2013-2014 Digital Marketing Changes You Need To Know

The Fascination with the Short Video

In early 2013, Twitter launched Vine, a mobile service that lets you capture and share short looping videos. I still remember when my 17 year old niece introduced me to it mid 2013. She was addicted. 
Vine saw 403% growth between the first and third quarters of 2013, making it the fastest-growing app of the year. But then Instagram, a photo sharing service launched its video feature.

Facebook trailing behind in the game rolled out auto-play video ads in December 2013. According to Facebook, the social network began testing auto-play video ads in September and the changes resulted in a more than 10 percent increase in video views, likes, shares and comments. 


Advertisers are exploring with vine, one company in particular having major success. Dunkin Donuts scored social-media points all football season with its Vine-ESPN play  ( a series of instant reply vine videos with the company's signature cups as the players). Brilliant in that the advertising was inexpensive and likeable.

New "Rich" Pinning on Pinterest 

Pic.: Pinterest’s Rich Pins, business.pinterest.com/rich-pins

Pinterest launched Web Analytics by for verified business accounts in March answering the question  “What are people pinning from my websites?” The free Web Analytics platform helps marketers see Pinterest metrics in categories including Site Metrics, Most Recent, Most Pinned and Most Clicked.

Pinterest introduced Rich Pins in May 2013. Instead of linking back to the pin’s origin, each new Rich Pin provides users additional information about that item aimed to better put them in a position to make a purchase. 

There are three different types of Rich Pins:
Product (offers real time pricing, availability, and where to buy the item)
Recipes (provide information like cook time, ingredients, and servings to help foodies and food bloggers create new creations using branded pin)
Movies (content ratings, cast members, and more designed to provide a new layer of information about these movies)

LinkedIn Morphs from networking platform to content hub

LinkedIn expanded its services through the successful launch of Showcase Pages which are dedicated content hubs enabling businesses to extend their Company Page presence. The attraction of the Showcase Pages is that it effectively segments audiences and enables businesses to deliver relevant message to the targeted audiences. Showcase Pages enables companies, with multiple business units or brands, to create individual, segmented marketing channels on LinkedIn. Talk about zeroing in on your intended audience. 

Facebook messes with the News Feed...Again

Early March did you notice a change in how your News Feed shows postings? 
Well Facebook redesign and added larger visuals.
Why? It designed the feed with a mobile-first user interface in mind. 

The good and the bad for marketers:
The changes made good photos look even better in the News Feed, but also made bad photos look terrible forcing marketers to step up their visual quality. 

Facebook Focuses On Quality Images, Not Marketing Images

Facebook's 20% rule required text to appear on less than 20% of cover photos  and promoted posts. 
Facebook continues to roll out changes for design and ads. In 2013, 

Facebook’s 20% Rule required text to appear on less than 20% of Cover Photos (and Promoted Posts). This is their attempt to work with their new visual feature.

Facebook rolled out a series of ad changes in 2013, eliminating at least 13 ad units and increasing ad targeting opportunities. This move simplified the process of creating an ad for marketers. I kind of like this new change. 

pic: social fresh - Amit Lavi post on social fresh titled Face Book Ad Changes are Great for Small Business, But What About Large Advertisers?