Scoop exclusive: coming from Instagram’s Health Summit yesterday, our Drive social team members shared the following key takeaways on what’s hot and what’s next (see also some choice nuggets from our social feeds in our Instagram story and Twitter):
Top takeaway from Dave Sanders, Supervisor, Social Media:
We know that Instagram isn’t only for millennials and the stats back it up! There are 30M age 45+ monthly active users, with the average user in this age range opening their Instagram app 15x per day! Additionally, content strategies should be tailored towards the social behaviors of these Gen X (ages 40-54) and Baby Boomer (ages 55-75) audiences. Gen X is using social for symptom information, discussing healthcare issues and searching for treatment options. Baby Boomers are most inclined to use the internet for healthcare research and want to see content on managing specific conditions. Messaging to these audiences should inform on identifying symptoms and managing specific health conditions, with an emphasis on sensitivity towards their privacy where possible.
Top takeaway from Darren Croucher, Associate Director, Social Media:
There are many ways a brand can utilize Instagram, depending on their level of comfort and familiarity. A brand can run ads on IG without a profile using Facebook page backed ads. This can be set up as a test and learn opportunity to assess an ad’s effectiveness on the platform, without the heavy lift of creating and building out an IG profile — this allows for feed and even story ads, all grounded in the brand’s FB page. If results demonstrate effectiveness, a brand can then establish an IG handle, build a page and run organic or paid content (including feed/story ads). It’s important to note that at any point, comments can be disabled, which would remove the need for community management and AE reporting. If a brand wants to go all in, we can explore creative optimization by focusing on placement asset customization — that is, recommending different creative for different placements on the platform. A feed ad looks much different from a story ad, and different creative elements will pop depending on where the ad is running. The CMI/Compas social team will be able to talk through all these options and advise the most appropriate path to take.
Top takeaway from Alexandra Gilson, Associate Director, Social Media:
Valuable tips to consider when it comes to healthcare-specific IG creative:
- Establish relevance immediately – Make the problem immediately clear and relatable
- Leverage authentic human presence – Make a connection, make it emotional (humor counts, too!)
- Maintain a singular focus – Messages get lost when trying to convey too many points. Focus on one point well.
- Focus on key moments – Highlight moments that embody your brand story/benefit
One more nugget from yesterday – Instagram announced paid partnership content, a sort of advertising/native/influencer mashup where influencers can promote content to newsfeeds even to those who don’t follow them. Cool.
Google search algorithm update from Mike Picciau, Associate Analyst, SEM & Emerging Media: Google pre-announced that it would be rolling out a new brand core search algorithm update in June. These core updates impact how search results are ranked and listed in the Google search results. What now? Check your web analytics and Search Console performance reports over the next week or so to see if your site was impacted at all from this algorithm update. If it was, there is little you can do to “fix” it. Google recommends as with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded. From Google: “There’s no ‘fix’ for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.” In short, Google recommends you focus efforts on making your site better.
Google targeting update from Aidan Paggao and Connor Riley, Associate Analysts, SEM & Emerging Media: Google has announced that they are rolling out a change to location targeting in Google Ads. The targeting option “People in your targeted locations”, which excluded anyone outside of that targeted location, is being updated to “People in or regularly in your targeted locations”. This update aims to include people who physically travel to or regularly commute to your targeted location. This new advanced option is a way to get your message to a targeted audience that may live outside of your targeted location, but frequently travel to that location. In an increasingly mobile world, people are always on the go. With the support of machine learning, this minor but important change will be a continuous aid in tracking and targeting these audiences. This will also be beneficial for analyzing and reporting on more segmented data.
Earlier this week Apple announced it’s dismantling iTunes into three parts: Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts. I was a little surprised to see that most news coverage and Twitter response seems positive (Wired seems particularly happy about this). People have just evolved in how they want to access media, and Apple seems to be paying attention. iTunes is dead, long live iTunes.
In a heartbreaking twist to an already bizarre story, experts are now saying that the twin girls who were part of a gene-editing experiment by a researcher-gone-rogue in China will likely have a shorter lifespan because of the way their genes were edited. The aim of the researcher was to make them resistant to HIV, but the result may be that they are more susceptible to many other harmful diseases.
Scientists have designed a suit that allows younger people to understand how it feels to be elderly, and in this WBUR story a group of architects wear the suit to see if their designs are inclusive enough (spoiler alert: they’re not.) Some of the realizations: open spaces didn’t allow places for people to sit and rest or steady themselves; glossy floors meant falls were more likely; escalators were nearly impossible to use.
In another step toward integrating AI in their ad efforts, Microsoft is replacing its Opportunities page with the Recommendations tab, which the company says will give advertisers more efficiency in their ad campaigns. Thanks to Mike Picciau, Associate Analyst, SEM & Emerging Media for this story.