Social Media Trends 2014

First - 2013

@cedricspeak

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research

Social Media usage has surged

@cedricspeak

@cedricspeak

@cedricspeak

THE STATE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY

60%believe that roles & responsibilities around social are well defined

52%

believe top execs are informed, engaged & aligned with social strategy

52%

believe the social strategy includes a roadmap for the next 1+ years

48%

believe they have a long term vision for how social media will improve customer relationships

65%

believe that risk management is understood by the business

34%

believe that there are clear metrics linking social activities with business outcomes

67%of companies surveyed were active in social with no real link to business goals.

@cedricspeak

Updates to Platforms

• The past year has been filled with updates and new changes to some of the most used social media platforms.

• Facebook made extensive changes to their analytics, advertising and newsfeed algorithm… and to their privacy settings

• While Instagram introduced the ability to upload videos to give Vine a run for their money.

• Many of the changes we’ve seen this year will go on to shape the way campaigns and content are made in social well into 2014

2014

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Greater Social Platform Diversity

The Rise of Micro-videos

Increased Use of Image-Based

Content

Paid Social Media goes mainstream Social ROI Rise of mobile

Omni-Channel Marketing

Greater Social Platform Diversity

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What has happened?

New social platforms have emerged in 2013 that have made for surprising marketing efforts

Existing popular networks have also made significant updates that have huge potential

Global brands are starting to experiment with new platforms and ad formats other than Facebook to increase their digital footprint

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Smaller platforms becoming mainstream

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Even B2B marketers are diversifying

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They provide marketers with new content creation options that can be used to further engage and build audiences

It builds brand equity by making it easier for consumer to see and interact with the brand

Makes a brand stand out from clutter

Why is it important?

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The Rise of Micro-Videos

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How did it happen?

Twitter started the wave when they launch Vine, but Instagram’s update to support videos sealed the deal for micro-videos

The short clips are easily digestible for the short attention spans of customers these days and has become quick, easy and very simple to create and share

@cedricspeak

Micro-videostars are the new influencers

Early adopters of Vine and Instagram videos have become stars in their own niche, becoming a new breed of influencers who are truly creative, not just popular

Brands who have seized the opportunities have also started including these platforms in their marketing efforts

Brands will have to really understand their customers and collaborate with artists and not just within their own companies for content

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What are brands doing on Vine?

SEPHORA: https://vine.co/v/bY2nHIBJbWT PUMA: https://vine.co/v/bltq3WEpjlT

FCUK: https://vine.co/v/huFAvU5zLUK SAMSUNG MOBILE: https://vine.co/v/hB05eTwLhUB

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What are brands doing on Instagram?

KATE SPADE: http://instagram.com/p/ayieibgeAs/# LULULEMON: http://instagram.com/p/er9sQXSm-4/

CHARITY:WATER: http://instagram.com/p/aye_2mGhNa/ GAP: http://instagram.com/p/ayuEy-j9uL/#

Image-Based Content Will Rule

@cedricspeak

New use of images on social platforms

Instagram rolled out its first ever ad on it’s platform to its US users

Twitter introduces image and video previews in streams

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Twitter now looks like this Tweets used to be line after line

of texts

Users will now see images directly in their stream

In a sea of text, an attractive image is going to make your brand stand out more than the others

Promoted Tweets that come with photos also get an added boost with this new update

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What does this mean to the marketer?

Creating good image content is now becoming more important than ever with platforms other than Facebook adding new opportunities for marketers

But users now have the advantage of providing feedback to the platforms on the content that they are seeing from brands

Good image content can make the difference between a user hiding your post and blocking your content from their stream, or Like-ing and following you

@cedricspeak

Snapchat marketing will gain popularity

Snapchat is the hot mobile app that sends out messages (text, photo or short video), called “snaps”.

These snaps auto-destruct after a short moment of time, between 1 to 10 seconds depending on how the snap was set up.

The fact that snaps are deleted from the server answers a lot of privacy concerns that have plagued other platforms

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ASOS sent followers surprise discounts

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16Handles also sent instant discounts

Increased Importance of Social ROI

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Why should you monitor social ROI?

Marketers will increasingly need to know what metrics to measure in order to close the gap between social efforts and actual revenue

Social media serves three key marketing objectives and these are why investment in social media will become a necessity for all businesses in 2014

@cedricspeak

Where social stands in the sales funnel

• Social media sparks conversations with potential customers much earlier than traditional media

Netbase, Social Savvy e-Book, 2013

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Business Outcome Increase sales and develop a youthful positioning

Social Media OutcomeClarks as a trendy brand with traffic to website and increase footfall to stores

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Content Strategy Content Strategy involved trendy images showing a youthful and trendy side to Clarks. The tactical activity involves driving store footfalls

What was Measured Followers, Direct sales from tactical activities on social media, Engagement and participation rates, Brand health metrics, Customer service cost savings

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Business Outcome Increase sales & drive market-share for Travellershield during critical pre-Summer periodSocial Media

OutcomeIncrease online sales, customer service and decrease cost of marketing

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Content Strategy The social media effort is clearly aimed at increasing online sales through direct customer value. Social is also a key driver of cost savings – (Marketing, customer savings, Recruitment)

What was Measured Direct sales from social media tactical activities, savings in marketing and customer service costs, website traffic increase

Paid Social Goes Mainstream

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Paid Media now accounts for over 16% of all online spends.

Not limited to social campaigns

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Here’s the first ad on Instagram

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This ad proved more cost effective than other forms of media in terms of response and reach

Rise of Mobile

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Use of Omni-Channel Marketing

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What is this omni-channel marketing?

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What powered this shift?• The lines between offline and online shopping experiences have been

blurring

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What powered this shift?

• Roughly 3 in 4 consumers research online after seeing an offline ad

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What does this mean for marketers?

• Marketers need to diversify their approach to awareness with the use of new and multiple platforms

• Another reason to step away from FB solely and branch out to new platforms

Summary•Social Media becomes mainstream

•Newer platforms to be taken note of

•Integrate from the Start – Not an add on

•Measure, Measure, Measure – Analytics as a practice