Pinterest Releases Design Overhaul

Pinterest released a layout overhaul this week with better search tools and even bigger pictures. The layout was in beta testing in January and now all users are able to get their hands on the results. The first new feature is the ability to see pins from the same board as well as other pins from the same website when you click a pin. This allows for even more content discovery related to what a user is interested in. The second piece is a new “People who pinned this also pinned…” feature to create a deeper sense of discovery.

Pinterest also listened to user frustration around losing one’s place when browsing. According to Pinterest, “Now when you scroll through pins and click on something that interests you, the back button lands you right back where you were no matter how far you’ve gone.

This update for Pinterest likely means more time spent on the site as users are continually taken down content “rabbit holes” as they browse content they like and continue to receive suggestions for additional content. This also has potential for marketers as their content has more potential to get in front of users organically. For example, a user looking at wedding shoes could receive suggestions from a shoe company on some of their products. Now, is definitely the time to integrate Pinterest into your website and potentially create a presence of your own.

Read more on Pinterest’s update on CNET.

Twitter Introduces New Targeting Tools

Twitter has taken more steps to help brands target messages more effectively. The network has slowly but surely been gathering information on its users based on tweets, locations and who a user chooses to follow as well as who follows them. Twitter’s taken this data and turned it into new ways for advertisers to target users: by interests, by device, by who a user follows and by gender. It’s worth noting that you cannot target the followers of someone specifically but you can target users like the followers of celebrity X. Bigger brands with bigger budgets could do this previously, but this is now available within its advanced campaign tools for all businesses.

Twitter provides the example that a golf shop could target users with golf as an interest by targeting users like the followers of Tiger Woods. Marketers will then need to optimize their efforts as it’s unclear why a user is following Tiger Woods.

Device-targeting means marketers will be able to create custom landing pages based on device and only target certain device types to deliver a more optimal experience.

The update is a logical step for Twitter. Facebook has effectively built user profiles that marketers can target by interest. What’s interesting is Facebook gets much of this information from user profiles. Twitter, on the other hand, is aggregating data from user following behavior. This could give Twitter a slight advantage of having more up-to-date user information. Although, that remains to be seen.

For more on Twitter’s new targeting tools, read more at VentureBeat.

Facebook Introduces Lookalike Audiences

Facebook is delivering advertisers yet another tool to target consumers called Lookalike Audiences. The feature allows advertisers to reach users similar to their Custom Audience databases, which are built when marketers take their existing customer data, upload them to Facebook and then target customers who, for example, also sign up for their email marketing. Lookalike Audiences gives advertisers the ability to target similar consumers.

Facebook explains in a blog post that “a business could choose to run an Offer to both people who they know have bought from them before, and to people who share similar attributes with those customers. Like with custom audiences, marketers can further refine lookalike audience targeting using Facebook’s standard interests and demographics targeting (i.e. a company could reach lookalikes with an Offer and use standard targeting to make sure that Offer only reaches lookalikes in Florida).”

The feature is expected to increase ad efficiency with lower cost-per-fan acquisitions, higher site registration, improved off-Facebook purchase conversions, higher brand awareness and more coupon redemptions and claims. No personal information will be shared.

Lookalike Audiences should definitely be getting advertisers attention.  It allows them to increase the reach of their campaigns, while reaching people with a propensity to be interested in the brand as they’re similar to existing customers. As always, advertisers should test different targeting options to see what combination works best based on objectives.

For more Facebook’s new advertising tool, read more at AllFacebook.

News Quick Hits

• Flickr updated its iOS app with hashtag support. Users can      now add hashtags to image titles and descriptions and then search for      photos by hashtag. This allows Flickr to be more real-time in nature and      compete with services like Instagram, which uses hashtags to a high      degree. (Read more at The      Next Web)
• Facebook has hired the co-founders of Legit, a startup      built to help services verify user trustworthiness. Legit has been shut      down. The team will likely help Facebook with security. (Read more at TechCrunch)
• Pinterest acquired the local recommendation app Livestar.      According to Pinterest, the Livestar engineering team was the primary      motivation for the acquisition. Livestar specializes in helping people      find local recommendations from friends and other individuals. Livestar      will be closing down. (Read more at GIGAOM)
• YouTube announced that it now receives one billion users      per month. This means nearly one out of every two people on the Internet      visits YouTube. Part of the growth is attributed to the proliferation of      smart phones, which allow users to view content anywhere at any time.      (Read more at Mashable)
• Spotify has officially completed the rollout of its new      social following features that allow users to find songs through friends      and online influencers. This is intended to solve one of Spotify’s      greatest challenges, music discovery. Users can choose to follow others,      including their Facebook friends and music aficionados. (Read more at TechCrunch)
• Zynga will no longer require users to login with Facebook      to play its games. Zynga and Facebook have slowly been drifting apart with      Zynga building a platform off of Facebook and Facebook making it easier      for other game developers to compete on the social network. (Read more at AllFacebook)
• Reddit is replacing its in-house advertising platform and      Doubleclick for the Adzerk system, which gives users the ability to vote      ads up or down. As users vote, the system learns and tailors ads to user      tastes. (Read more at BetaBeat)