Twitter teases 2020, TikTok helps marketers make magic, and NYT, Adobe, and Twitter team up to fight misinformation.
November 8, 2019
Foresight is 2020
We all have our own reasons to look forward to 2020: a chance to start fresh in a new decade, a big election, and for marketers, a ton of (possible) Twitter updates. That’s right, get excited, this week Twitter’s VP of Design and Research, Dantley Davis, shared five potential new features. The (maybe) updates focus on user experience — like being able to turn off retweets, approve or remove @ mentions of your account, and select specific audiences for tweets — which could be a great targeting opportunity for brands’ organic tweets. The updates could also help prevent tweets from being taken out of context, limit trolling, and increase direct engagement through replies. The new features aren’t 100% confirmed, but you can be sure they’re on Twitter’s radar and that the platform is hearing users’ demands. Got something else your brand wants to see on the list? Tweet @Dantley and let him know.
Integrate To Create
TikTok’s not really known for highly-polished, seamlessly-edited video content. But with the platform’s newly launched partnerships with seven video editing apps, including Adobe Premiere Rush and Enlight Videoleap, that might just change. Now, users and marketers can create high-quality content on these third-party apps and directly upload the finished products to TikTok. The integrations expand the creative tools marketers have to make original, professional-looking branded videos for the platform to engage with its most popular up-and-coming demographic (Gen Z). It’s also exciting news for brands because figuring out TikTok can be tricky, but making beautiful and interesting content that stands out in a sea of, let’s be frank, viral weirdness, shouldn’t be.
Goodbye CIA, Hello CAI
There’s a new power throuple on the scene, and it’s almost too much to handle: The New York Times, Adobe, and Twitter. These digital powerhouses have come together for a project called the Content Authenticity Initiative. Its purpose? To create an industry-wide system for digital content attribution. The opt-in system is still in development, but think of it as a digital paper trail (made possible by data attached to pieces of content) so consumers can trace exactly where online material originated and who it was created by. The mission is to increase trust, transparency, and authenticity online, while combating the spread of misinformation. The initiative launched this week, and details are still to come about how exactly this will affect the digital content ecosystem. But if Adobe’s predictions are correct, marketers should be prepared for a future where consumers expect all content to come with attribution.
SPARK OF THE WEEK
Scratching the Twitch Itch
If you’re an avid gamer, you’re probably pretty familiar with Twitch, the Amazon-owned live streaming platform. But gamer or not, you’ll want to know Twitch is getting majorly popular. Globally, its 15 million users watch and stream themselves mainly playing video games, but also doing plenty of other day-to-day activities — like putting on makeup, cooking, or just chatting on camera. So it should be no surprise the platform’s “Just Chatting” category is one of users’ favorites, with fast, consistent growth since its launch a year ago.
For many brands, Twitch is an untapped marketing opportunity. But for MAC Cosmetics, the platform is already an integral part of its digital strategy. MAC has been using Twitch to connect with audiences for months and even featured a display at TwitchCon (the platform’s annual convention) in September. The brand chose Twitch as a way to tap into global conversations surrounding beauty, pop culture, fashion, and more by partnering with and sponsoring streamers.
Audiences crave authenticity from influencers and brands alike, and how better to showcase some realness than an unscripted, unfiltered livestream? On Twitch, streamers can weave in brand endorsements in a natural and conversational manner — even more so than on YouTube (which can often feel ad-like). And with the deeply invested nature of Twitch’s audiences, the organic engagement is unmatched. While its identity may be rooted in gaming, brands shouldn’t be afraid to follow MAC’s lead and start scratching the surface of the depth of conversations happening on Twitch.
