WHITE PAPER – OCTOBER 2014

THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING LANDSCAPE OF 2014:

DEVELOPING TRENDS

2. Introduction

3-4. The Resurrection of Myspace

5-6. No escaping the hashtag

7-8. Visual Marketing

9-10. Not mobile? Not moving!

11-12. The Rise of Google Plus

13. About BlueDoor Inc., Sources

CONTENTS

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Nothing in business ever stays the same. If there is one thing marketers have learnedfrom the social media world is that trends do not stick around for very long.Everything has a shelf life. The social environment is evolving with new tricks, trendsand tools, and marketers who don’t adapt to these changes are left 'unfollowed' and‘friendless’, sinking into abyss of stale content and haphazard posting.

While this rapid evolution might seem overwhelming, new opportunities are arising insocial media marketing that allow businesses and consumers to connect in moremeaningful ways, thus increasing potential for online growth and measurablecontribution to the bottom line.

2013 was a big year for social media marketing but it has already been eclipsed by thefirst half of 2014. Here we will examine 5 top trends that are set to change the sociallandscape.

INTRODUCTION

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The general consensus after Facebook exploded onto the social scene was thatMyspace was dead and buried. It had had its day and social media experts predictedthat the market was too saturated for a comeback. It seems these social mediaforecasts may have been a bit too premature.

According to newsnet.com the site has gained 24 Million new users during the finalmonths of 2013. Before this the number of users had only reached 12 Million. Thisdramatic increase is due to the sites revamp into a music platform site and its newpinterest-esque visual overhaul.

According to Mashable Myspace is aiming to be not just a social network, but a“social entertainment destination”.

RESURRECTION OF MYSPACE

MYSPACE - 2008 MYSPACE - 2014

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Myspace has ultimately become the Pinterest of the music industry. It is a giant,interactive, visually striking playlist.

It seems that the site’s objective is to encourage its audiences to share musical andartistic content in order gain followers and encourage ‘shares’.

An expensive ad campaign fronted by Justin Timberlake has helped to create a buzzaround the revamped platform. The new site has nothing to do with the old one interms of the design – it seems the creative team started entirely from scratch. Itsmore mobile and tablet friendly with sharp graphics and icons.

It is unclear yet whether enough of an audience will be driven back to the brand andwhether the Myspace comeback will truly have the desired effect.

"[W]e’re staying true to our roots in one important way — empowering people toexpress themselves however they want," the message accompanying the video atMyspace reads. "So whether you’re a musician, photographer, filmmaker, designer orjust a dedicated fan, we’d love for you to be a part of our brand new community.“

Whether Myspace storms back onto the forefront of social media networks, orcontinues lingering in the background is yet to be seen, but it certainly deservesattention from marketers working in relevant entertainment industries.

RESURRECTION OF MYSPACE

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Contrary to popular belief the hashtag was not invented by Twitter, although it wascertainly responsible for its introduction into social media. The Twitter adoption ofthe tool was to hyperlink search results with the hashtag, and this trend hasfollowed across other popular social platforms, including Facebook.

According to social bakers the number of hashtags has dramatically increased onFacebook from 4% to 21% between 2013 and 2014. Hashtag use has also increasedon Twitter but at a more moderate rate of 1% since 2013.

NO ESCAPING THE HASHTAG

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According to more data collected by social bakers in February 2014 the majority ofposts on Facebook contain no more than 2 hashtags. These posts on Facebook gain themost interaction from users whereas Tweets that have more than 2 hashtags get moreinteraction than Tweets with less. However the more hashtags you use the lessinteraction will occur, as can be seen in the charts below.

Although these finding don’t give the full reason for rich engagement – post quality andtiming also play a major role – thereis no denying the power of the hashtag.

NO ESCAPING THE HASHTAG

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Perhaps the biggest social media marketing trend of 2014 that is gaining momentum andpopularity is the use visual assets. The future is visual and marketers should adjustcontent strategies to reflect this.

A report conducted by social media examiner reveals that the type of content thatmarketers most want to learn about is how to create visual assets. Creating originalvisual assets has the highest percentage in the area marketers most want to learn about(68%), followed by producing original videos (60%).

(Source: Social Media Examiner)

The data compiled by The Social Media Examiner also signifies the growing interest andusage on the visual based platforms like Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram as platformsover recent years, as well as the continued trend of the increased use of visual postsseen within established platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

VISUAL MARKETING

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Videos are perhaps the best promotional tools for brands. According to the onlinemarketing Institute, in 2013 more than ¾ of the international market were watchingsome sort of video promotions online. This means that in the future, marketingcontent without a video will have a lower chance of connecting with audiences.

According to MediaBistro the growth in visual based social media marketing is notsurprising given how quickly our brains process images over text. Infographics inparticular have become a handy alternative to text heavy posts because of their visualimpact. 2014 has seen an increase of infographic use by 70%.

How Marketers have made use of Infographics in 2014

Increase 70% No Use 12% Decrease 1% Stayed the Same 17%

(Source: MediaBistro)

The Social Media Examiner report reveals 92% of marketers say that social media isimportant for their business (an increase from 86% in 2013). From this there is agrowing trend towards using visual assets on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter,and a rise in marketers using visually-based platforms such as Pinterest, YouTube andInstagram.

