interacted with. Messenger bots now have the ability to send people promotional messages, such as “Hey, check out this sale” but they can only do so within the 24-hour timescale.

Although the 24-hour window has been implemented, there are certain exceptions that allow messenger bots to interact with Facebook users outside of the time frame. Bots can send one follow up message, and they can also send template messages – sales receipts and notifications.

Some bots are completely immune to the new 24-hour timescale. Bots that track personal information, like health or finance, and send people news, are allowed to send messages on a regular basis

Facebook messenger bot makers have until mid-November to get their bots to comply with the new features.

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