Showing posts with label Marketing Trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing Trends. Show all posts

Friday, October 19, 2018

Social Media Marketing Trends YOU Should Use NOW?


These are the social media trends and tactics Europe-based startups are using now..

Follow these social media marketing trends for the year ahead.



Social media was, and still is, one of the best possible channels if you need to market a startup, grow awareness of a new brand and launch it in a market.

European startups have used it as a gateway to an audience and consequently, a gateway to success since its beginnings. They also use it in order to build and entertain a community around their projects.

And, if the product is valid in today's context, social media can help you get from zero to hero in less time than traditional advertising.

A valid product is a product or service that satisfies a need, solves a problem or gives solutions to it. And people using the internet and social media are always seeking to satisfy one of these needs. They are most likely to connect with brands and companies that are transmitting a direct and personalized message and who engage in active communication with them.



The Power Of Social Media

We know that at least 44 percent of the total global population uses social media. This is a huge number considering that some of the most popular social media platforms are relatively new, compared to the history of digital communication and the internet itself.

Social media is, however, a constantly changing universe. And, in order to thrive in this universe, one has to stay up to date with the latest trends and developments.

If you own a European startup or if you are about to start marketing for one, I have compiled a short list of the most important trends for the year to come. Let's have a look:



1. Create A Personalized Instagram Feed

Social media is all about communication and individuality. People share their lives, their joys and sorrows and expect to engage actively with their peers. Therefore, they will highly regard a brand that personalizes its feed and delivers true-to-its-nature social media posts.

Here's an example that comes from Lelograms, a startup that has a lot to gain from Instagram and its communities. It offers us a colored Instagram feed to look astonishing and at the same time, professional and neat.

Here's A Screenshot:




Observe how each set of images has a different color background.

If you browse the company's account, you will notice the attractive, personalized and inspirational palette of colors they share with us.



2. Engage With A Community Using Facebook Groups With A Community Using Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are also a great way to promote your startup, considering that here, people who share the same interests gather and discuss issues, problems and information.

To be in line with this trend, you have two options:

--You can create your own group.
--You can search for relevant groups and engage with peers.

Posting in other people's groups implies that you have to abide to their rules and guidelines, so creating your own group may be more beneficial on the long run. This is a tactic a lot of companies are using now. Moreover, people in your group are basically your main audience when it comes to marketing. Why? By joining your group, they let you know that they are interested in your brand and/or company and therefore, they are more valuable than a random demographic group.



If you need an example, take a look at the Facebook group for my company, Bannersnack.

Fans have access to exclusive information and news related to the app and the latest trends in design and all related domains of interest for them.

Why Facebook Groups?

There are already 1 billion people using Facebook groups worldwide as of this year. Moreover, business owners with Facebook pages are able to instantly create dedicated groups and advertise them among the relevant communities.

3. Create Vertical Content
On June 20, Instagram launched its dedicated video platform, which was supposed to be mobile based and of course, mobile friendly. And, it is. Unlike other counterparts such as YouTube, IGTV is based on vertical content, the type of content that is most suitable for mobile users since most of these people are reading, playing and watching content vertically on their devices, which is also the natural position for a smartphone or a tablet.


Who's using IGTV?

 Well, there are a lot of brands and companies that have already set up their IGTV accounts and that are constantly updating their audience with new content. One of these brands is SocialBakers (full disclosure: I have written articles for SocialBakers), a company that also advocates for this channel and has been using it since its first days.


 Related Article: YOUR Video Content Is King?


4. Create Content Just For LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social media platform that has become increasingly popular during the last few years among professionals, recruiters and companies. It's good to know that you can also use this channel for content marketing. You get instant access to a peer-based community and as a consequence, depending on what you are promoting, a dedicated and aware social group.

Vlad Calus, co-founder of Planable, told me he mostly focuses on LinkedIn for his marketing strategy, and he's been able to connect with more than 3,000 people a month.

