The fast-paced world of digital marketing means that news flies out of the sphere at the speed stardust. And this month saw the announcement of several features that will help the world of SEO improve its marketing strategies.
Facebook rolls-out metrics for video makers
Facebook ratcheted its tool kit for marketers earlier this month with the introduction of improved video metrics.
The social media giant redesigned its Page Insights to include statistics that make it easier for publishers to assess the performance of video ads.
Previous metrics provided by Facebook included:
- The number of minutes watched
- The number of unique viewers
- Percentage of viewers that watched videos to the end
- Audience retention
- Average view duration
Whilst these metrics are somewhat useful, they also provide marketers with misleading analysis. Recommendations for improvement have not fallen on deaf ears.
The social media giant has added several new metrics that enable publishers to better determine how well video ads performed. They include:
- total number of minutes viewers spent watching the video,
- the number of viewers watching for more than 10 seconds and
- a breakdown of views with and without sound
Rich media performs best on mobile
A new report published by Rhythm One found that mobile users are driven towards rich media such as video and interactive in-stream video ads.
Respondents revealed that short-form videos are most effective and received more full views than longer videos. In-stream videos that last for 15-seconds receive more engagement than videos with a 30-second duration.
Google adds more languages to auto-translate
Search engine maestro announced it has added an additional 13 new languages to its automated translation service. The service now offers 103 languages covering 99% of the world’s population.
The language update is expected to attract an additional 120 million new users and enable them to translate foreign language sites. This is excellent news for businesses with an overseas audience and filmmakers using subtitled video ads.
Time Inc invests in a technology ad company
US publishing conglomerate Time Inc. has announced the purchase of a technology company,Viant for an undisclosed fee.
Whilst this is an unusual move for online publishers, it is a sign of things to come in the digital marketing sphere.
An announcement published on Viant’s website indicates that the collaboration could rival industry leaders, Google and Facebook in creating a subscriber database.
Time Inc. chairman, Joe Ripp also acknowledged the acquisition is a game-changer for the publishers and said: “Marketers are selecting media partners that have either data-driven capabilities or premium content; we will be able to deliver both in a single platform and will stand apart from those that offer just one or the other.”
The reach capabilities Viant can offer from the data collected from MySpace gives Time Inc the capabilities of targeting niche audiences across multiple devices.
As leading corporations focus on learning more about their audience, there is a lesson to be learnt from the chasing packs of online businesses. Follow the leaders and you will be at the forefront where you can benefit from the kill.
