Social media is a fast moving, there’s barely enough time to catch your breath kind of industry. With new networks, apps and features springing up from just about everywhere, it can be difficult for business owners to know where to commit their time and resources. But commit they must. Learn about some of the social media trends of 2014.
A poll of marketers by Adobe revealed that social media will be the most important strategy to their businesses for the next three years. Their potential audience is huge and increasing as more people are spending more of their time online. Across the Asia-Pacific region online media takes up 57% of consumers’ media time according to a study by GlobalWebIndex. In 23 of the 31 countries studied for the report, people spend more time on online media than traditional forms.
Social media is now firmly part of the landscape and growth in consumer and business use continues to change the marketing landscape across the globe. With that in mind, where should organisations go and what should they be doing in social media in the immediate future to attract the most attention?
We’ve been gazing into our crystal balls to look at the top trends that will dominate the landscape in 2014 and that businesses need to know about. Here’s a look at what to expect in terms of social media marketing in the year ahead:
The rise and rise of Google Plus – Google’s social network is in the ascendant. While Facebook is still way out in front with more than 1 billion active monthly users, Google Plus has moved comfortably into second place with 343 million active monthly users. Launched in 2011, Google Plus has come a long way in a short space of time. What makes it so special is that it ties together numerous Google products and puts a strong emphasis on SEO (search engine optimization). Google Search treats Google Plus profiles and posts just like regular websites, thereby increasing their chances of higher visibility on the web. And new posts are indexed almost immediately.
Image-based content is going to be even more important – 2013 was the year of the picture as more companies reaped the benefits of the sharing potential of visual material and Pinterest and Instagram really made it big. Sites such as Tumblr and Slideshare will continue to grow and more companies will derive significant benefits by putting images at the core of their social media marketing campaigns.
We’ll all be talking about micro videos – Twitter taught businesses how to get across powerful messages in 140 characters or less. Micro video services like Vine and Instagram will have us producing compelling 6-15 seconds videos. In today’s time time-pressed society, 5 to 10 minute videos are just too much for some people. If you’re wondering how you can tell a story with only a few seconds look at the following examples (you will need to download the Vine app):
– How to videos are always popular and in this 6-second video, upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom demonstrates how to tie a tie
– General Electric provides intriguing content with some historical trivia related to its industry
– Hubspot takes its followers behind the scenes
Throughout 2014, videos in general will continue to be a superhot trend. With more than 100 hours of video uploaded every single minute, YouTube will continue to dominate the field.
Content will still be king – writing, curating and sharing great content to get customers to interact online with brands will continue to grow. More consumers are looking to the Internet for entertainment and information to solve their problems.
Understanding what it all means – social media is about engagement and exposure, but increasingly businesses want to put some hard figures on their activities. They need to know if the time and money are worth it. Working out the ROI will be big in 2014 as companies will pay more attention to metrics and analytics tools to provide deeper analysis of their social media activities.
The Biggest Social Media Trend of 2014
The biggest trend of all will be a shift in numerous company cultures as social media marketing turns from a “should have” to a “must have”. It is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
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