Social Thoughts 2015

The Social Media Manager at Emarsys presented a SlideShare piece titled “130 Stats about the 7 Social Media Trends Dominating 2015”. It’s a fantastic must review piece for all digital marketers and advertisers.

Our review and comment of this will focus on the 7 Social Media Trends. Here they are:

Scommerce – Social commerce is already in place, Facebook is currently implementing call to action buttons (CTA buttons) “buy now”. Twitter as well is testing. Scommerce is a natural next step, the nay sayers will be left behind as these tools are implemented and refined.

Social Advertising – Social continues to change, develop, re-invent and new players are starting up with regularity. How long does the is list have to go, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, Tumblr, Flickr, meetup, Tagged, Ask.fm, meetme, Classmates etc. etc. Additionally, each of these platforms are looking to monetize, as such, there is an ongoing barrage of continual improvement and testing.

Mobile – Mobile should be the number one issue for all marketers and social platforms.  Worldwide mobile penetration is at 93% as such; marketers will ensure they can reach that 93%. This is a user-based driven issue and mobile is the where the digital game will be played. Marketers take note.

Social Video – Video continues to grow and given Snapchat’s rise to fame it’s no wonder that Facebook offered them $3 billion ($3 billion with a capital B) in January of 2014.

As well, audiovisual stories and videos are a great way for users and marketers to engage and become story tellers. Vloggers and micro vloggers have embraced these video formats as well. Video is the new UGC as evidenced by social video platforms Snapchat, Vine, Instavid and Hyperlapse.

Agile Marketing – Personally I love this term as it clearly defines the challenge that is facing marketing today. It’s a moving target and control is lost. Marketing becomes much more random, much more engaging and takes brands very far from their story. The leader in this area is Oreo. Referred to as king of marketing since the 2013 Super bowl “Dunk in the Dark” Tweet. As the article clearly points out agile marketing is all about relevant content as it provides the right message at the right time. Marketers need to carefully consider how they embrace this tactic and when, as just in time marketing will be the norm before too long.

Social Anonymity – I’d suggest that at this time that we really don’t understand the impact of platforms that allow users anonymity. Platforms such as Ello, Whisper and Facebook’s Rooms are a new component of the changing social landscape. The impact has yet to be determined and I’d suggest marketers explore and evaluate the opportunities and we’ll all see how these underground styled platforms develop.

Private Messaging – Private messaging is here to stay and again brands have yet to be provided an opportunity to explore the interest with users. Will this opportunity present itself? Yes, it’s likely, as again Snapchat and WhatsApp are utilizing live coverage for events. Marketers need to keep abreast of these opportunities and evaluate the opportunity as well as the risk.

Bick says the smart money will focus on mobile, ensure you develop and build a strategy that is not mobile friendly, but mobile focused, and if you still have some marketing funds to invest, we are suggesting scommerce. Naturally, as a contest marketing agency we love the opportunities provided by agile marketing. Yet, marketers must also welcome the risk associated in “just in time marketing”. 2015 will prove to be more interesting than ever before.

Michael Bickerton, Raven5 Ltd, February 2015

 

SLIDE SHARE PRESENTATION

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