Another decade, another social platform from Google. Don’t be sad for Google+, it’s not lonely in the Google graveyard. This time though, it seems like they might have the right idea. (This whole blog is going to age like milk isn’t it…)
Introducing Shoploop. (site is mobile-only, don’t blame me)
It’s like Instagram and TikTok had a strange baby, born solely for the purposes of marketing. And in a world where that’s what all the social apps are trying to be, this is the most brazen effort yet.
This is what it looks like when you first open the web page (this is such a new idea they haven’t even built an app yet) on Shoploop:
This is it?! A feed of product demos. With a little category filter at the top. Really?
And if you open that hamburger menu, you can view your own profile, view your saved posts, or apply to be a creator.
It’s not just any wannabe that gets to post on Shoploop. Thanks to the application process the production values are pretty good across the board. Here’s another post; this time I’ve made a little addition of my own:
Can you see it?
I’ve stolen the little Sponsored tag from a Google Shopping result and popped it on the Shoploop post. You’d miss it if you weren’t watching out for it.
You see where they’re going with this right?
Recently, Think With Google posted an article about the “messy middle” (speech marks to mimic Google, I’m not 65 years old) of purchase journeys. It talks in detail about mental modes adopted by shoppers, cognitive biases in decision-making and purchase behaviour, and generally reads like a suitably smart person wrote it. But there’s a deeper meaning here. Or rather a shallower one.
They’re acknowledging that the middle bit of a purchase journey is a bit all over the place. And when it comes to targeting ads towards those people, you bet they’re at a bit of a loss.
Top of the funnel? Search and Shopping. Easy.
Bottom of the funnel? Brand. Remarketing. Couple of other bits if you fancy. Even Easier.
The “messy middle”, as they’ve dubbed it? They haven’t got a fucking clue.
Rather than spend another decade pushing YouTube ads to all the people who aren’t running them yet, Google have taken matters into their own hands. They’ve decided what would make a good platform to run middle-of-the-funnel ads for ecommerce stores, and they’ve just built it. That’s like having a great idea for an in-flight magazine, except you live in the year 1900 so you have to invent the plane and the commercial airline first. Ridiculous.
Shoploop as a concept is well thought-out though. It’s a platform where you go to see a demo of a product, some proper UGC with the facts you want to know and production values to make it worth your time. In time, it’ll be from a creator you know and trust. We’d all rather take a recommendation from a friend than be pitched to by a salesperson.
You can find your favourite creators and follow them. Save videos for later because you’re still narrowing it down. Filter the whole feed so it’s just the products you want, for those times when you know you hate the dry shampoo you’re using but have no idea where to start looking for a new one (I am bald but I can pretend to empathise). It’s built for the messy middle, from the ground up.
And it’s mobile-only. Because they already know that’s where we do that mid-funnel research, waiting for buses and on the toilet at work. Quick scroll, back to what you were doing. No time for a web bookmark. Gotta have a ‘save post’ button.
And once the platform matures, scattered throughout it all, will be ads. Or sponsored posts, as they’ll no doubt be called. It’ll be the second coming of the influencer, and anything that’s already on TikTok or Instagram Reels will transfer over brilliantly. Despite the nice name they’ll be given, we know they’ll just be gorgeous, high-quality ads, that get people into your remarketing audiences and keep them thinking about your product much better than this:
You’ll be able to increase your bids on Shoploop for someone who’d already been on your site. Smart Shopping will no doubt do it for you if you give it the assets too.
So. In a world where influencer captions are seldom complete without #ad and endless swipe-up affiliate links, Google are ready to throw their hat in the ring.
And it looks like they might be about to clean up.
Or, the platform will fail to gain traction and it’ll go the way of Inbox by Gmail, Google+ and Google Flu Trends (really could’ve done with that one in March guys). Just trying to play both sides here.
