Social media marketing is touted to be in a state of chaos and disruption, although that is not true. However, we canexpect some huge changes this year, owing to the social media trends of 2017 that necessitated change in various scenarios.

Capitalize on these Social Media Trends to Protect Your Brand

Understanding social media trends is the first step in capitalizing on them. When you examine and grasp the meaning of these trends it can benefit your brand, and that’s the goal of all good marketers. Here are some major social upheavals you must be aware of.

Six Real Social Media Trends You Must Understand Today

1. Changes to Facebook News Feed

Facebook has tweaked its news feed algorithm several times over, and organic reach for many businesses has been dwindling for years. But according to recent announcements, Facebook would throttle most brand-based content in favor of more familiar people-based content from their “friends and family.” This change is owing to the fact that people are now keen to explore more private social networks that rule the mobile world, especially Snapchat and Instagram.

2. Twitter Cracks Down on Bulk Posts

Spammers and bots have been consistently attacking Twitter with troll messages and incorrect statements to push their agendas and political affiliations without any check on the content. Twitter has now planned to nip it in the bud, with its announcement that as of Feb 2018, Twitter users and related apps will not be able to post similar content from multiple accounts. No auto-engagements will be entertained at any scale, with no activity related to mass-liking or retweeting of posts allowed.

3. Decline of Social Sharing

Social media metrics company BuzzSumo has revealed that the average number of social shares per post has declined by a whopping 50 percent in 2017 compared to 2015, indicating that people are not as keen as before to share similar posts, since most hot topics become quickly saturated with similar content from different sources. With many social shares and links, the topmost agencies are the winners.

4. Dark Social and its Social Value

Although dark social might indicate something nefarious in terms of social sharing methods, rest assured, it is not so! “Dark social” refers to hidden content. It combines all social media & social sharing activities outside of public social media posts. The approach refers to emails, messages, forums, and even word-of-mouth publicity.

Until now, dark social has not been tracked or measured, and there was no ability to connect results to campaigns directly. Dark social is on the rise today since people are wary of the information security provided by social media sites. Much of the online sharing activity, and personal conversations, are now evidently happening in private.

5. Ad Blindness and Blocking

Paid social ads showcase an approach for brands to get to intended audiences, thus making the overall reach of the audience valuable to their business. But now trends indicate users are becoming blind to ads, and ignoring most of them! Also, consumers are now keen to block ads, and with the rise of passive ad-blocking options, they can automatically block excessive ads through their browsers.

6. Influencer Abuse

As the organic reach of social posts declined in recent times, marketers relied on influencer marketing to deliver the goods. People were keen on listening to celebrities and various “thought leaders,” and these influencers were seen as catalysts to overcome social media throttles.

However, some well-publicized scandals and tweaked stats revealed that many influencers did not really influence people as much as they claimed, with many of them relying on bots or purchased followers. This foolish behavior has reflected in the dip in popularity in their brands, too.

Social Media Trends Changing How We Market

Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing have evolved over the years, but recently, the new updates as well as people’s behavioral changes have altered the nature of campaigns for real marketers. Social media channels are maturing considerably, with better benefits than ever before – but it’s up to you to keep current, use best practices, and avoid the shortcuts that can most definitely damage the brand.

Is Social Getting Anti-Social? #SocialMedia #Trends Affecting Everyone by @Ozaemotion #RocksDigital
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Have you been avoiding the reality of these social media trends? Have another “must-know” trend to report? Get social, and share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Is Social Getting Anti-Social? Six Social Media Trends that are Affecting Everyone appeared first on Rocks Digital.

Today, the power of digital marketing is known throughout the world. Picking up and using digital marketing tips is a necessity, as digital advertising is a major component of modern-day marketing strategies. It is essential to practice digital marketing strategies to stay in business long-term. So whether your business is Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Client (or Consumer – B2C), to grow your online presence, you need to wisely and correctly implement your digital advertising efforts. Why? Because implementing these digital marketing strategies will ultimately foster better conversions and sales!

And because advances in technology mold every aspect of daily communication, it is always time to focus and utilize your efforts on executing a proper digital strategy. Marketing tips are essential whether you’re thinking about developing a new website, starting to engage through social media, or reviewing your current digital activities.

8 Digital Marketing Tips to Work Smarter and More Efficiently

Proper implementation of digital marketing strategies can take your business to the next level and ensure that it creates an impact. Use these tips to improve your digital marketing today.

1. Do Proper Research

Research is always important in any phase of marketing strategies. You need to conduct proper research based on the target audiences and past trends. You should collect the proper data to support your actions. You might need to focus on changing customer needs and demands. It is essential to keep up with this challenge and use the right information. Hence, research proves to be beneficial in planning your marketing strategy.

2. Develop a Digital Marketing Strategy

Running a digital campaign without a coherent strategy in place is a bit like setting off on a journey without any directions. If you do not have a clear and focused plan in place, how can you expect the campaign to make an impact, or to measure meaningful results or ROI? Set aside the time to plan a clear strategy that will underpin business growth and campaign success.

