1. TOP 10
Social Media Truths for 2014
604-273-0002 | info@prestigemarketing.ca | www.prestigemarketing.ca

2. CONTENTS
03
Intro
05
1. Join the Social Media party
06
2. Social Media is a Conversation
07
3. Just be Normal
08
4. Your Audience are Themselves Creators
09
5. Press Play to View Your Forecast
10
6. Are You In M-commerce
12
7. Know Where to Focus
13
8. Good Content is Non-Negotiable
14
9. Community
15
10. It Takes Time
16
CONTACT US
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3. INTRO
As we prepare to start typing 2014 instead of 2013, let us consider the
developments and big trends in social media over the last year, what will
carry over or grow in the new year, what will fade, and what we are on the
cusp of in advertising and social media culture. We need to know the brand
story of our business, but also the cultural story that all of our businesses
and consumers exist within. In our cultural story, social media has moved far
beyond entertainment and connection to become a trusted source of news and
influence. In “The Evolving Social Media Landscape,” Kristina Jonathan points
out that “Twitter played a political role in championing public sentiment and
offering a public platform to facilitate protest, eventually leading some countries
to revolution” [1]. Even in less extreme examples, we see the weight of social
media’s authority: Olympic athletes would share their results in real-time with
followers before television broadcasts were even caught up; hashtags are used
to organize social media conversations about specific events, social causes
or political figures; and pop culture news often breaks on Twitter before larger
media outlets know.
But can social media play as crucial a role in business? Social media can be an
afterthought when it comes to running and building your business, especially
when it seems more cost effective to spend funds on other things. Some may
still hold a lingering sentiment that social media is more frivolous than it is
business. Yet there is nothing frivolous about the importance of social media to
business marketing at all: Gartner.com tells us that “the forecast for global social
media revenue will be $29 billion by 2015” [2]. In the last two years, the amount
of time that consumers spend on social media has grown by 250% [3]. Twitter
has over 500 million active users, and beats Facebook in mobile ad revenue [4].
Stats like these show us that we ought to take social media seriously because
not only is it a big deal in our culture, it’s a big deal to our businesses. In fact, it
generates business and is a business in itself.
The forecast for global social media revenue will be
$29 billion by 2015
Source: Gartner.com
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4. If social media is not a significant part of your company’s brand presence, that
is the first thing to change in 2014. Yet the major message I want to focus on in
forecasting for social media in 2014 is this: there is much focus on what is new
in social media trends and options for business, but at the foundation, there are
truths or rules that stay true through any trend.
One rule is to be real. Chapin Clark, the copywriting chief of the NYC ad agency,
R/GA, tweets on behalf of the company and is known by his nearly 76,500
followers for his refreshingly sarcastic personality and wit, while staying relevant
to the advertising field. When asked in a recent Adweek [5] interview, “Why not
just dump the daily tweeting on to low-level staffers or agency PR flacks?” Clark
responds,
That question perfectly captures what’s wrong with a lot of corporate and brand
accounts! […] If you were in a room speaking to an audience of thousands of
people, you’d take that pretty seriously right? I don’t see how Twitter is all that
different. If you’re going to bother having an account, I think it’s worth taking a bit
of care to say something truly informative, or differentiated, or funny, or whatever.
Whether it’s a junior person or a senior person, someone in PR or creative,
whoever it is should be someone you trust to do a good job and give it some
love. [6]
Clark’s comment signals a deviation from authenticity and purpose that seems
like it should be obvious. Perhaps businesses miss that social media is, at the
most basic level, people speaking to people (before it is a company speaking to
potential clients)? Anum Hussain reminds us that “the promise of social media
was relationship” but we strayed. In agreement with Hussain’s “The Social Part
of Social Media: A Love Story,” I will also be bringing it back to what social
media is supposed to be about: relationship.
sourceS:
1
http://trends.clickhere.com/the-evolving-social-media-landscape/
2
http://www.gartner.com/id%3D1802617
3
http://mashable.com/2010/01/22/facebook-twitter-social-media-usage-stats/
4
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/iPad-Use-Nearly-Double-This-Year/1009106
5
http://www.adweek.com/
6
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/meet-man-behind-worlds-best-ad-agency-twitter-feed-153141
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5. 1
Join the Social Media party
The great thing about social media is that it truly is an
open party where everyone is welcome, and being
late is completely accepted.
