Three social platforms innovating for their audience

 

It’s good to see our social partners leading the way when it comes to the much talked about ‘make, test, learn, re-iterate’ digital model. A quick look at some recent moves by Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram not only highlights the need for ongoing digital evolution but shows that understanding your audience can help guide the direction of innovation.

Facebook Gifts is a new app offering currently being trialled with a small number of users in the US, after Facebook purchased the company Karma who had developed the functionality. With an eye to leveraging the power and scale of the Friends of Fan network it provides users with gift recommendations for friends with upcoming birthdays. The gifts available to date include vouchers as well as physical gifts like cookies, chocolates, T-shirts, sunglasses and umbrellas.

The obvious opportunity is for gift recommendations, sourced from a range of selected suppliers, to be highly personalised based on the users profile and behaviours.  The gift purchase takes place within Facebook making it an easy way to search, find and purchase a gift for a friend – not to mention a simple way to never forget a birthday again!

Facebook are playing it low key at the moment giving the impression it is just one of many new product tests they do from time to time, and there are no plans to take it outside of the US. However a press event, delayed by Hurricane Sandy, will take place this week, with rumour suggesting it will be to announce new partners.

The latest update from Pinterest is a sign that even people engaged and comfortable using social networks still want a certain level of privacy at times. Responding to one of the most frequently requested features by users, Pinterest has introduced Secret Boards, allowing users to create up to 3 private boards that can only be seen by them and anyone else they choose – they won’t show up anywhere else, including in search results or news feeds.

According to Pinterest Software Engineer Evrhet Milam, “We hope that Secret Boards will make Pinterest even more useful. You can use Secret Boards to keep track of holiday gifts, plan a special event, or work on a project you aren't yet ready to share with the rest of the world. You can keep your Secret Boards to yourself or invite family and friends to pin with you."

The final social move comes from the current shooting star of the social world, photo sharing app Instagram. The mobile only app has attracted over 100 million users in two years with people responding to the simplicity of being able to snap photos with their smartphone and share them, having applied some filters to make them look even better.

 

It has now created a web based version, allowing users to view their Instagram profile on laptop and desktops. Users will be able to view and share their images, but won’t be able to upload to the site. In addition, they’ll be able to view higher res versions of the images (6x6 format), improving the already popular viewing experience.

The profiles will be rolling out over the coming weeks and to see yours, or a friends profile go to To see your profile or to explore a friend's profile, go to Instagram.com/[username].

 

The opportunity: All of the examples highlight the need for us to keep innovating by listening to our users' needs. There’s an opportunity for our group to be the gift supplier should Facebook Gifts find its way to Australia. In the meantime, we should explore ways in which we can provide a similar offering, potentially starting with the EDR database and our Facebook members.Every day we here more talk around ‘big data’ and the Pinterest example highlights the need for us to remain focused on our customers’ expectations when it comes to data. Despite having a high take up of social, Australians as a whole are protective when it comes to our data and we expect a strong value exchange from those companies that we provide our data too.Instagram’s introduction of web profiles would appear to be in response to the constantly evolving and growing multi-screen behaviour of audiences. People are shifting from device to device at various times throughout the day, and it’s not always predictable why. Whilst smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops have their obvious uses, people will often reach out for the device that is most convenient – the device that’s charged, within reach, or not being used by the kids/partner! Media and advertisers need to create content and platforms that can work across all devices, at all times, to meet the audience wherever they are, whenever they are.