6 Key Shifts in Thinking About Social Media

Do you ever wonder how your fellow marketers and business owners are using social media to grow their business? Whether they are concerned about declining Facebook reach? What platforms and strategies they intend to invest their time in?

Wonder no more. Social Media Examiner has just released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report after surveying more than 2,800 marketers.

The one undeniable message from the report is that marketers continue to place high value on social media with 92 percent of marketers (up from 86 percent last year) indicating that social media was important for their business.

The report also revealed a number of shifts in focus, as marketers try to stand out from all the noise to get noticed and get results online.


Here are six key shifts in thinking that are highlighted by this year's industry report:

1. A return to blogging: When asked how they will change their future social-media activities, blogging topped the charts with 68 percent of marketers planning to increase their efforts. Not since 2010 has blogging been the focus for increased activity for marketers, according to the report.

2. Facebook is losing its shine: The report indicates that we're seeing the beginning of a decline in the use of Facebook by marketers, despite it remaining the most important social network overall. Seven percent of marketers plan to decrease their use of Facebook in 2014, and only 43 percent think their Facebook efforts are effective.

3. B2B vs. B2C requires a shift in focus: The report reveals interesting differences in the focus of B2B and B2C marketers. When it comes to B2C, Facebook dominates (with 68 percent of marketers choosing Facebook as their No. 1 choice of social platform) followed by YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. For B2B marketers, LinkedIn surpassed Facebook as the platform of choice, with blogging and Twitter also playing a more prominent role.

4. A greater fascination with Google+: Marketers want to learn most about Google+. "While 54 percent of marketers are using Google+, 65 percent want to learn more about it and 61 percent plan on increasing Google+ activities in 2014," the report states.

5. Podcasting is on a growth trajectory: Although only 6 percent of marketers are involved with podcasting, 21 percent plan to increase their podcasting activities this year. This is more than a three-fold increase.

With 28 percent of marketers wanting to learn more about podcasting, this is a major shift in priorities and, according to Social Media Examiner is likely fuelled by:

• the global adoption of smartphones
• the introduction of Apple's CarPlay (an in-car system to allow the playing of podcasts via car dashboards)
• major auto manufacturers integrating dashboards with 3^rd party apps.

6. Eyes are now on visual content: When it comes to content, visual assets top the list of content forms that marketers want to learn more about. Sixty-eight percent of marketers want to know about how to create original images and infographics, followed closely by an interest in learning how to produce original videos.

It is becoming harder to reach your ideal audience while they filter out the noise. As indicated in the report, clever marketers are considering a shift in their approach to reach consumers.

Whether this shift is to be flexible in the platforms you focus on, to include more visual content, or to embrace emerging mediums like podcasting, the end result is to provide quality content that catches the attention of consumers and provides them with value.

Article curated from Entrepreneur Magazine

The 'Giant Selfie' and 6 Other Digital Marketing Trends to Watch

A social media maven explains what's hot, and why your company can't ignore any of it.

When Shama Hyder published her book The Zen of Social Media Marketing in 2010, she got an email from a potential customer. "Is it available on the iPad?" he asked. "You mean that device that came out yesterday?" she replied. "Yes," he said.

Customers keep raising the bar on what they expect from businesses, said Hyder, founder and CEO of the The Marketing Zen Group, to the crowd during a breakout session at Inc.'s 2014 Growth conference in Nashville. And businesses have to work even harder to meet those expectations.

In the talk, titled “Digital Foresight: 7 Pivotal Trends Every Leader Must Know,” Hyder shared her advice for companies navigating the ever-changing world of digital marketing. Here are the trends she says you need to follow:

1. Idea-Based Ecosystems
The primary reason people use social media is to showcase their own identities, said Hyder. "It's essentially a giant selfie," she said. This is why a local cupcake shop will get more Facebook likes than a local construction company. "It's a reflection of who I am," Hyder explained. Any time you can tie your brand to the identity of the customer, you'll have a win on your hands.

2. Content Curation and Aggregation
In recent years, people have gone from information hunger to information overload, said Hyder. "People would almost rather give out their social security number than their email address," she joked. But if you can become the go-to source for relevant information on a specific topic, customers will seek you out, said Hyder, pointing to examples such as Upworthy and Pinterest.