In the Digital Age, social media has proven to be an essential part of business
and popular culture; a norm and necessity, rather than a passing trend. In 2013
Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers are Using Social Media to Grow
Their Businesses [1], Michael A. Stelzner states that an overwhelming 97% of
marketers use social media for their businesses. Many companies feel late to
the party if they have no social media accounts, or accounts that are so sparse
in interaction that they conclude maybe they are not meant for the social media
party. But it is important to show up, and join in. To continue on with this analogy
a little further, the great thing about social media is that it truly is an open party
where everyone is welcome, and being late is completely accepted. In fact,
most people just got there, and there are lots of people still to show. Stelzner’s
numbers reveal that 53% of marketers started using social media in the last
two years, and 75% of marketers have only been active in the last three years,
so while social media has been around for almost a decade, it is relatively new
in the business arena. Kristina Witmer quotes a CEO.com report that “68% of
Fortune 500 CEO’s have NO online social presence” [2], so the party is still
young.
97
%
of marketers use
social media for
their businesses
53 75 68
%
%
of marketers have
been using social
media in the last
of marketers have
been active in the
last
2 years 3 years
%
of Fortune 500
CEO’s have
NO online
social presence
sourceS:
1
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2013/
2
https://smcdallas.org/2013/09/03/trends-social-media/
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6. 2
Social Media is a Conversation
It is important to know your brand voice before you
start talking, or you’ll either sound like someone with
no personality or a confused one.
Most simply, social media is a conversation, and it holds true that there is an
art to being a good conversationalist. The quickest way to gauge how your
conversation with peers and customers are going is to look at your social media
dialogue. Are you talking at people and bombarding them with posts that go
without response? Is anyone interested in replying to or sharing the content
you are putting out there? If you start a conversation, do you know how to keep
it going? Do you have a purpose for talking or are you talking just for the sake
of it? It is important to know your brand voice before you start talking, or you’ll
either sound like someone with no personality or a confused one. Experts
emphasize over and over again that it is about presence over merely being
present. If you didn’t work where you did, would you be interested in looking
at your company’s social media account on your off-time? Would you give it a
second glance or at least appreciate that it’s cleverly done? In other words, ask
yourself (and others) if you would want to talk to yourself at an industry party.
Infographic: http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/introducing-the-facebook-hashtag-infographic/
6

7. 3
Just be Normal
Carrying yourself like a normal person will build your
relationship with customers better than going hashtag
crazy or tweeting every hour on the hour.
Of course, you need to be original and interesting to stand out in the social
media party, but to quote Nermin Hadzikadunic, the owner of Prestige Marketing
(and my boss), it’s also important to “just be normal.” As technology and social
media trends propel forward at real-time speed, remember that there are core
truths about communication, interactions and relationships that remain true
no matter how groundbreaking and culture-changing a social media platform
may be. Have good manners: welcome new followers, listen to comments, and
respond to questions and complaints. Carrying yourself like a normal person
will build your relationship with customers better than going hashtag crazy or
tweeting every hour on the hour (thanks for demonstrating that being overly ontrend [1] can be ridiculous, Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon).
And then again, sometimes being normal can also mean being weird. People
are quirky, and it’s that relatable personality that can give your business the
voice of a real, normally weird person, instead of the bland robotic voice
of automated and impersonal tweets. If it is appropriate to your business
and brand, social media is a great way to express humour, wit, sarcasm, or
playfulness…all the human characteristics that can make your business likable
and memorable.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/is-social-media-killing-your-brand-infographic/
sourceS:
1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA
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8. 4
Your Audience are
Themselves Creators
Anyone active in social media is essentially curating
their own personal brand: as people post Instagram
videos, tweets, pin your images to their boards, and
vlog on their Youtube channels, “they” become “we.”
