With the kids back at school and our feet firmly back under the desk, we’ve been giving a lot of thought to what trends for social media and online marketing are going to be hot in 2014. We’ve come up with our top 5 and we hope that this list will help you to strengthen your social media strategy as you plan for the year ahead.
1.Create a long-term content plan
Now is the time to create a content calendar to organise your social media marketing for the next 12 months. Start by identifying the big themes for your business throughout the year: industry events, public celebrations etc. But don’t neglect the small stuff: include daily Facebook posts and tweets in your plan too. You’ll be amazed at how having a well-thought out, long-term content strategy will keep you on track and ensure that your efforts make the most impact.
2.Let your brand’s fans help do your marketing for you.
Savvy online marketers are increasingly utilising their fans as a powerful marketing and selling tool. It seems obvious that the best people to promote your products or services are the people who are already completely sold on it! Encourage those who advocate your brand to talk about it online by connecting with them, engaging them and providing the tools for them to be able to promote your business. Remember, it’s a two-way street and you should be sending the love right back to anyone who blows your trumpet online!
3.Visual Content is hot hot hot!
We know that posts that contain images or videos outperform those without when it comes to likes, shares, comments, and retweets. Failing to incorporate image-based media into your social media content strategy will mean losing out on huge amounts of potential engagement! The phenomenal success of Instagram and the continued strength of Pinterest and Facebook leave us in no doubt that the popularity and use of visual-based content on social media will continue to increase in 2014. Whilst great written content remains key to any successful social media strategy, you need incorporate images if you want to capture readers’ attention and keep visitors engaged.
4. It’s all about mobiles: is your site ready?
With consumers increasingly using their mobile devices to find the types of products and services that your business offers, it’s time to make sure that those consumers can easily access the information they need about your brand using their smartphones and tablets. As a small business, if your website isn’t already optimized for mobile you need to make the switch. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune but it could cost you customers if you don’t change!
5. Google+ is getting BIG
Ridiculed as a ghost town in the past and overlooked by many brands who doubted that it would ever become a “main player”, Google + is set to shine in 2014. With a huge increase in its user base and businesses realising that being active on Google + improves SEO results, it’s likely that your audience will be making the move from Facebook to Google + . Get ahead of the game and get on Google + as soon as possible!
So, with continued growth across all social media platforms, 2014 is set to see social media marketing play an increasingly prominent role for businesses of all sizes. Ignoring its possibilities will cease to be an option for any business serious about growth. To get your social media strategy up-to-date and on-trend this year (we could say “down with the kids” but that wouldn’t be cool): plan ahead, let your fans market your business, incorporate images, go mobile with your website and get on Google+ . It’s where all the cool people hang out. Honest.
