5 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2014
There’s no shortage of change in the world of social media marketing, and at times it can be difficult to know which trends are here to stay vs. which trends are just fads. Here are the top 5 social media marketing trends that I think most companies should be focusing on in the coming year.
Trend #1: Mobile + Social
According to the Adobe 2013 Mobile Consumer Survey, accessing social media is the number one mobile activity today. Additionally, techcrunch.com article indicated “Facebook’s share of global mobile Internet ad revenues will reach 15.8 percent this year, up from just 5.35 percent in 2012. eMarketer expects the overall mobile ad market to grow 89 percent in 2013 to $16.65 billion.” This indicates Facebook Ads and mobile ads seem to be working for companies and brands without protest from mobile users.
At the very least, your company’s website needs to be mobile-friendly and built for responsive design. However, you can take things one step further by outlining a strategy to create content (perhaps on your blog) and promote it using a Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn sponsored story ad spend. The stats show that consumers are responding well to sponsored content on Facebook and other social media networks, even if they’re on their mobile phones.
Trend #2: Big data + Social
We’re living in the age of “big data” now and our ability to track consumer behaviour statistics has become more advanced. Big data gives marketers the ability to understand social media usage patterns better than ever before, which can lead to better marketing decisions and improved ROI. For example, check out Convirza: it’s a cool tool that gives you the ability to track every call generated by your social media PPC ads.
Trend #3: Retargeting
Re-targeting means that ads can be placed on social sites based on a visitor’s interaction with other websites. For example, let’s say you were in the market for a car and you visited ford.com. The next time you log in to Facebook, you are more likely to see a Ford car ad. Although this can be annoying at times for consumers, re-targeting could lead to more efficient spend of advertising dollars for marketers.
Trend #4: Content will become “less boring”
Notice how Vine videos are only 6 seconds?
Notice that people love Buzzfeed lists with lots of a pictures and little text?
We humans are visual creatures with short attention spans. We’ve already seen content on social media getting shorter and more visual throughout 2012-2013. This trend is here to stay. When you’re developing the social media content plan for your business in 2014, answer these questions:
- How can I make my content less text-heavy?
- How can I use pictures or video to illustrate a point?
For example, Facebook Canada’s Group Director of Marketing Solutions, Alfredo Tan, said the following Facebook post by President’s Choice was the second most popular post in Canada in 2012. Why? Because it asks a simple question and has a picture that elicits an emotional response.
Trend #5: Establish a presence on Google+
It’s no secret that Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the most popular social media networks. However, Google+ should not be ignored. Google+ has over 500 million users and has now surpassed Twitter’s user base, making it the second-largest social media network. Furthermore, an article from fastcompany.com indicated, “Google Plus never was, and will never be, only about competing directly with Facebook.” Rather, Google+ is about getting to know internet users better so that Google searches can become more relevant and targeted. In short, all businesses should have a Google+ profile, because having one increases the likelihood that your ideal client will find your business in a Google search.
If you’d like to hear about these social media trends and how your business can take advantage of them in 2014, come to the ThinkCo Conference on November 4th where I’ll be presenting on this topic.