As social media keeps developing and growing, so does the sophistication
and expectations of consumers, because as we can see, consumers are also
all producers of content. The Internet and social media allows for everyone to
be reviewers, critics, blog authors, commenters and legitimate voices. We as
businesses are no longer the only brands. Anyone active in social media is
essentially curating their own personal brand: as people post Instagram videos,
tweets, pin your images to their boards, and vlog on their Youtube channels,
“they” become “we.” This shift means that we need to relate to our audience with
the recognition that they have a keen sense of brand awareness. This requires
a higher level of thoughtfulness and creativity on businesses’ end, which is a
good thing; because when we do our end well, our audience has every means
of spreading their positive response.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/the-reddit-marketing-field-guide-infographic/
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9. 5
Press Play to View Your Forecast
While we’re talking about how to incorporate the things that do not change into
your social media practices, there are developments in social media that we
need to pay attention to as they signal the direction of the coming season. In
2013, one of the major markers of social media history was the introduction
of Instagram video. The immense response to this reveals a readiness and
eagerness in consumers for the video format to play a larger part in how they
experience social media. Major websites like www.nytimes.com and www.cnn.
com include video content along with images and copy. We also see that brands
are turning to video campaigns (Charlotte Ronson [1], Free People [2], Intel &
Toshiba [3]), or companies and publications utilizing Youtube channels to grow
their audience interactions (Vogue [4], Nylon Magazine [5]). There are also
corporate sponsors that fund video series from popular Youtube channels (AT&T
sponsored a Youtube series [6] from Wongfu Productions, as long as the shorts
showed their products, such as the HTC One X or the Nokia Lumia). Youtube
has changed from a medium of personal and amateur videos to professional
channels with millions of followers that allow for people to make complete
careers on creating relatable video content.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/your-video-marketing-handbook-infographic/
sourceS:
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgURWZvXrJU
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S4NWYDlSrY
3
http://www.thebeautyinsidefilm.com/
4
https://www.youtube.com/user/Americanvogue
5
https://www.youtube.com/user/NylonMagazineTV
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn7UtPxcg3w&list=PLCFB1AEEE89E7D285
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10. 6
Are You In M-commerce
M-commerce stands for mobile commerce. In “10 Digital Trends of 2013: Are
You Ready?”, Dr. Angela Hausmann draws our attention to the fact that more
and more, companies need to develop apps for smart phones, as we see that
companies who are most current have created a connection with consumers via
their smart phones. Obviously, not every business or company offers the type
of service that would require an app, but then again, there is always a creative
way to make oneself relevant. An example of a big player in M-commerce would
be Starbucks, whose app allows customers to pay for coffee by scanning their
phone, and save up transaction points for rewards. The appeal is that the app
is synced to your credit card and/or gift cards, so it’s easy to reload, and makes
payment more efficient than using cash or card as you don’t even have to take
out your wallet.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/retargeting-for-mobile-advertising-infographic/
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11. 6
Hausmann writes, “As an example of the power of mobile, 45% of Groupon’s
sales occur on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets” [1]. We
scan coupons, enter contests on Instagram, comment on Youtube videos
for giveaway prizes, and see a growing trend in companies requiring fans to
like and interact with their social media accounts to enter contests. To have
presence on the one item that everyone uses most consistently on a daily basis
is a smart direction that we will see cemented in 2014.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/holiday-shopping-gone-mobile-infographic/
sourceS:
1
http://socialmediatoday.com/marketingletter/1518801/10-digital-trends-2013-are-you-ready
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12. 7
Know Where to Focus
As the importance of social media ramps up, more and more platforms are
becoming available. Yet there are clear platforms to use to focus and grow your
business. We obviously need to be strategic with our limited time and resources,
so it is important to choose our social media medium thoughtfully. Facebook
continues to be the preferred platform [1], as 49% of marketers voted it as the
one platform they would choose if they could only use one social network. Yet
where we are going is consistent with #5, as Youtube will become a clear pillar
of online marketing and social media influence in this coming year. If you want to
move at the front of the pack, you need to consider video content, as that is the
medium that has the most draw currently, and only looks to grow in 2014. Also,
what businesses are all shoring up and educating themselves on is blogging.
Stelzner reports [2] that more than Google +, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter,
marketers are prioritizing blogging and are most keen to learn how to strengthen
their blog content. If your business is looking to develop the blog on your
website, appoint or hire someone who has a strong point of view and a longterm vision for the purpose of your blog. Have vision for what you do in social
media.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/your-video-marketing-handbook-infographic/
sourceS:
1
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2013/
2
https://smcdallas.org/2013/09/03/trends-social-media/
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13. 8
Good Content is Non-Negotiable
Site content has to speak in a brand voice that people
want to hear, about a product or service that people
should want to use.