"LinkedIn is the best channel if you're into B2B market and Eastern European is significantly lacking the expertise in this field. That's why, if you're trying to sell a product in this region, you'll have a very great success in a very short time because of very low competition," he said.

Guest Authored By Robert Katai. Robert is Digital Marketer and Content Marketing Manager at Bannersnack. Follow Robert on Twitter.





"Social media succeeds because it is a fluid vehicle that can quickly effectuate changes and updates to enhance the user experience and facilitate the sales funnel to achieve a brand’s business goals. Whatever users demand and require for their loyalty, savvy brands will turn to social media to deliver.."


    • Post Crafted By:
      Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
    Published by at No comments:
    Labels: , , ,
    Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA

    Sunday, July 22, 2018

    Social Media Trends To Keep YOUR Eyes On?


    5 Social media trends CMOs need to keep their eyes on..

    CMOs need to possess a wide range of skill sets in order to be effective. Okay, that ends the ridiculously-obvious portion of our show..



    The fact is it’s no longer enough to be a Madison Avenue creative thinker who doesn’t know the ins and outs of social media, or understand the power of high-converting digital marketing funnels.

    What was once considered “niche knowledge” in the world of marketing has become essential to building a well-rounded marketing mix. And for CMOs, specifically, this means taking the time to master (or at least become proficient) in all types of marketing.

    With so many new marketing trends emerging in today’s digital landscape, I sat down with Jonathan Foley, the founder of @Positivity and @Societyfeelings, and CEO of WULF Marketing, to discuss where CMOs should be focusing their efforts. Foley has extensive experience building massive social audiences, and says CMOs need to pay attention to the following five trends:



    1. The “free exposure” social media window has closed and brands have to accept it.

    In order to market your brand, product, or service, you’re going to need a marketing budget. The question, however, is how much to spend.

    Foley pointed out that when social media first grabbed hold of the masses, many brands and savvy business leaders saw it as a way to get “free promotion.” Facebook and Twitter hadn’t changed their algorithms yet, which meant that people who followed you truly saw what you shared and posted with them.

    “Today, Facebook and just about every other social media platform has become pay to play,” said Foley. “And it’s safe to assume this trend will continue in the same direction. So, why wait? Brands and thought leaders need to start investing in building social pages for themselves — or even acquiring and building a variety of social pages so that you can own as many audiences as possible.”

    To Foley’s point, if you are operating on a slim budget, you need to focus on gaining traction now, while the playing field is still somewhat level.



    2. Influencer marketing is here to stay.

    We are already seeing the significance of influencer marketing.

    According to Forbes writer Clare O’Connor, “An Instagram user with 100,000 followers can command $5,000 for a post made in partnership with a company or brand.” And that’s on the low end of the spectrum. YouTubers with several million subscribers, on the other hand, can command a healthy six figures for a video partnership.

    “Using someone who has an influential and strong presence to market your product is a great way to gain traffic and engagement,” said Foley — who has used this tactic to grow his Instagram page, @Positivity, to over 130,000 followers in less than 30 days. “The key is to make sure you work with someone who has a similar voice as your brand. You want their audience to identify with your company, and vice versa.”

    However, Foley pointed out that CMOs need to acknowledge how influencer marketing, although still fairly new, is already changing. With Instagram and Facebook offering label-sponsored ads, it’s fair to say that transparency is going to continue to be a hot-button issue for influencers. Partnerships will continue to increase, but influencers are going to have to be open and honest about who they are representing, when, and why.



    3. Outdated tactics like billboards have no ROI.

    “I truly believe that TV and billboards are the most over-hyped forms of marketing,” said Foley. “Everyone is always on their phones. And as a brand looking to convert people into paying customers, it doesn’t make sense to spend exorbitant amounts of money to reach these people, only to be left wondering if they became a customer or not. With digital marketing, that’s not a question — it’s an important part of the equation.”