3. Take Advantage of Social Media

With a variety of social media platforms available, it becomes easy to interact with both existing and prospective customers. Social sharing and social media is both interactive and engaging. It is important to consistently update your associated accounts in order to reach the targeted audience. This uplifts brand loyalty and brand recognition.

4. Know Your Customers and End-Users

When it comes to digital advertising, it is important to note just who the target audience is and what they are up to. When it comes to digital marketing, Google and Facebook are definitely leading the race. These platforms have the best options to define what you want to market – and to whom – within a comfortable budget.

5. Use Visuals

You should create strong and innovative content to engage customers. This is the key to success in today’s fast-paced world. With the attention span of today’s population being seven seconds, visual marketing is a highly effective way of storytelling, helping to attract and captivate your customers and prospects through digital media.

6. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is an innovative tool in digital marketing. It helps you bring out your brand to customers and new audiences. It helps your customers to know more about you and your work. It is important in terms of brand awareness and recognition. Email marketing can prove to be a vital part of your targeted campaigns.

7. Be Consistent

You need to be consistent in your digital marketing strategy. Integrate your digital marketing activities with your overall marketing plan. A proper digital marketing strategy helps you portray your brand and its key objectives to your core audiences. This in turn should synergize with other marketing activities.

8. Analyze the Strategies and Plans

Use proper analytical tools to measure the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts. Google Analytics is one great tool when it comes to monitoring the visitors and growth of your website. Most email marketing channels and social media also provide analytical tools. These analytical tools measure engagement and reach of your campaigns.

Digital Marketing Tips Can Help Turn the Key to Success!

Ultimately, digital advertising is the key to success for any company. All you need to do is market effectively to the right audience(s). If you are looking forward to enhancing your tactics and practices, try integrating these techniques into your digital marketing strategy.

B2B or B2C? 8 #DigitalMarketing Tips Built for Both! by @Ozaemotion #RocksDigital #Business
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Did these tips ring the “work smarter, not harder” bell? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Because having a solid social media presence is now a must for each brand, use these social media tips to strengthen your social efforts. Social sharing and social media needs a tailored approach, as a messy approach can disengage followers, even resulting in missed opportunities and negative impact on revenue potential.

Fine-Tune Your Social Approach with these 5 Social Media Tips

1. Write And Promote Content

One of the best ways to win customers on social media is through consistent engagement with good content. People on social media consume content that delivers value into their lives. They do not read articles that just present a mediocre view of the industry. The content should tell them what they did not know before.

One should definitely create a blog to connect with social media marketing. Your customers can read your blog to determine your credibility on social media and your offerings. Make your posts emotionally appealing, since advertising research is based on emotional responses to ads and bears influence on product purchases.

2. Build Relationship with Influencers

You identified your target customers online, but every prospect does have a varying opinion about your offer after reading some blogs. These experts are influencers of the buying decisions of consumers, and therefore every company needs to be related to some influencers who can bring in reviews and blogs that give insights.

Make an extra effort to find out the best influencers in your field and build relationships with them. You can contact them through their social media profiles, which also feature a massive fan following.

Build relationship by first linking their pages with your content. You need to express some intelligent opinions and comments to impress them. You can write posts on their blogs that will be accessed and read by their followers. Explore their huge following so that you can get them to speak about your offerings, and thus reach out to millions of potential customers quickly.

3. Don’t Be Afraid of Debate

Don’t be afraid to get into a debate about your services or fields. A real debate can spark good discussions and even aid in building your brand, since you can act as an authority in your field. Pick out some ideas and topics that would appeal to your prospective audience and even encourage people to share views and opinions. Just make sure to handle debates properly, without heated and controversial arguments.

Debates can be thought-provoking, and can even provide an insight into your intended audience, getting the people talking, and probably even land sales!

4. Deliver Value, Not Just Ads

Your social media audience is connected with your brand since they are interested in your offerings. Update them on present offerings as well as future plans and promotions. But do not just share posts on sales and products. Mix in some company culture posts, and offers that would appeal to your prospects.

You would not want to push away followers with predictable ads. Instead, deliver value to ensure that all your prospects are engaged consistently.

5. Understand Analytics

Many brands have not yet activated social analytics. They use social media for their posts, but do not use analytics to measure the engagement of each of the posts to assess what is working, and what is not.

Put These Social Media Tips to Work!

Do not throw out random posts and then expect that it would bear results. Assess the best type of content that receives better engagement than others to drive more social traffic. Learn how your audience reacts to your posts. Optimize your social sharing and social media efforts so that they cater to their reactive habits.

5 #SocialMedia Tips to Help Win Customers by @Ozaemotion #RocksDigital #Business
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From relationship building, creating content & more, it’s all about being social. What’s your favorite social media tip, or even a least favorite must-do?

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