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.

#McDStories & The Dark Side of Social Media: When Hashtags Become Bashtags

While social media gives companies the opportunity to promote itself and engage with it's customers, the reality is that the social media universe isn't always rainbows and sunshine. In reality, social media users control social media - not companies. Social media really is a two-way street and often times your social media initiative - like using a simple hashtag can quickly turn against you if you're not careful. 

Enter the bashtag - that worst-case-scenario where your seemingly innocent hashtag is highjacked with messages that don't resonate with your brand and turn your social media campaign on its head. A bashtag is defined as:

"...the use of an organization's hashtag in a negative, critical, or abusive fashion. In the majority of cases, the hashtag being hijacked is one used in a corporate marketing campaign but can extend any organization."

Here we learn that social media really is a double-edge sword. Just as a company can tweet a hashtag - so can everyone else. The most obvious case of the hashtag turned bashtag is undoubtedly McDonalds' #McDStories social media catastrophe. Here are a couple of the most infamous of the #McDStories bashtags (There's so many to choose from.)

So, what do you do when this happens? Are bashtags simply a fact of social media life? The truth is, there isn't a ton of literature out there about what to do and how to avoid such an occurrence. However, here are two of the most important tips (although they do have more) that I found from a few bloggers including Shama Kabani, Rashmi Jha and Benjamin Rieder!

1) Know your role

I hate to say it but how could McDonalds not have known they were a perfect target for something like this? Even people who indulge in their food (why, I'll never know) still make fun of it. Everyone has a fast-food story. Everyone. I can't help but think that brands like McDonalds are so much more vulnerable to this type of hashtag highjacking than a brand like Apple and therefore need to be much more cautious when they embark on a campaign that allows others to share their stories.

2) Prepare for the worst!

Like all things in life nothing is never guaranteed to go as planned. Things can go awry. Hashtags can quickly become bashtags. In light of this, companies must be able to think of the worst possible outcomes and create a contingency plan in order to deal with any possible backlash.

In the case of McDonalds, their social media director Rick Wion issued a formal statement and expressed that they had set up a plan in the event that things didn't go as planned:

"Within an hour of pulling #McDStories the number of conversations about it fell off from a peak of 1600 to a few dozen. It is also important to keep those numbers in perspective. There were 72,788 mentions of McDonald’s overall that day so the traction of #McDStories was a tiny percentage (2%) of that.

“With all social media campaigns, we include contingency plans should the conversation not go as planned. The ability to change midstream helped this small blip from becoming something larger."

Not only did McDonalds have a plan, but they acted almost immediately. And sometimes acting promptly could mean the difference between a small "blip", as Wion suggests, or a possible catastrophe - which I would argue this was for McDonalds.

So what have we learned? That the social media universe can be a scary place. User generated content does not always work to a brand's advantage. Something as simple as a hashtag can prove to have irreversible - and damaging - affects on a brand's image which is why knowing your role and preparing for the worst are important in order to avoid a hashtag highjacking!

'Oh So Pinteresting': How & Why You Should be Marketing with Pinterest!

I was having trouble thinking about what to write this week so I asked a friend of mine something that she would like to see a blog-post about and she asked if I would write about how to market using Pinterest. Challenge accepted! 

I'll be honest, I haven't been highly active when it comes to Pinterest. While I absolutely love looking through the fashion, home decor and - of course - DIY boards, I rarely pin things and my personal account is a little ...well, bare boned. However, I was completely blown away with just how many resources I found about the topic that are really helpful! So Kaitlyn, this one is for you!

First, it's important for marketers - and people alike - to understand the fundamental inner workings of Pinterest. For those of you who don't know Pinterest acts as a massive virtual pinboard that allows people to look through interesting pictures, pin them and leave comments below items that were pinned. The most important feature then is undoubtedly all the captivating pictures Pinterest has to offer - the trick as a marketer is to get your visuals pinned as much as possible!

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Here are some mind-blowing facts about Pinterest!

1. Pinterest is the 3rd most popular social network in the world (source: shopify)

2.  Pinterest is more effective at driving traffic compared to other social media sites - even Facebook! (source: Hubspot)

3. Pinterest is 80% more viral and three times more effective than Twitter

4. 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they've either bought or wanted to buy (source: social annex)

5. An estimated 47% of U.S. online shoppers have made a purchase based on a recommendation from Pinterest

6. Pinterest users spend more than 2x as much as Facebook users. Average order value when a user follows through on a purchase from a product seen on Pinterest is $179.36 (source: fastcompany)

7. Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often and on more items than any other top 5 social media sites (source: COMSCORE)

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Now that we understand the power of Pinterest as a social media force - how do we develop marketing strategies around this platform? Where do we start? Here is an incredible - and beautifully designed - Pinterest marketing strategies info-graphic I found that was designed by Maria Peagler, founder of Social Media Online Classes, to help you get started!

In addition to this info-graphic, there is a really helpful blog called, "Oh So Pinteresting" who not only provide the tactical steps to gaining success with Pinterest, but also who provide an abundance of resources to gain inspiration and information on how to enrich your own business and marketing initiatives! They are definitely a MUST READ for all looking to enrich their personal and professional Pinterest profiles!

I hope that this post has helped shed some light on the inner working of Pinterest and why it might be a great opportunity for you and your business to meet your marketing initiatives! Happy Pinning!

*Additional Resources:

- Pinterest Marketing Tips: 20 Things you can Learn from 20 Big Brands (entrepreneur.com)

- A Brief Guide to Pinterest Marketing (HongKiat)

- Pinterest Business Accounts: The Definitive Guide to Getting Started (SocialMediaExaminer)

5 Tips to Becoming a Twitter Champion!

Of all the social media platforms Twitter is undoubtedly my favourite - it's straight forward, simple and it doesn't completely change every time I log on (I'm talking about you Facebook). But are we using our personal twitter accounts to their full potential? The truth is, probably not. I know I'm not.

Instead of frantically wondering what I've been doing wrong, I decided to do the only logical thing there is to do: I Googled, "How do I maximize my Twitter Account" and lo and behold I stumbled upon a really helpful article with 10 tips to maximize your twitter account from Business Insider!

I've decided to focus on the tips I felt most useful!

1. Pretend like you only have 125 Characters
I break this rule almost always. In an ideal world, tweets should be kept to 125 characters or less. This allows others to easily RT with just enough room to comment or provide a short lead-in.

2. Follow the Right People
I think at some point everyone has been guilty of following anyone and everyone in hopes that they will follow you back. However, people who actually share your interests will be more likely to engage your content than @teamfollowback

3. Content, Content, Content!
After reading this tip I looked at my twitter and realized about 90% of what I was tweeting were insiders that my friends and I would share amongst each other - who really cares right? Building solid content, content that has value (but still interests you) is how to engage followers and build an audience.

4. Use URL Shorteners
While there are many URL shorteners out there that are FREE including Su.pr and Ow.ly through Hootsuite, I personally really enjoy using Bit.ly! In addition to shortening URLs, many can also help you measure the click-through of your links!

5. Pictures & Videos
People like pictures. People like videos. Don't only bombard people with text-filled tweets - makes sense right?

So, there you have it. Some quick tips on how to maximize your twitter account - you're now on your way to becoming a twitter champion!