Nothing beats this. Yes, Lee Clow says that “The Brand is the Product,” and I
believe this is true, but only when your product is already solid (in Clow’s case,
he is the creative mind behind the first Apple campaign that didn’t showcase
the product…so when your product is Apple, yes it’s safe to say you can
push the brand). Let me suggest that a business’s content is two-part; that it
is both product and brand. Who we are as a business is both A) what we do
(service or product) and B) who we are. A strong brand cannot carry a subpar product, and a strong product cannot create long-term brand loyalty and
emotional connection on its own without the help of a brand with a clear point of
view and persona. As consumers have an ever-increasing number of choices,
the standards on content pushes businesses to operate at a level beyond
professional copy on a website. Site content has to speak in a brand voice that
people want to hear, about a product or service that people should want to use.
Perhaps this is obvious, but it is still a truth that we can be intentional about.
http://www.prestigemarketing.ca/blog/top-5-online-marketing-mistakes-infographic/
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14. 9
Community
People participate in social media to have access to
the experience of community.
To disprove the argument that technology and contemporary culture has made
our behavior more isolated, we see within social media that one of the strengths
or draws is community. Google Circles, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube,
and of course Facebook all foster community and conversation, or at the very
least: access. We are not present to be present, or because everyone else is.
We are in the industry because we have something to offer, and we’re on social
media to connect with people and hopefully to connect them to what we offer.
Consumers’ willingness to partake in the social media community shows that
the content we create and consume is always with others in mind. Nobody uses
Twitter to make comments without expectation of retweets or favourites; nobody
posts on Instagram or Facebook without hope of likes, nobody posts on Youtube
without wanting viewership. People participate in social media to have access
to the experience of community. Take advantage of the features on social media
that allows for specialized groups, lists, and topic-focused conversations. Be
present in the places where your natural audience is already congregated.
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15. 10
It Takes Time
Pick one platform and do it well, or seriously plan
to allocate the money to spend on someone who
loves social media and wants to make a place for
your business at the party.
Perhaps it’s counterintuitive because our experience of social media is so
immediate due to the real-time nature of the platforms, but if we do see social
media as a means through which we grow relationship between our business
and consumers, then the old adage holds true that relationships takes time. If
you want to be excellent in your business’s use of social media (and really, why
do anything at all if you’re not going to do it well), then you have to treat it like a
relationship. You have to invest time, because to create genuine and thoughtful
content that doesn’t sound like impersonal auto-posts, you need to allow the
person or team in charge of your social media the time it takes to be creative.
When you post things just for the sake of having a Twitter account, people
can tell, I guarantee you. Good work and good content takes time, because
you have to allow for things like strategy, storyboarding and industry research.
Ultimately, good branding takes time, because everything you post is building
your brand experience. If you can only afford to pay for so many hours of social
media work, you can’t try to do everything. Pick one platform and do it well, or
seriously plan to allocate the money to spend on someone who loves social
media and wants to make a place for your business at the party. You don’t want
to miss out; this is truly a party worth being at.
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16. About the Author
Echo Quan is a Content Writer and Social Media Specialist at Prestige
Marketing in Vancouver, Canada. She is a popular culture enthusiast who
has a passion for story, good branding, and how words work. Echo believes
words should always be genuine and create conversation, relationship and
connection; and that this philosophy is vital to marketing and social media.
Her official brain training is in English Literature, and she studied at Capilano
University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Calgary (she has an
addictive personality). Besides school, Echo is also addicted to music, blogs,
and all the social media platforms she both works and plays on.
Prestige Marketing
Prestige is a digital marketing firm that helps companies get noticed online.
Prestige makes traffic a very good thing: one thing every local knows well is
what traffic patterns are like; and as a local company, we know how to get
your site online traffic through SEO analysis and strategy. We also offer affiliate
marketing management, pay-per-click advertising, media buying and offline
marketing services. We love connecting with and building up local businesses
- we believe in playing by strengths, and since what you know is always your
strength, we know our city and its leaders and its audience and its online
landscape. We want to use our knowledge to strengthen local companies,
starting with Vancouver and Toronto (where our two offices are located), as well
as national and international ones.
We provide expert strategy and solutions for companies
targeting local or international customers.
For more information about Prestige Marketing
and our services, please contact:
TEL: 604.273.0002
Email: info@prestigemarketing.ca
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