    Foley went on to explain that CMOs need to be aware of whether these outdated tactics are going to remain worth investing in. “Just because it has been part of your marketing mix for the past 30 years, doesn’t mean it should still be there,” he said. “Social media and digital mediums where you can actually track conversations is where you want to be.”

    I don't necessarily agree with Foley on this one. I think billboard advertising is on the cusp of a comeback in many ways. Take for example Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian's recent decision to invest over $2 million in Adquick, which according to TechCrunch is "a new service that’s looking to bring billboard advertising into the Internet age."



    4. Data should inform how you market to your customers.

    The data you can obtain from the profiles of your customers and followers is incredibly powerful; especially with tools like Microsoft Dynamics, Tableau and Domo, to name a few.

    “CMOs need to realize the amazing opportunity that’s right at the tip of their fingertips,” said Foley. “When you have data, you can better understand what’s working, what’s not, and how that impacts your strategy as a whole. Too many brands capture data, and even say they’re capturing data, but they don’t use that data to change anything.”

    Of course, two things come to mind here: Zuckerberg testifying in front of Congress recently to discuss the fraudulent use of user data, and The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulation by the European Union that governs consumers’ private information. These should be news events that CMOs keep top of mind, remembering that the digital landscape is still very new — and the rules brands play by today won’t remain the same forever.



    5. Diversify your efforts across a variety of social platforms.

    One of the biggest debates in marketing, and digital marketing specifically, is whether you should be on every platform or not.

    Based on his own experiences, Foley said, “We’re at a point now where you have to be leveraging multiple challenges. When you’re first starting out, it’s great to go all-in on a single platform, but you should always be looking for ways to start capitalizing on your successes and expanding your reach to other platforms — whether that means hiring someone to manage it for you, or hustling to do it all yourself.”

    He went on to explain that in order to make a massive impact, you have to be willing to change your content to fit each and every social platform. What works on Instagram won’t work on Facebook, or Twitter, or YouTube. But elements of the content will.

    Guest Authored By Steve Olenski. Steve is among the most influential writers in the space. Dubbed The CMO Whisperer & Distiller of Truth, he writes about marketing/advertising/branding in way, shape or form. Follow Steve on Twitter.





    "As the marketer, it’s up to you to figure out what the “core message” is, and then replicate that same feeling on each platform — but cater the content to fit the wants and needs of that particular audience. -SteveOlenski


      • Post Crafted By:
        Fred Hansen Br@nd Alchemist at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
      Published by at No comments:
      Labels: , , , , ,
      Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA

      Tuesday, June 19, 2018

      Global Media Trends YOU Should Know?


      Five global social media trends to know..

       You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s been a tough year for social media companies.

      Yet it appears that our love of social networking continues unabated.



      Around the world social media usage continues to grow and evolve. New research from GlobalWebIndex suggests one in every three minutes spent online is spent on social media.

      Data from comScore found that use of social networks and messaging apps account for more than one quarter of our time on mobile devices.

      Here are five key findings from a number of recent reports, which help us to better understand today’s social media landscape:



      1. Social media users worldwide grew by 13 percent last year.

      According to data from We Are Social and Hootsuite, more than 4 billion people across the globe now access the internet, with social media being used on a monthly basis by almost 3.2 billion of them.

      As Nathan McDonald, co-founder and group CEO at We Are Social, noted when launching their 2018 Global Digital reports:

      “Almost 1 million people started using social media for the first time every day over the past year — that’s equivalent to more than 11 new users every second.The global number of people using social media has grown by 13 percent in the past 12 months, with Central and Southern Asia recording the fastest gains (up 90 percent and 33 percent respectively). ”The global penetration of social media stands at 42 percent, compared to 53 percent for the internet as a whole, which suggests there is still room for growth.


      2. Our social and digital media experience is increasingly mobile.

      With nine out of every 10 social media users accessing these networks via mobile devices, designing content for handheld devices is essential.

