May 26, 2017

The Figaro Digital Digest: 26th May 2017

This week was big for UK news with events that shook the country, but what is the latest from the digital marketing world in particular? Here are a few of the latest news stories from the industry:

Quora Is Testing Video Answers

YouTube has dominated video for years and has often been the go-to place for users seeking visual tutorials or answers to questions. However, this week, Quora has taken the first step to rivalling the social site as it started testing video answers.

The site is considering allowing users to upload videos, however there are concerns that this may lead to spam appearing on the site.

Tommy MacWilliam, Quora’s Head of Mobile, told TechCrunch:

“Our mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge, and knowledge comes in many forms—not just written answers”
“Just like with text answers, people can upvote or downvote video answers to indicate how helpful the video is at answering the question.”

Will the beta test be successful and see video answers rolled out across the site? Only time will tell.

Forecast Reveals Social Will Fuel AR Growth

(image: OyundariZorigtbaatar under CC BY-SA 4.0)

eMarketer has released its first forecast on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) and has revealed that 40 million American people will engage with some kind of AR at least monthly during 2017. This is 30.2 per cent up on last year.

The study also revealed that Snapchat and Facebook will be behind much of AR’s growth this year, whereas VR will be utilised using 360° videos.

Projections reveal that there will be 54.4 million AR users by the end of 2019, a figure equal to one in five internet users.

Study Claims Yelp Drives More Conversions Than Search And Social

In a recent consumer survey by Nielsen, it was revealed that Yelp is driving higher conversions than search and social media. A huge 92 per cent of the 2,000 respondents said they made a purchase after visiting Yelp (most of which were made within a week of visiting) showing the power of reviews and testimonials.

Facebook Is Testing A Food Delivery Order System

Reports have been released that certain users are now able to see an ‘Order Food’ icon on the app. Utilising this option allows users to place orders for food pickup and delivery from third party services without needing to leave the Facebook app.

Purchasers will also be able to pay within the app by connecting to online ordering businesses.

Similarly to delivery services like Deliveroo or UberEats, Facebook will provide photos, price ranges, star ratings and type of cuisine to help users decide which eatery to choose. Users will then be prompted to ‘Start Order’ to select dishes and add a tip before heading to the checkout and receiving an expected time of delivery.

The test is only currently being held for a select number of US users, but watch this space to see if it’ll be coming to the UK soon.

That’s it for the latest news right now, but if you can’t wait until next Friday for the next Digital Digest take a look at a few of the posts listed below.