The number 1 ranking social media platform, Facebook has been making headlines with their admitted errors in metrics. In turn advertisers are becoming weary of using not only Facebook but any social platforms for their advertising. Many marketing teams are heavily weighing the decision of whether or not they should steer ad dollars away from digital and more towards traditional vehicles.
In response, many of the social media platforms are taking further measures to provide confidence to advertisers. Five of the top platforms have taken measures in the past few weeks to reinforce their metrics and provide more confidence for marketers.
During the recent election, Facebook was heavily scrutinized for featuring fake news, as well as not sharing information about certain trending topics accurately. Just in the past week, Facebook said it has changed its trending topics to only feature stories that have been reported on by trustworthy news organizations, giving preference to stories with some longevity behind them as well.
Snapchat
Snapchat analysts have partnered with the third- party source Oracle Data Cloud, to confirm their advertising metrics. Oracle will pull a combination of online and offline behaviors to create individual profiles as well as tracking offline purchases.
Instagram recently launched the option for advertisers to utilize their stories feature. The new advertising will be paired with a free analytics option which they named Stories Insights.
YouTube
YouTube is now allowing advertisers to target ads to individuals based on their past search history. This is in addition to the current style of targeting based on video viewing history.
Pinterest launched the new option Pinterest Explore which features video. The new section will feature top trending videos along with sponsored videos.
Each of these platforms is working to provide easy to interpret metrics that are accurate. Don’t let one issue allow you to miss out on the vast opportunity of social media marketing. Instead take the time to understand your metrics. Metrics do not have to be verified by the social platform alone. Pull your own website analytic reports and verify traffic flow. Use unique links to better track ad performance and keep your eyes and ears open to customers responding with real-world purchases or inquiries.
At Media Venue, we pull analytics from multiple sources to follow users online interactions from the referral source to the last page they visit on your website. These insights help build on good campaigns to increase effectiveness. We work to continue improving campaigns throughout their life to meet and exceed our client’s goals.