      As Ofcom, the U.K.’s communications regulator, showed late last year in their twelfth International Communications Market Report, even in more mature markets such as the U.K., U.S., France and Spain, many of the most popular social networks — including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — tend to be accessed via mobile, rather than desktop.

      Elsewhere, comScore’s 2017 Global Mobile Report, which examined 14 markets (U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia) emphasized the predominance of mobile for media consumption.

      Moreover, more than one quarter of those surveyed were found to be mobile-only media consumers, rising to 70 percent in India.



      3. The average user has eight different social media accounts.

      Just as news organizations and publishers need to cater for social media users on mobile devices, they also need to recognize — and cater to — the fact that consumers access a wide variety of social networks.

      On average, GlobalWebIndex found that internet users have eight different social media accounts, almost double the number of accounts as five years ago

      Breadth of use was highest in Latin America (averaging of 9.1 networks) and lowest in North America (average 6.6).



      4. Messaging Services are growing faster than traditional networks.

      Mary Meeker’s new 2018 Internet Trends report highlighted how messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat and Facebook Messenger are growing fast, much faster than traditional social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

      The potential of these platforms — and the wide-ranging functionality found on services like Line, WeChat and KakaoTalk — was identified as a trend to watch by Meeker back in 2015 and again a year later.



      If you want to see where services like Facebook Messenger or Snapchat are heading, then these are apps to watch.

      “These platforms — with integrated functionality including eCommerce, calls, texts, stickers and the ability to order both food and taxis — offer a handy one-stop shop for their users,” I wrote back in 2016. “This Sauron-esque UX (“one app to rule them all”) is part of a wider trend that is re-imaging communication.”

      The growth of messaging apps, especially in emerging markets, has encouraged news organizations like CNN and the BBC to embrace these platforms. CNN has 4.7 million followers on Japanese messaging app Line, for example, and the BBC was using WhatsApp and WeChat in India as early as 2014.

      5. Stories are growing even faster.

      To this mix of fast-growing platforms, we must add social video, live video and stories.



      As TechCrunch’s Josh Constine recently wrote:

      “WhatsApp’s Stories now have over 450 million daily users. Instagram’s have over 300 million. Facebook Messenger’s had 70 million in September. And Snapchat as a whole just reached 191 million, about 150 million of which use Stories, according to Block Party. With 970 million accounts, it’s the format of the future. Block Party calculates that Stories grew 15 times faster than feeds from the second quarter of  2016 to the third quarter of 2017.

      As Block Party, a digital consultancy and full service agency, noted in their report, “Beyond the News Feed: Why Stories Are Becoming the New Face of Social Media,” stories are a format designed for the embedded-camera smartphone era, whereas the origins of the traditional social media feed stem from the desktop era. As the way we consume — and post — to social media becomes increasingly mobile-driven,  mobile-first storytelling formats will come increasingly to the fore.


      Their bullishness for the stories format is shared by others, including Mark Zuckerberg.

      “Stories are on track to overtake posts in feeds as the most common way that people share across all social apps,” he said in a quarterly earnings call in January. “That's because stories is a better format for sharing multiple quick video clips throughout your day. The growth of stories will have an impact on how we build products and think about our business.”

      The rapid growth of stories — a social media trend being rapidly embraced by brands, news organizations and individuals — is just one example of how social networking continues to rapidly evolve.

      Keeping up with these developments is always a challenge, but one that opens new creative and editorial possibilities.

      News organizations and journalists alike need to continue to keep abreast of consumer preferences and experiment with social media.

      Guest Authored By Damian Radcliffe. Damian is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon, a Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Follow Damian on Twitter.





      "Like social networks in general..

      These trends are just too big to ignore..Sad!" -DamianRadcliffe


        • Post Crafted By:
          Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
        Published by at No comments:
        Labels: , , , ,
        Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA
        Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)