In the ever-changing world of social media, The Social Sparq Plug is your one-stop-shop for all things digital marketing. Each week, our online marketing team meets to discuss the latest trends and updates happening on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube, Pinterest and beyond.
We’ve aggregated the best creative and noteworthy news and campaigns from the past week. Here’s the hot take from the minds of our online marketers!
3 Social Media Updates You Need To Know This Week
This week, Instagram took another jab at their rival, Snapchat, by launching a more accessible version of the ‘Snapchat Lens Studio’ with their new Spark AR Studio (not the best spelling of Sparq, but that’s just our opinion 😉). The new AR feature allows anyone to create filters for IG stories. The Snapchat equivalent is far more difficult and expensive to utilize. The social media tycoon continues to change things up and try to stay ahead of any controversy by possibly privatizing a users amount of likes. This pullback comes after the backlash the platform has faced regarding users focusing too much on their engagement and not enough on the content. Users in Canada noticed the beta test earlier this month and it continues to get mixed feedback.
This week’s final update comes from the world of SEO. As imagery continues to be more and more crucial to search, Google is making the appropriate updates announcing at the State of Search session at Google I/O that it will be supporting 3D images and a swipe up feature for images from AMP pages. This will require further optimizations of images on websites so your client’s content is showing up in search results.
3 Creative “Sparqs” To Get Your Imagination Flowing
It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year but unfortunately, a lot of homeowners are met with turmoil when their Christmas tree catches fire. The combination of dry pine needles and overheating Christmas lights can spell disaster, but one agency teamed up with Fire Service Plus Mexico to put a halt to these holiday fires. Fire Service Plus created a new self-activating extinguisher system fitted into inconspicuous tree ornaments and toppers that are rigged to spray extinguisher foam once they detect heat. Instead of creating a campaign and video surrounding the same old product they always push, Fire Service Plus identified a problem their consumer was having and created a solution. They didn’t stop there- this awe-inspiring video shows the innovative design of the ornament in a crisp, clean video.
This week we analyzed how Nike is creating an AR extension in their app that allows a customer to scan their feet and provides their proper size in various models. This feature could solve a lot of problems for Nike as research shows about 27% of the shoes purchased online are returned for that reason- another company this week identifying their customer’s problem and creating an innovative, out-of-the-box solution.
And in this week’s installment of ‘what innovative marketing has Burger King come up with now’, we took a look at their new rush hour delivery service. That’s right, Burger King has developed a delivery system being tested in Mexico City where drivers sometimes wait in traffic for up to 5 hours a day. This new service allows you to place an order that will be delivered right to your car window. The concept, known as the “traffic jam whopper”, will update you using digital billboards as to how long you’ll be sitting in traffic for as when you can expect your food to arrive. Depending on the success of the idea, Burger King plans to extend the “traffic jam whopper” to LA and other traffic congested areas. The campaign has already seen great success in Mexico City where Burger King’s daily delivery orders have jumped 63% and the daily download rate of their app has increased by 44%.
What is white space and why is it important?
White space is referred to as negative space in design. It is the space that balances out design elements. Having too much white space can make a design look incomplete, however, white space creates an aesthetic balance. Margins, gutters, and spacing between design elements is a crucial component of successful white space implementation.
Join us on Mondays to hear what brands are ‘sparqing’ our creativity, how algorithms have changed, and the bullet points on what you need to change in your marketing strategy to get your clients the best return on their investment.
