Early Version of Vessel Launched

If you haven't heard of Vessel yet, you will. Soon.

The newest online video platform started by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, competes directly with YouTube, claims exclusive content and has just signed up some new advertisers:

• Users can get exclusive access to videos from some of the biggest content creators in the space.
• Vessel is offering these creators 70% of ad revenue while YouTube takes a majority of that revenue at 55%.
• Videos posted to Vessel can’t be seen anywhere else for 72 hours, hoping to be a big differentiating factor for the company.
• After that 72 hour window, the content then moves to Vessel’s free, ad-supported service along with other platforms like YouTube.
• Advertisers include: Chevy, Corona Extra, Land Rover, Jaguar, Axe, Dove, Suave and St. Ives
• Producers, including Alec Baldwin, signed on to produce custom content for the platform

Vessel launched their early version of the service to video creators last Wednesday. Once Vessel attracts more creator, we can expect "general pop" log in opportunities. In the meantime, you can request an invite here. Plus, see more about the platform here.

Bringing "How To" Videos to Vine and Instagram

After an extremely successful Black Friday Vine program, Lowes continues to evolve the campaign using consumer behavior and insights to drive creative, and effective, work. 

In the new campaign, Lowes:

• Evolves the “Fix in Six” campaign from small hacks to larger projects
• Showcases seemingly hard-to-do tasks in easy, digestable, 6-15 second videos
• Leverages existing user experience and platform functionality with a “Tap thru” engagement
• Breaks projects into steps that viewers can pause turning the quick video into a tutorial
• Educates audiences on how to use the feature and videos

Now, with the influx of the use of the mobile app and utility of the Vines, there is an opportunity to take this in-store and purchase the items needed for this DIY project. 

To learn more about the new campaign, see Lowes on Instagram, Vine and within this article.

Twitter & TV are Better Together

As we look back on the success stories for this year’s Super Bowl ads, it’s apparent that TV and Twitter can be extremely powerful when used together.

Through recent Twitter studies and articles we found that:

• 31 total hashtags were used in 57% of nationally-run Super Bowl ads, up from 50% last year, according to #Hashtagbowl 
• #Hashtags in TV ads drive positive brand conversations 
• TV ads that featured hashtags had 42% more Tweets about the ads than those without hashtags 
• Additionally, Esurance asked TV viewers to enter their #EsuranceSave30 sweepstakes on Twitter to win an extremely enticing prize. Esurance accrued 3 Million tweets, with 200,000 coming in the first minute after the ad aired.
• The success is tied to both, a great prize and the tie of Twitter and TV 
• Twitter keeps viewers tuned in to advertising 
•  The use of Twitter while watching TV, decreased the likelihood of users changing the channel while watching the ad 
•  Twitter makes TV ads more effective 
•  Viewers who watched TV without a second-screen had an average TV ad recall of 40% while those who watched TV while using Twitter, had an ad recall of 53%, as shown below

This research helps drive home that using hashtags in ads should be a best practice. When this combination is used with large scale events, like the Super Bowl, it is beneficial for both brands and viewers.

To learn more about this Twitter study and why TV and Twitter are better together, click here. See the full infographic below:

2014 Marketing Resolution: Break Through The Digital Clutter

Image from: IMI

As users’ newsfeeds become overcrowded and saturated we must evaluate the best ways to be seen and heard, online. Below, you can find some key tips from a series of articles and ebooks that we can explore when creating and amplifying compelling content:

1. Get into the mindset of a publisher by looking for content that supports our niche, and then give users a fresh perspective on it.
• Likeminded brands are posting similar content so anything produced needs to be cool and captivating.
2. Add muscle by including multimedia elements to create richer content.
• Provide a balance of snackable and long-form content.
•  Magazine-style narratives and multimedia experiences provide long-form experiences rather than the quick-hit meme. Ensure how the multimedia content will be viewed on mobile and within search
3. Leverage paid and organic SEO so content can be found.
• Answer the specific needs of niche audiences but the only way it will be read is if it’s found, paid media is one piece of that puzzle.
• The other piece of the puzzle is crafting content with SEO and content marketing in mind.

Curating content that fans can get excited about paired with the right paid media strategy and SEO, will help marketers garner impressions and lengthening reach.  As we move into a new year, we will see brands and companies continue to test new tactics and initiatives.

For detailed articles and information on breaking through the clutter, please see the ebook and articles below:

How to Make Content That Stands Out

What Makes Content Stand Out? Hint: originality is key

9 Steps to Creating Good Content for Your Brand

Facebook Algorithm Updates Again: Focus on Media & News

According to Facebook, traffic to media and news sites increased over 170% in the last year.  So, Facebook is taking this insight to make another update to the News Feed Algorithm which recognizes that people want to see more news content. (As a reminder, these algorithm and overall Facebook functionality updates further move Facebook into becoming an even more open forum, globally).

The updated algorithm plans to show: 

• More relevant articles in the feed: The feed will now include more article links along with suggested articles for continued reading.
• More comment stories: Articles will resurface in the newsfeed if friends have also read and commented on it, leading to more conversations between people and their friends.

To further optimize your content strategy, you can use this as an opportunity to curate more content for fans in order to ensure we continue to appear in the News Feed. Also, if your brand has any additional resources, news articles or even a blog, it may be a great time to further test this content on the platform.

 

For the full release and other related articles, please see below:  

News Feed FYI: Helping You Find More News to Talk About
Facebook Tweaks News Feed for More 'High Quality' Content
Facebook: Here's How Your News Feed Works