Online Marketing News: Retail Holiday Social, Instagram Live & Online Shopping Accelerates

Retailers Will Get 30% More Social Messages This Holiday Season [Report] What do customers expect from brands this holiday season? 38.8% are looking to brands to spread holiday cheer, followed by 19.5% who are looking for updates on promotions. In addition to looking to brands to help them make purchasing decisions, about 33% of survey respondents said they’re likely to post about a gift on social media. The takeaway? It’s time to spread that holiday cheer on social — before and after the holiday. Sprout Social Instagram Launches Live Video on Instagram Stories: Here’s All You Need to Know As part of the now seemingly ‘official’ war between Facebook and Snapchat, Facebook owned Instagram has released live video on Instagram stories. That’s not all — Instagram also announced the release of disappearing photos and videos from groups and friends. Buffer Online And Mobile Shopping See Seasonal Acceleration The holiday season this year will be a big one for online retailers, according to a recent round of predictions. Shoppers are planning their online purchases in advance, and in great numbers — 77% of shoppers plan to avoid physical stores this holiday season. Online retailers, take heed: Release your online holiday promotions early, and make sure your team is prepared. MediaPost Moz beefs up Moz Local with new features, distribution and automation Moz local users will be thrilled with this week’s news. Moz has announced some awesome new features of their Local suite, including Google My Business automated sync, listing alerts, reputation monitoring/management, expanded distribution via NavAds and improved SEO metrics. Search Engine Land LinkedIn Rolls Out Audience Insights LinkedIn (client) has announced the launch of audience insights on their mobile app, while desktop audience insights are following close behind. SocialTimes reports: “Tapping on the “Me” on users’ content in the LinkedIn mobile app will bring up real-time insights on who has read their posts, what companies they work for, their job titles, their locations and how they discovered users’ content.” SocialTimes Reap the Benefits of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year All Year Long [Infographic] The holiday season, as we all know, is the most wonderful time of the year for marketers and consumers alike. Then, along comes January to spoil the fun. But it doesn’t have to. This infographic shows how to keep that holiday cheer — and results — going all year long. Marketo Facebook launches a unified inbox for businesses on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram In response to one of their most frequent requests — to combine inboxes to make it easier for brands to reply quickly — Facebook has combined inboxes for Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram to help brands more effectively and efficiently manage their direct messaging. TechCrunch Mobile Apps Capture Consumer Attention 37 Minutes a Day – Up 20% From the Beginning of 2016 A recent report from Opera Mediaworks found that mobile app use duration is on the rise, even since the beginning of this year. This time is reportedly taken from other viewing activities, like TV programming. This report is packed full of app engagement related information. Opera Mediaworks What were your top online marketing news stories this week? We’ll be back next week with more online marketing news. Have something to share? Tweet to @toprank or @Tiffani_Allen, or leave a note in the comments.