Let’s break away from the technical side a bit this month and better explore the trends that are clear and present for 2015. For the many who never thought Social Media would gain as much ground as it has, sorry but you’ve missed the mark. While all assumed it would be the
youth that drove the media, in fact it has been business and the 45+ generation that has proven to be more consistent in maintaining use of the varied platforms.
Instagram Will Become Essential For Image-based Social Media Marketing
Instagram isn’t showing any signs of slowing down by a long shot. With 300+ million monthly users and 30 billion photos shared , it has become “the network” when it comes to image-based social media marketing. There are 2.5 million ‘likes’ on images each day and 70 million uploaded daily (yes, you read that right). Research confirms this, although perhaps not to the same extent: According to the Social Media Marketing Industry report, 42% of marketers are planning to increase their use of the platform this year, compared to 38% in 2013.
Instagram will also continue to grow in the micro-video space. With both Vine and Instagram vying for billing as the top video networking site, the platforms have continued to differentiate themselves from the other offering different features, video lengths and editing capabilities. However, I believe we’ll see Instagram begin to outpace Vine as we enter 2015.
And with the recent emergence of Instagram’s in-feed video advertising, marketers will now have the option of paying to target their 15-second videos to users based on age, gender and country. While some have called the new video ads incongruous, the new feature is a welcome addition for marketers looking to promote their wares to Instagram’s young, affluent user base.
Social Media Marketing Will Finally Be Embraced As A Core Pillar Of Content Marketing
Are you as Rotarians embracing Social Media as a method to market your business or your brand?
In 2015, marketers finally realized the two core pillars of a content marketing strategy: publication and distribution. Marketers learned that social media is the most effective method of expanding the reach and visibility of their content, and because of this, will come to view social media as more of an “amplifier” for their published content rather than as the content itself.
In 2014, we saw marketers succeed at realizing the importance of creating and publishing content with the rise of “content strategy” as a buzzword and core focus of online marketers, but many failed when it came to designing and executing a successful content distribution strategy.
So, while the content marketing buzz continues to pick up steam, marketers needs to remember that a distribution strategy for that content is just as important, if not more important, than the content itself.