Want to catch up with what happened in the digital world this week? Our weekly cheat sheet will fill you in on everything you missed while you were scrambling to meet deadlines and put out fires.
Find out about Volvo’s new campaign on Pinterest, Burberry’s efforts to bring the on-line experience to stores, YouTube’s new interactive feature, the importance of having a mobile-friendly site, and more!
1. Volvo is now on Pinterest
Volvo has finally decided to take the leap to Pinterest, and they’re kicking things off with a contest. The “Volvo Joyride” campaign directs users to create a board showcasing their idea of the perfect road trip, centered around the 2013 Volvo S60 T5. The top 3 users whose boards receive the most re-pins, likes, and comments will win prizes, including gift cards for road trip essentials, like gas, food, and music. Compared to other social networks, Pinterest is the perfect match for Volvo. Volvo’s target audience is women 25 to 54 years old, and Pinterest users are overwhelmingly female. In fact, 19% of all female Internet users are on Pinterest.
2. Burberry integrates elements of its website into its stores
While other brands are trying to bring the in-store experience to their website, Burberry has decided to take the opposite approach. At Burberry’s flagship store in London, full-length screens cover the walls and certain items are tagged with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. When shoppers walk by a screen holding one such item, the screen activates and displays additional content that you would expect to see on the website, like information on how the item was made or video showing how it was worn on the runway. Burberry understands that you can’t ever fully replicate the in-store experience at home, but technology, like augmented reality and RFID, is making it possible to bring the best elements of a website to life.
3. YouTube is testing a new interactive feature
This week, YouTube began testing its newest interactive feature, the Video Questions Editor. The aptly named Video Questions Editor lets users add questions within their videos. To get the new feature, users will have to go to this page and opt-in. After that, users are free to create close-ended questions and the list of possible responses. This continues YouTube’s longstanding efforts to increase user-engagement within the site. Additionally, this could be a subtle way to get users more comfortable with clicking inside videos. More people watch video on Google sites (mostly on YouTube) than anywhere else on the Internet.
4. Brands need to have a mobile-friendly site
Your brand has a great-looking, easy to navigate website — but is it mobile-friendly? The results of a new study published by Google on Tuesday highlight the value that consumers place on having a mobile-friendly site. According to the study, 72% of consumers expect brands to have a mobile-friendly site, but 96% of the 1,088 people surveyed said they had visited a site that wasn’t mobile-friendly. If a site isn’t mobile-friendly and consumers can’t quickly find what they need, 61% will leave and go to another site. On the flip side, 74% of consumers were likely to re-visit a mobile-friendly site and 67% said that they’re more likely to make a purchase on a mobile-friendly site.
5. Lexus wants you to Draw Something
In an effort to target a younger segment, Lexus has partnered up with mobile gaming app, Draw Something. This week only, Draw Something players will be able to get a free Lexus-themed color pack to use in the game, as well as coins for drawing things that are related to the brand, which can then be used to purchase more colors and other game tools. The app will also be displaying Lexus banner, interstitial, and video ads. Creating gaming experiences remains one of the most popular ways to engage users. Draw Something has been downloaded more than 50 million times and remains a constant presence on Facebook.
