Social Media Trends of 2014 – What Do They Mean For YOU?

The use of social media for marketing purposes is a fascinating phenomenon. What started out as a fun platform geared towards students and youth, has quickly become a massive force in online advertising. There is no way around it anymore – we depend on it.

Social media marketing has quickly transitioned from a “cool fad” to an absolute MUST for any business seeking to secure its place in both the traditional and digital marketplace. Here are some of the hottest trends to watch evolve in 2014:

1. Hashtags will become a leading search tool

Hashtags have untapped potential, not only in social networks, but also in news sites and other publishers.. Make sure to use them wisely depending on the network and audience! For example in Google+, it’s more popular to use hashtags at the end of your post, as opposed to Twitter where you can use them freely within the post to cut off space. In both Linkedin and Facebook, both networks have implemented hashtags, but some groups consider it strange and unprofessional to use them.

2. Social media via mobile is mandatory

This has been a long time coming. Two years ago, having a mobile friendly interface was a bonus. Now with almost 50% of content being read on smartphones/tablets, it’s crucial that your blog/social media content is viewable and optimized for these devices.

3.SoLoMo marketing: it’s going to grow

For those unfamiliar, here’s some background…SoLoMo is an integration of one’s social media platforms and physical location with one’s mobile device. Groupon utilizes this very well by using social marketing and mobile check-ins as a way to drive business to local merchants. Localization and personalization is the name of the game from this point forward.

4. Less will be more

As Pinterest has successfully demonstrated: simple and clean pictures attract and maintain attention – clutter is out. In an article by Forbes, with regards to the flashy, complicated, sensory input we’re fed every day, “ there is no way to continue at this pace”, and therefore simplicity shall rise.

Bottom line: clean and simple isn’t necessarily as boring as it’s thought out to be.

5. Paid social media usage will become a necessity…not just an advantage

Companies using Facebook pages are finding increasing difficulty reaching their audience through unpaid, organic promotion. Facebook has admitted that it changed its newsfeed algorithm so even those companies with thousands of fans are seeing only a tiny fraction of their posts viewed in newsfeeds.

6. New platforms will focus on specific niches

We already heard of MySpace’s comeback with a renewed focus on music artists and fans. I can see more niche networks developing for geeks, finance addicts, fashion-holics and so on. What does it mean for you? If you want to decrease your social media marketing budget while targeting your audience, look for those new niche networks. Getting a head start while there might yet not be a lot of traction will, get you to a relevant audience and more focused results.

Follow these trends to boost your marketing efforts for 2014 and beyond.

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