3. Video Sells
Internet users are more likely to finish a 30-minute video than they are an article, said Hyder. "If you're not using online video, you're missing a big part of your audience," she said. Plus, customers are increasingly making purchases directly through videos, she said. Some examples: a new service called Insay and Target's "Falling for You" video campaign. "Everything in that video you could click on and buy," said Hyder.

4. The 4-Screen Revolution
Consumers frequently use multiple devices at once--TV, mobile phone, laptop, and tablet. "In 10 years that might be one device," said Hyder, "but in the next two to five years, I actually expect an increase in the number of devices we are using at once." For companies, the challenge is to find ways to interact with users on multiple screens-;and to cope with ever-shrinking attention spans.

5. Decoding Digital Signals
Hyder emphasized the importance of using analytics to understand customers and how best to reach them. "If 50 percent of your traffic is from mobile, and your website isn't optimized for mobile phones," she said, "You're going to lose half of your traffic."

6. Social Literacy Is Required
All of your employees need to be social media savvy, not just the social media team. Each individual should be a creator, curator, and connector, and organizations should focus on agility, aggregation, and adaptability. Above all, people should be posting content that is relevant to the customer. "You don't want to be like the person on Facebook who only shares updates about their dog," she said.

7. The Power of Reverse-Engineering
Hyder recommended that companies look beyond their own niches and industries when it comes to marketing ideas. Sometimes a company in an entirely different industry will have a great marketing tactic that none of your competitors have considered.

Article curated from Inc. Magazine

The Art and Science of Getting Content Shared on Social Media

When excellent content fails to attract the readership it deserves, likely there were lapses in marketing efforts either before and after it was published. There is no guaranteed way to send your content viral but a few, reliable techniques boost the odds your posts receive well-deserved attention from social media users.

Leverage influencers. You don’t need to be a social media star to see your blog posts widely shared. You can depend on others who’ve nurtured loyal followings to amplify your content across Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
Before you hit ‘publish,’ make sure you’ve quoted a few experts who have shared their opinion on your topic. When the story goes live, notify those individuals about your mention of them. They will likely respond with a ‘like,’ tweet and share of the post that will reach many of their followers.
This is a classic win-win-win. You add credibility to your post by noting what an industry influential has said about the same topic, those experts lend their social media presence when they share your content and you develop great rapport with the individuals you quote.

For more tactical advice, here are four foolproof strategies for getting social media power users to share your content for you.

Turn off comments. Sonia Simone, co-founder and chief content officer of Copyblogger, recently decided to do away with comments on the Copyblogger blog. As surprisinging as it was to many readers, others embraced the change, believing it would lead to better content and conversations. So far, the experiment has proved successful.

Upon reaching the end of a post, the Copyblogger audience is encouraged to “take the conversation further” on Google Plus and Twitter. This has proved brilliant at getting readers talking about and sharing Copyblogger content. Judging by activity on Google Plus, the conversations could not get any better.

Engaged fans enthusiastically contribute thoughtful insights to the conversation and, more often than not, will then interact with you one-on-one.

Use language that clicks. The social media management app Buffer published a study that analyzed the most popular words used in viral headlines and evaluated winning headline strategies. Experiment with your headlines to see which words and phrases resonate with your unique audience. Soon, you’ll have a list of what drives social shares.

Research conducted at the University of Texas, Austin, found Facebook users manifest their regular selves both online and offline. Content that speaks directly to who your readers are encourages them to share your post with people they care about as a way of publicly sharing a bit of themselves.

Article curated from Entrepreneur Magazine

6 Key Shifts in Thinking About Social Media

 

Do you ever wonder how your fellow marketers and business owners are using social media to grow their business? Whether they are concerned about declining Facebook reach? What platforms and strategies they intend to invest their time in?

Wonder no more. Social Media Examiner has just released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report after surveying more than 2,800 marketers. 

The one undeniable message from the report is that marketers continue to place high value on social media with 92 percent of marketers (up from 86 percent last year) indicating that social media was important for their business.

The report also revealed a number of shifts in focus, as marketers try to stand out from all the noise to get noticed and get results online. 

