Social marketing trends for 2014
1) Videos – Videos are likely to continue as a top social marketing trend into 2014. With the new video feature on Instagram, it has become popular for brands to create short films showcasing different trends, events and promotions. As social media audiences are now used to this, it is a great way of marketing. It also allows a lot more to be shown in small space – more content can be shared. YouTube is only growing in popularity as well, with over 100 hours of video being uploaded per hour allowing campaigns and promotional videos to be shared. Ads are also useful to upload onto YouTube as a way of promoting the brand.
2) Twitter > Facebook – Facebook has seen a decline of users aged 13-17 due to parents signing up too. Companies are also finding it increasingly difficult to market to Facebook users, meaning it is dying out as a marketing strategy for 2014. As Twitter is set to become a public company, it will be even more advertised than it already is. This will invite more people to use the platform and therefore make it a more successful marketing strategy. This will also lead to increased investment and research and development, opening it up to even more opportunities in the future.
3) Snapchat – With over 5 million users, Snapchat is the new way to share photos and videos between friends. The appeal comes from the short time the snap is allowed to be viewed for – giving a sense of secrecy to the app. Companies are finding ways to include this in their marketing strategy. This is a very upcoming platform, so is thought to be very popular within the next year.
4) Google+ – Google+ has taken its time to become second ranked to Facebook in terms of monthly users. It is very popular as it also utilizes search engine optimisation. So companies on Google+ will automatically go up in Google ranking. This is becoming increasingly popular and is sure to be in the limelight of social marketing throughout 2014.