8 Social Media Marketing Trends to Watch

In March, Social Media Marketing World lured me and 2,500 other social media marketers to San Diego for a 2-day conference packed with insights from the best-known names in blogging, tweeting, posting, podcasting and marketing online today.

Over the next several months, while I have virtual access to the sessions I missed while lying on the beach gazing across the Pacific, I’ll be blogging about conference highlights to share top tips and takeaways with you.

The conference kicked off with a keynote from Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner. Pulling research from his 7th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report, he presented 8 trends of Social Media Marketing: What the Newest Research Reveals.

Unbox Therapy YouTube video iPhone 6 plus bend test

Back in September, a video blogger named Lewis rose to the tops of headlines when he performed the iPhone 6 Plus Bend Test on his YouTube channel, Unbox Therapy.  He garnered 33 million views in just 4 days, leading to coverage in more than 4,600 articles, proving that…

Trend #1: YouTube is powerful.

According to the survey, 56 percent of marketers want to improve their YouTube knowledge, as 66 percent plan to increase their activity this year.

A few months after Stelzner found this video, Google emailed him, as one of the first to view what became a Top Ten YouTube video. The email included convenient buttons for sharing the link across Google+, Twitter and Facebook, helping the video rack up millions more views and proving that…

Trend #2: Social media drives traffic.

“Those of you that are only using social media to respond in customer service or community development, need to understand social is an incredible mobilizer of driving traffic back to your content,” Stelzner said, and in the survey, 78 percent of marketers agreed.

Michael Stelzner Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing World 2015 San Diego
Michael Stelzner looks into the future of social media marketing to reveal 8 trends at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego.

In fact, social media networks are starting to leverage their own native video tools to help users drive more traffic. The day before Stelzner’s keynote, Facebook announced that videos uploaded on Facebook can now be embedded elsewhere. There’s already 360 percent more video content on Facebook’s news feed than there was a year ago, and with Zuckerberg saying that “video is a big priority,” Facebook’s video capabilities will continue to grow – proving that…

Trend #3: Native video is an untapped frontier.

Stelzner predicts that YouTube will see heated competition as social media platforms launch their own answers to video. Facebook’s not the only one; Twitter announced its 30-second native video, taking tweets from 140 characters to as much as you can say in half a minute.

Already, 57 percent of marketers use video, and 72 percent plan to increase their video use. Marketers are starting to experiment with native video platforms like Instagram (36 percent), Vine (4 percent) and SnapChat (2 percent).

Whatever the newest video outlet, one channel still reigns:

Trend #4: Facebook is BIG for marketers.

When asked to pick their single most important social platform, most marketers chose Facebook. It’s still more popular than every other social network combined.

Social Media Marketing World - Industry Report Results - Social Media Trends 2015 Facebook

At least 93 percent of marketers use Facebook and, in fact,…

Trend #5: Facebook is actually growing!

This year, 62 percent of marketers plan to increase their Facebook activity, and 67 percent want to learn more about it – which is more than any other channel, despite Facebook’s relative maturity.

Social Media Marketing World - Industry Report Results  - Social Media Marketing Trends 2015 - Channels to Learn More About

Of course, new social media channels pop up constantly, putting marketers in a plight of attention deficiency:

Social Media Marketing World Michael Stelzner marketing distractions cartoon

So how should we respond to new channels?

Trend #6: Marketers wait and see.

Most social media marketers stay on the sidelines. A few might register their usernames. About a third will kick the tires quietly. Only 5.4 percent jump into new channels.

Social Media Marketing World - Industry Report Results - Social Media Marketing Trends 2015 - How to respond to new marketing channels

“I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t try new things,” Stelzner said. “What I am suggesting is that we have a tough job. There’s a lot of things we have to cover. My recommendation is to not spread yourself too thin and not get distracted by every new squirrel that comes by. New channels will either make it or they won’t; it’s not going to matter if you rush in.”

Sure, some early adopters started podcasting in 2005 – and some gave up when it waned. But now that podcast popularity is waxing again, opportunities abound. Now, it’s not just big media companies like NPR and HBR ruling the top ranks; they’re surrounded by podcast celebrities with no traditional media backgrounds, like Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income) and John Lee Dumas (Entrepreneur on Fire) – who both spoke at #SMMW15 – proving that…

Trend #7: Podcasting is a greenfield opportunity.

Podcasting will only get bigger, fueled by the fact that Apple products come with a podcast app installed and cars have smart dashboards with Apple iTunes built in. Even CBS, seeing the end of terrestrial radio, is adding podcasters to its network because it realizes they bring much larger audiences than local broadcasters.

Just less than 10 percent of marketers currently podcast – which is up from 6 percent last year. 42 percent want to learn more about it, compared to just 28 last year. One fourth plan on increasing their podcasting efforts in 2015 – and you’ll be hearing more from them.

“Want to get on a stage someday? Start a podcast,” Stelzner said, listing 40+ podcasters who spoke at the event. “What’s really cool is you can track it. Unlike traditional radio, we can tell exactly how many people are listening, when it’s peaking, which episodes are more valuable than others.”

Speaking of which…

Trend #8: Measurement is attainable.

…but you have to measure the right things. Stelzner charges his social media team with one question: Are our social activities working? He asks them to consider metrics the company actually cares about, like email acquisition.

The answer to this question is more difficult than the activities themselves. According to the report, only 42 percent of marketers know how to measure the ROI of social media, but 88 percent want to know. You should learn how to track your efforts to business goals, but don’t get buried in analytics.

“So many of us get caught in lead acquisitions and measurements and calling people things that aren’t people words,” Stelzner said. “I want to remind you that social media is about being social.”

>> Contact Bantamedia for help leveraging the latest marketing trends to grow your business. >>

Image credit: Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner, Social Media Marketing World presentation