Weekly Digital Roundup (10.7.13)

It can be easy to forget that social media outlets are businesses, too, but we have several reminders this week, with new Instagram ads, struggles for the second screen, and wagering for Wi-Fi. Without further ado, here’s what we found to be the biggest news, so you may comfortably remain snuggled under a rock.

Insta-ads

Instagram ads will soon be arriving in the U.S.! In a recent blog post, Instagram announced that photo and video ads will start appearing over the next few months, likely coming from brands that you don’t follow. The company emphasized that the ads will strive to feel “as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos” users currently enjoy. Instagramers can weigh in on the type of ads they see with the ability to hide them and provide feedback. Hey y’all, it’s a free service, after all.

#GoodbyeBreakingBad

The series finale of Breaking Bad captivated the social world last week, with the TV show encouraging engagement through its designated hashtag. Twitter and Facebook were both quick to release numbers for how many people were tweeting and posting about the episode. Check out this article to find out more on the battle for TV advertising dollars and the hearts of socialmedialites.

Trading Check-ins for Wi-Fi

The social network has partnered with Cisco to launch a program that would allow local businesses to offer free Wi-Fi in exchange for a Facebook check-in. The resulting benefit of this service is more user-location data to improve Facebook ad targeting, along with providing businesses with more customer preferences and demographics. Well, there are worse ways to sell your soul.

Spreading the Engagement Love

Facebook announced new features for mobile app ads to help drive engagement and conversations for its clients. Businesses can now choose from seven different calls to action for their mobile ads, including “Open Link,” “Shop Now,” and “Play Game.” These CTAs will reel existing customers that have already downloaded an app back in for more. Guess Facebook can stand to spare some finger traffic.

Twitter Alerts in Action

Twitter’s newest alert feature, which was introduced less than two weeks ago, was active just days later during the 20 minutes that the capitol building was under lockdown. Users that had signed up received tweets from the Senate Sergeant at Arms Twitter account with information and safety tips. Came in handy!

Pinterest Gets Textual

Pinterest’s “rich pins” are stepping it up. This fairly new feature will be expanded to include more details about pinned articles, so that when a user pins a story or article, it will also show relevant information, such as the author’s name, article title, a brief description, and an enlarged link. Yet another way to promote content, like this! Wink, wink.

At least the government can't shut us down!