Top 5 Social Media Trends for 2014

While the importance of social media for Millenials is pretty self evident, employers and businesses are quickly seeing the merit in a social media marketing strategy. However, with so many platforms to choose from it can be difficult to determine where to allocate resources. Where is social media going?

I have searched high and low, and thanks to Jayson Demeyers, contributor at Forbes, here are some 2014 Social Media marketing trends that you can start thinking about!

1. Investing in Social Media will be a NECESSITY, not a Choice.

Many companies are seeing the value in social media and are allocating time and resources into forming comprehensive social media marketing strategies. However, in 2014 it is likely that we will see a shift from wanting to invest in social media marketing to having to invest in social media platforms.

And this is not surprising as social media offers a variety of benefits including:

• Increased exposure & traffic
• Company branding
• Develop loyal fans
• Generate Leads
• Improved audience reach & influence
• Word of mouth

Social media is also one of the pillars of SEO!

2. A Picture says more than 1000 Words!

There's no denying that photo-sharing (and video) platforms have been all the rage this year. Marketing with social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are great for companies to produce shareable non-text based content!

As Jayson Demeyers points out:

Visual content will increasingly become a critical piece of any solid content strategy, and social networking site Pinterest will continue to shed its reputation as a ‘women’s only’ network and become an integral part of retailers’ marketing strategies.

3. The Rise of Google+

Google+ may not be new, but the social network has found its purpose now that the "+1" button is linked to Google's search rankings and is becoming an integral component of SEO and personalized search. And for those of you still wrapping your head around this whole Google+ thing, Here is a Quick Guide & How-To from Lisa Myers, CEO of Verve Search.

4. Foursquare who?

With platforms such like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram offering location-based "check-ins", Foursquare very well might become a thing of the past. It won't be long before Foursquare users (many of whom are already using the other platforms) will be absorbed into other location-based features of the networks mentioned above.

5. Are you LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most successful social networking site for professionals with an impressive 225 million users to date. LinkedIn is positioning itself as "one of the largest sources of content creation and curation for professionals."

Conclusion
So, for those of you who have yet to invest time and resources into a social media strategy - it's not too late! Do some research and see how you can best incorporate social media into your marketing strategy this year.

Using Meta Tags for SEO & CTR Maximization: The Case of Farm Girl Mobile Food Kingston

Meta tags are dead I've read. And while it's true that meta descriptions and meta keyword tags aren't necessary for higher webpage ranking in the natural SERPs - this does mean that we should rule them out entirely. Despite what you've heard, meta tags still have their place in both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Click Through Rates (CTR).

Page Title - 70 characters
Title tags should include the page title, your brand name as well as a phrase that includes your target keyword phrase. Here is the current title of Farm Girl Food, a gourmet food truck in Kingston with a modified version, as well:

<title>Kingston Ontario Gourmet Food Truck Kingston - Farm Girl Food</title>

or

<title>Kingston Ontario Gourmet Locally Soured Food Truck - Farm Girl Food</title>

*Remember, titles & meta-descriptions often end up forming the your company's snippet in the natural search results.

Meta-description - 160 characters
Now here is where the work - and fun - begins! Here is an excerpt from a great blog post from Search Engine Journal, Maximizing Your Meta Tags for SEO & CTR, about how to write your meta-description section:

• Add a call to action.  Asking people to do something (as in the case of “Find out how” in the example above) often results in readers taking the action you’ve requested. Other possible calls to action for your meta descriptions include “Discover how,” “Read more about,” “Click here,” or other related variation.
• Use cliffhangers. Use cliffhangers in your meta descriptions to encourage viewers to click through for the full story.
• Write your tags for yourself. Once you’ve come up with a possible meta tag, ask yourself, “Would I click through based on this information?” If your tags don’t yet seem compelling, rewrite them until you come up with something more enticing

Here is an example:

<Farm Girl Mobile Food Co. is the first gourmet locally sourced comfort food truck of its kind representing Kingston, in the evolving food truck movement in Ontario/>

3. Meta-keywords - no more than 10 keyword phrases
SEO for Restaurants is great for increasing sales, customers and reservations to their restaurant. An example of 5 starter keyword/phrases suitable for restaurants like Farm Girl include:

Restaurant name: Farm Girl Mobile Food

Type: Gourmet Comfort Food

City: Kingston

Type of food: Locally sourced

Atmosphere: Family Friendly

So, there you have it! Meta Tags aren't dead - they are alive and well and still have a place in any SEO strategy. For more information visit Google's Ad-words and if you're in Kingston be sure to visit Farm Girl Mobile Food for some delicious, locally sourced, down home comfort food - Yum!

WWJD?: The Digital Marketing Trifecta - Search, Display & Social

What would John Wanamaker think of this thing called digital marketing? I mean, what is it? Your guess is as good as mine. Digital marketing certainly encompasses a multitude of things, chief among them jargon, acronyms, and let's not forget complete and utter confusion. In an attempt to help untangle the web, Mediative, one of North America's largest integrated digital marketing companies, uploaded a video to help make sense of this thing called digital marketing!

In it's journey through the evolution of digital marketing, the video concludes by discussing the current digital marketing trifecta: search, display and social.

Path to Purchase - Targeting

Paid media - refers to AdWords or bing, advertising through social channels and/or display channels.

Earned media - include viral marketing and gaining traction (what most brands strive for)

Owned media - refer to a brand's website/blog

Bringing together paid, owned and earned media enables marketers to best reach the most "contextually qualified consumers" - and these are gold to marketers.