2014 is already a month in and for many small businesses it has been more of the same when it comes to social media marketing. There is a lot of frustration among small business owners trying to run a successful social media marketing campaign and this is mostly because small online business owners simply don’t understand how to market their business on social media platforms. I believe that if they understood 1 how social media works and 2 they understand the trends that are taking place on social media platforms then they will be able to better market their business. We are going to concentrate on the trends that will take place in 2014.
- Investing In Social Media Marketing Will Become a Requirement – When I say investing in social media marketing I do mean spend money. A lot of small business owners make the mistake of thinking that social media marketing is free and that they can go post a couple times a week about the great product or service they are offering and it will be enough. This can’t be further from the truth. Many social media platforms have developed different marketing tools that will help you market your business on their social media platform. As social media is becoming a more popular place for businesses to market to their consumers and as it is becoming more integrated with search engine optimization, it is absolutely vital to your businesses online success that they invest in social media marketing.
- Google Plus Is Becoming a Major Factor – This one should of been easy to predict. When most people are running a SEO campaign they are working to get found on Google and if they show up on any other search engines then that is just a bonus. With Google controlling SEO it was only a matter of time until they integrated Google Plus into their SEO algorithms. This may be upsetting to a lot of people but in order to rank highly on Google you must play by Google’s rules.
- Use of Micro Videos – This can be a great marketing tool for you to begin using on your social media pages. What exactly are micro videos you may be asking? A micro video is simply a short video, usually 3 minutes or less in length. These are becoming extremely popular on the different social media platforms. If you don’t believe me just scroll through your friends list and see how many Vine videos have been posted.
- End of Four Square as We Know It – Now I am not predicting Four Square to go out of business but I am predicting that they will have to change up their model. People are beginning to become more concerned and aware of the privacy issues caused by socail media. With Four Square a person advertises to the world where they are at and that they are not home. This is a great tool for thieves and stalkers. That is why you will see less and less people that use Four Square.
These are 4 trends that will play a major role when it comes to social media marketing in 2014. If you pay attention to the trends you will be able to get ahead of your competitors and beat them to every turn. Staying one step ahead of your competitors can be key to the success of your online business. Any competitive advantage you can get is great so why not take advantage of one as easy as this.