Social Media Changes for 2014

Social media has certainly come a long way. Remember when we were all on Myspace?  Who knew how many new networks we would have in upcoming years.  The digital world evolves quickly.  Here are a four changes we can expect for 2014.

(The image is by Pink.up (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)

1. More Graphics

According to research, people like graphics.  In fact, Facebook posts with pictures get twice as many likes as those without.  This is not surprising, as Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr have gained popularity.  Visual content is a very important part of social media and there will be much more opportunities for it in the near future.

How to Keep Track of Mobile Devices That Access Your Website

Currently, there are more smart phone users than computer users who access the web with their devices.  By 2015, there will be 10 billion mobile devices using the internet.  Thirty percent more smart phones were sold compared to PCs in 2013. [1]  So, as you can see, the mobile internet devices are growing at a much greater rate than the personal computers.  This means that it is almost mandatory that you have some way to track these smart phones on your website if you want to attract customers from mobile devices.

(Image by U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian A. Stone [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Three Things To Keep In Mind When Using Social Media For Business

1. Define Success

One of my coworkers likes to ask a question that is consistently provocative and always catches people, surprisingly, off-guard: “What does success look like to you?”  Many people start on a journey without deciding where they’re going; as the Cheshire Cat says—paraphrased—in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” 

Public uses social media in emergencies

As the world is becoming an increasingly social culture, in tune with one another, humans are relying on social media during times of need to both gather information and call out for help.   In emergency situations, our natural reaction is evolving into a call out for aid via Twitter and Facebook, not just a phone call to emergency services like 911.  We are using social media to obtain up-to-date information during emergencies and to share data in the form of geographical data, text, pictures and video.

Image of Hindenburg_burning.jpg by Gus Pasquerella derivative work: Przykuta (Hindenburg_burning.jpg, Wikinews waves) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Summer 2000

I was in San Francisco walking the streets sightseeing.  I saw a person selling paintings on the sidewalk with very few interested buyers.  A few months later, I had a very different experience at Disneyland where a guitarist was playing a catchy number to which his group was performing various acrobatics and selling puppets.  It was quite visible that the guitarist was crowded with families who were enjoying the music, the acrobatics and a lot more were buying the puppets too. 

(Image by Zeljko.filipin (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

What was the difference between the approaches of the painter and the guitarist to sell their products?

Influence and Mobilize Social Media Selectively For the Right Customers

There are a variety of factors that need to be considered when attempting to tweak your social media usage as an attractor for customers that fit your target demographic.  Each Social Media outlet (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.) provides its users with different services and therefore attracts specific kinds of traffic to their website.  The methods that they use are precisely the same ones that you can use to maximize your social media’s effectiveness.  By far the largest social media outlet, Facebook, receives an unbelievable amount of user traffic every day. Their users are from all over the world as well. 

(The image is by Alexander van Dijk [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Today, at the end of most of the TV commercials, company websites, commercial ads and banners on the street and even the politicians’ campaigns are having the sign of Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn by asking you to “Connect with us on ..." . For any company to grow, it needs to boost its social media visibility and interactions, they need more tweets  and more likes .

"It is not just about creating long lists of followers but rather having a sincere desire to grow and nourish genuine relationships and doing whatever it takes to ensure they happen." [1]

Importance of Social Media

We all realize the importance of social media in the professional and personal realm in this day and age.  It also helps that most the social media outlets are fairly simple to learn and use.  After all, it is supposed to appeal to the masses, whether young or old.  Millions of people have access to and regularly use channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. for their entertainment needs.  This makes it easy for organizations to gather information and feedback from the internet to aid product enhancement.  The issue for the organization is now implementing the correct social media strategy in order to effectively use social media to their advantage.  With so many readily available channels to reach customers, organizations have relished in this digital movement, as it requires much less effort on their part and the effects of a cause are more easily recognized.

A Career In Social Media

While I was obtaining my undergraduate degree, I worked as an intern in the Finance department of a fairly contemporary and trendy medium-sized company.  Nothing about them was traditional at all.  I remember meeting a woman from the Media department, who told me her title was “Social Media Coordinator”.  I was confused as to what that department did, and even more confused as to why we needed someone to handle our barely existent social media presence.  I figured it was only appropriate that a modern company had such an uncommon position.  It was unheard of for large companies to offer coupons on Facebook, and reply to consumer’s tweets.  Little did I know, this was when social media was exploding into the forefront of sensationalizing the way companies would communicate to their consumers and vice versa.  Even today, I still hear many of my peers doubt that a career in social media can be fulfilling or as important as their counterparts in Marketing or other media disciplines. 

(The image is by Paola peralta (Own work) and used under the creative commons license [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)