VISUAL MARKETING

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Social media is a large component in the daily activities performed on smartphones dueto accessibility and convenience. People always thrive for a better social experience andbecause of this mobile devices are set to overtake the use of desktops. Businesses arescrambling to not only make their websites mobile friendly but to rethink their wholecontent and marketing strategy to be compatible with all mobile devices.

According to the Huffington Post 84% of smartphone shoppers currently use theirmobiles in stores. This has prompted a need for businesses to create online promotions,coupons and online ‘checkout’ availability while ensuring all content is targeted to theright audience at the right time.

Mobile strategies are also recommended to include research into the time consumersspend on both the mobile site and the app (if available) in order to best determine theareas to target. According to data by Nielson at the end of 2013 consumer preferencefor App’s peaks at 89% whilst mobile browsing accounts for the other 11%.

Source: Nielson

NOT MOBILE? NOT MOVING!

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A study conducted by ComScore shows that 68% of the time that Facebook users spentonline happened on a mobile device. The percentage was even higher for Twitter andimage based platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. By contrast LinkedIn’s mobile usageis low at just 26% . Perhaps given to the fact it has yet to have a major overhaul to makethe site mobile friendly. Or perhaps LinkedIn is primarily only checked during officehours?

It is apparent from these figures that a brand’s social media strategy would be severelylacking if it did not recognise the importance in tailoring marketing messages and socialexperiences for mobile device users .

NOT MOBILE? NOT MOVING!

10

Google Plus is a relatively new social platform but already it has been making waves in theonline world. According to globalwebindex the current number of Google Plus users is350 Million. This makes it 2nd among social platforms in terms of usage. This figure isbelieved by experts to rise and surpass the number of Facebook users by 2016.(SearchMetrics)

As Google continues to grow in importance the benefits of the site are clear. 53% ofdigital marketers say they will increase the time spent and financial commitment to thesite in the next 12 months. (Huffington post).

Marketers are recognising the benefits of being able to showcase a brand in an onlinecommunity whilst being able to better identify interested consumers. Google Plusprovides like-minded consumers a platform to connect with one another and to providefeedback.

THE RISE OF GOOGLE PLUS

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We should stop comparing the platform to Facebook and Twitter given that it has adifferent targeted audience. It is less about what our peers are doing and more aboutwhat consumers and interested parties are doing. According to IBTIMES Google+ isprobably the best mobile APP that Google has ever made as it has integrated its searchengine with a social tool.From data presented by ‘Shareaholic’ we learn that:

• Google+ visitors spend an average of 188.54 seconds on the site as compared to127.44 seconds on Facebook.

• Google+ visitors go to 2.54 pages per visit as compared to 2.03 pages per visit onFacebook.

• Google+ visitors ‘bounce’ only about 50% compared to 56% on Facebook.

Although it is unlikely that Google Plus will overtake Facebook by the end of this year,the 2016 predictions made by Globalwebindex look promising. It is still growing at arapid rate – in a market that before its release seemed already saturated. Unlike otherplatforms Google doesn’t need to solely rely on social media for growth. Says QUARTZ,“Google is turning into a platform on which the rest of Google’s web service areevolving—something that has the effect of making people use Google+ by default.”

THE RISE OF GOOGLE PLUS

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References

http://digitalmarketingphilippines.com/5-amazing-statistics-about-google-authorship-and-author-rank/http://www.ibtimes.com/google-plus-becomes-worlds-no-2-social-network-after-facebook-knocking-twitter-1042956http://takeitfromageek.com/google/google-the-social-media-of-the-future-whats-facebook/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/04/03/data-point-social-networking-is-moving-on-from-the-desktop/http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/2143-hashtags-increasingly-popular-on-facebookhttp://www.newsnet5.com/news/prediction-time-breaking-down-2014-social-media-trends-social-tv-facebook-myspace-instagramhttp://media2.bazaarvoice.com/documents/Bazaarvoice_WP_SocialTrendsReport-2014http://mashable.com/2014/01/27/social-media-marketing-2014/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-garst/social-media-marketing-wo_b_5110966.htmlhttp://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/history-hashtag-social-marketing_b59753http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/visual-content-future-social-media_b59705http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/http://www.ekaterinawalter.com/2014/05/why-marketers-love-instagram-pinterest-and-other-visual-social-networks/

ABOUT BLUEDOOR INC.

BlueDoor Inc. is a social media company based out of Toronto, Canada, specializingin social media strategy development and execution for mid-size and largeorganizations. Since being established in 2011, BlueDoor has served a variety ofsectors, including retail, e-commerce, financial, real estate, marketing, medical, food& hospitality, travel and more.

BlueDoor’s primary product and service offering consists of an in-depth industryanalysis, specific strategies and tactics to achieve business objectives and detailedexecution plan to turn ideas into measurable results. This premium product is one ofits kind in the marketplace today, and is the primary reason for the company’sgrowth over the last few years.

To learn more about our company, products and services, please visit us atwww.bluedoorinc.com.

Join our LinkedIn group called Social Media Done Right and don’t forget toconnect with us on the other networks!

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