Here are six key shifts in thinking that are highlighted by this year's industry report: 

1. A return to blogging: When asked how they will change their future social-media activities, blogging topped the charts with 68 percent of marketers planning to increase their efforts. Not since 2010 has blogging been the focus for increased activity for marketers, according to the report.

2. Facebook is losing its shine: The report indicates that we're seeing the beginning of a decline in the use of Facebook by marketers, despite it remaining the most important social network overall. Seven percent of marketers plan to decrease their use of Facebook in 2014, and only 43 percent think their Facebook efforts are effective.

3. B2B vs. B2C requires a shift in focus: The report reveals interesting differences in the focus of B2B and B2C marketers. When it comes to B2C, Facebook dominates (with 68 percent of marketers choosing Facebook as their No. 1 choice of social platform) followed by YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. For B2B marketers, LinkedIn surpassed Facebook as the platform of choice, with blogging and Twitter also playing a more prominent role. 

4. A greater fascination with Google+: Marketers want to learn most about Google+. "While 54 percent of marketers are using Google+, 65 percent want to learn more about it and 61 percent plan on increasing Google+ activities in 2014," the report states.

5. Podcasting is on a growth trajectory: Although only 6 percent of marketers are involved with podcasting, 21 percent plan to increase their podcasting activities this year. This is more than a three-fold increase.

With 28 percent of marketers wanting to learn more about podcasting, this is a major shift in priorities and, according to Social Media Examiner is likely fuelled by:

• the global adoption of smartphones
• the introduction of Apple's CarPlay (an in-car system to allow the playing of podcasts via car dashboards)
• major auto manufacturers integrating dashboards with 3^rd party apps.

6. Eyes are now on visual content: When it comes to content, visual assets top the list of content forms that marketers want to learn more about. Sixty-eight percent of marketers want to know about how to create original images and infographics, followed closely by an interest in learning how to produce original videos. 

It is becoming harder to reach your ideal audience while they filter out the noise. As indicated in the report, clever marketers are considering a shift in their approach to reach consumers.

Whether this shift is to be flexible in the platforms you focus on, to include more visual content, or to embrace emerging mediums like podcasting, the end result is to provide quality content that catches the attention of consumers and provides them with value. 

Article curated from Entrepreneur Magazine

3 Questions, 1 Answer -- How to Grow Sales Through Social Media

The social media landscape has evolved. Conversations have become transactions. Businesses require a carefully crafted strategy to initiate dialogue with potential clients while maintaining relationships with current clients. There are three major questions every company must answer as they implement a successful social media sales and servicing strategy. 

1. With whom do we connect? The right tools make it easy for companies to connect with customers looking to buy or who are considering a switch from their current provider.

The latest sales and service technologies use real-time text analytics to read and categorize posts, looking for consumers expressing an intent to purchase or upgrade, customers expressing frustration or an intent to leave their current provider, comparison shoppers examining competitors’ products and referrals.

2. What do we say? When teams first see a high volume of actionable social media leads, they are tempted to copy and paste a response they know works but potential leads must receive a genuine response that addresses their individual needs. It is important to value quality over quantity, so you can initiate meaningful customer engagements. Scale your operation after you’ve mastered this interaction process.

Empathy statements are an effective, traditional customer service tactic that works equally well in social media. When you identify a consumer need, acknowledge it and offer a solution. You’re much more likely to receive a meaningful response.

Among the easiest, most effective ways to open communication with the consumer is to follow them. If the user is having an issue with a competitor's product or service, a simple follow will help make them feel acknowledged and appreciated. If they respond, you have the opportunity to initiate a deeper engagement.

3. What happens next? Social media engagement is just the beginning of your conversation. To turn a prospect into a client, the conversation needs to continue off-channel. You will not, for example, request private information such as account numbers or credit card details over the social web.
By moving to phone, chat or email channels, you can commence your traditional sales process. Opening up the lines of communication with the prospect and establishing a meaningful connection fosters a positive online community while encouraging referrals and exceptional customer service.
Social media is an important sales channel that can achieve immediate bottom-line results. By using social media to positively influence a consumer's experiences, businesses develop more satisfied and engaged customers.

Article curated from Entrepreneur Magazine