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The Top 10 Social Media Trends for 2013
Dec 19 2012
Last week, we had a training on Trends & Planning for Your 2013 Social Media Strategy, and it was a huge success. We weren’t surprised that it sold out, due to the fact that so many people are gearing up for 2013 after the huge year for social media in 2012. Here are the top 10 social media trends for 2013 to get you started on your planning for the new year! To get more help preparing for the new year, check out our 2013 Social Media training online!
Social media is clearly important for any business that hopes to be around in the next 5 years, so the important thing now is to figure out what’s working and what’s not – through measuring social media. When it comes to measurement, always remember your objectives: is the point of measuring to improve your efficiency, to justify ROI, to make your boss happy? That will help you decide what exactly you want to measure (ie traffic to your site, engagement on networks, etc). For more in-depth help, you can always check out our Measuring Social Media online training program.
Small things can have big impacts, especially in social media. So when you’re planning out your strategy on social networks, think of the risks your organization might face and what the worst case scenario looks like. Make sure that anything you post is relevant and respectful and that you won’t be offending anyone. Always remember it’s important to clearly separate your personal and professional use of social media – too many companies have undergone issues when an employee accidentally tweets on the corporate Twitter instead of their own personal Twitter.
Social networks are starting to affect search engines – plenty of companies are finding that their Pinterest boards are even showing up in search! Social networks are now sending signals to search engines to help them know what’s more important, and studies are starting to show that people talking about your content on social networks will impact how you rank in search engines. So your task here is clear – make sure you’re all over social media in 2013… for the right reasons.
Google+ was the fastest growing social network of all time. Although many people are writing it off as a “social ghost town” you shouldn’t ignore this network just yet. Google owns search, and therefore, Google+ is now impacting search engine results. Having your content get +1’s in Google+ has more of an impact than your likes and retweets. It pays to start developing your communities on Google+ now, so that when things really take off, you’ll be ready.
Google now tracks who you are as a person or as a company through your Google+ page, and other networks are starting to follow suit. Make sure you link your website, articles you write, and articles about you to your Google+ page, and you’re going to notice a lot more action in your search rankings. You want to ensure that you give your website overall authorship to your company page on Google+, but that any blog post or articles you write will link to your own personal profile page on Google+. For more help with all of this, check out our Google+ online training.
Your goal for 2013 should be coming up with ways to be heard across the web. Start with your Klout score and your business’s Klout score – it looks at a number of factors to show how truly influential you are across the web (to ensure you don’t make yourself feel bad, don’t look at Justin Bieber’s Klout score… you’ll just get depressed about how high his number is compared to your own). As companies look to grow relationships and use other people to spread their brand message, having influence and outreach on the web does matter. Start building your brand into the conversations that people are having, and think of ways to grab their attention (like sharing helpful articles or information related to your industry).
Today in social media, we’re overwhelmed! Every second in 2012 there are:
People are consistently looking for new and shocking information, so if you’re going to be heard, you need to plan this out ahead of time. Look at what your fans are talking about, post answers to the questions they need, share funny videos and pieces of content, etc.
Consider different types of content in addition to what you’re posting now – you want to always keep your fans engaged and surprised. In order to break through the clutter, more and more brands are using different mixes of content… infographics, images, slideshows, visual eBooks, surveys/polls, trivia, whitepapers, videos, PDFs, webinars and more… Remember to never get too boring!
Social media users are tired of companies shouting useless and boring information at them on websites like Facebook and Twitter. If you want to really catch the attention of your fans, followers, and potential customers, you need to share visual content. Studies even show that photos are liked twice as much as any other content on Facebook. If you need help with your visual social media marketing, check out our website visualsocialmediamarketing.com to get helpful tips, case studies, and information on where you can pre-order a copy of our upcoming book on visual social media marketing!
The real thing to think about when it comes to online marketing is that it’s harder to get through to people than it used to be… 88% of businesses are now on social media, so you are fighting against every single one of them. Organic reach that brands have gotten from social networks is going to be harder and harder to get – so look once again at all the previous tips to come up with ways to stand out!
Now there’s no time to lose, get to it! 2013 is almost here and your social media needs to be ready. Again, to get more in-depth information and help creating an action plan for you and your business in 2013, check out our Social Media Trends for 2013 training.
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