This week in social media news, Pinterest shares insights on how to succeed in marketing this year, Facebook will release its 2018 full year and Q4 results, the social media giant is also is trying hard to be the main voice-activated device in your home and Mark Zuckerberg explains how Facebook is getting safer and Pinterest may go public early this year.

Pinterest Reveals How Marketing Will Change In 2019

Jon Kaplan, Pinterest’s Global Head of Partnerships, published a blog post with marketing predictions for 2019.

Why it matters: This time of year, many marketers and thought leaders publish predictions. It’s pretty ubiquitous. Kaplan’s are particularly interesting because Pinterest is currently so ascendant. The company is expected to go public early this year and should surpass $1 billion in ad sales in 2019.

Details: Kaplan published a blog post titled, “Three ways marketing will change in 2019.” Kaplan suggests marketers should pay attention to their consumer needs and branch out to meet them. He pointed out how REI has excelled in “bond building” by aiding people to go outside and by closing their doors on Black Friday they back up their claim they care. Kaplan also suggests brands focus on spreading positivity, especially in the midst of difficult times. One way is to move ad dollars to create context that brings joy.

Facebook Announces Date For Q4 Results

In the midst of a stock meltdown, Facebook announced the date the company will release their Q4 results.

Why it matters: It’s no secret Facebook had a bad year, will that continue into 2019?

Details: Facebook will release the company’s Q4 results on January 30. The conference call will start at 2 p.m. PT/ 5 p.m. ET. The public can check out a live webcast of the call through their Investor Relations site. If you miss it, the call will be replayed on the same site and a telephonic record will be available a week after January 30.

Facebook Is Trying To Dominate Voice-Activated Devices

According to a report from Business Insider, during the fourth quarter of 2018, Facebook spent more ad dollars than Amazon and Google in an effort to lead the voice-activated device industry.

Why it matters: Amazon and Google are still kings of voice-activated devices, and despite Facebook’s attempts, the Echo Dot was the best selling device during the holidays. However, experts believe Facebook will continue to aggressively ad spend this year, but it could be a battle for them to keep it up.

Details: Last year, Amazon spent $206 million on TV ads promoting Alexa and Echo—more than Google or Facebook. Amazon ran more than 25,450 airings using 56 spots according to data from iSpot. The data also showed Google spent $90 million for all of 2018 on TV ads promoting voice-activated devices. Facebook spent a whopping $131 million in TV ads boosting Portal—its video conferencing device—just in the fourth quarter.

Zuckerberg’s New Year Message

Mark Zuckerberg wrote an end of the year message about his continued focus on safety and despite the setbacks, he is proud of the improvements Facebook made last year.

Why it matters: It’s been a rough road for Facebook and Zuckerberg had to acknowledge the white elephant in the room. Some even claimed 2018 was the company’s worst year.  In his statement, Zuckerberg admits even though he’s proud of the improvements they’ve made he admits some problems may never be solved.

Details: Zuckerberg explained some of the upgrades Facebook did like tackling election interference by improving their systems for identifying the fake accounts and coordinated information campaigns. In order to confront terrorism and hate speech, he said they built AI systems to automatically identify and remove any sort of content related to it. He concluded his message by pointing out the many accomplishments the company made in 2018.

Pinterest Prepares To Go Public This Year

Pinterest might complete an initial public offering as soon as April.

Why it matters: Pinterest reached 250 million active users last September and is expected to generate ad revenue of over $700 million this year. The company is currently valued over at $10 billion. As far as tech companies go, Pinterest would be following in the footsteps of the recent IPOS from Uber, Lyft and Spotify–all of these were private for many years before going public.

Details: According to a Wall Street Journal report, Pinterest may launch an IPO in April. The WSJ article also states, “Pinterest has told bankers it could choose its slate of underwriters to run the initial-public-offering process as soon as January.”

Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, January 4. Have a news tip? We’re looking for changes to and news surrounding social media platforms as they relate to marketing. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.