The experts in the industry are seeing a bit of a bumpy ride for advertisers and promoters using this channel.

Now that 2013 has come to a close, analysts are scrambling to assemble their data to help them to decide what 2014 social media marketing is likely to involve, including the most effective trends and the changes that will occur regarding actual usage of the networks.

The results of these efforts are already coming in and are helping marketers to rethink their strategies.

Following the trends from last year, the shape of 2014 social media marketing trends is starting to become clearer. There have been a number that have already been identified and that have been making technology news headlines since the start of the year. What is clear is that it will certainly hold a position of notable importance within any successful online and mobile strategy.

The evidence and data from last year are helping to provide a more solid shape to 2014 social media marketing campaigns.

Among the strongest predictions for this year have been the following:

• Images supporting statements generate the most attention, with comments accompanied by pictures receiving 53 percent more likes than image-free posts on Facebook. On Twitter, tweets with supporting images received 18 percent more clicks and150 percent more retweets and 89 percent more favorites than text alone.

• Snapchat and Instagram will carve out a bigger share for themselves in terms of business uses for reaching consumers. Instagram is already the fastest growing network with every day bringing 40 million photo uploads from its 150 million users.

• Mobile marketing will be a vital part of an online strategy. Simply having a website that is smartphone or tablet friendly will not be considered enough for the necessary impact. Features that can be used in store – such as mobile coupons, product reviews, etc – will be among the most popular efforts in this direction.

• 2014 social media marketing will become a serious effort for a growing number of brands. These techniques are already being used by 93 percent of marketers, but the actual focus on the presence they hold on the networks will increase considerably.

A recent survey has shown that people in Canada love their mobile devices.

According to the results that have been published from a recent Canadian smartphone trends survey, owners of these devices have been using them to do everything from checking the weather, completing their banking tasks, and even ringing in the New Year.

Almost half of the people in that country feel that virtual communication will replace interactions in person.

The survey was conducted online by Ipsos and it focused on Canadian mobile trends, as well as those from 26 other countries around the globe. It asked 19,000 respondents about the apps that they use the most frequently. When it came to the applications that were most often used in Canada, 47 percent said that they had weather forecasts at the very top of their usage list.

These Canadian smartphone trends didn’t come as much of a surprise to many people.

As people in that country are often focused on discussing – or complaining about – the weather, and as the Christmas season saw a massive ice storm blanketing the center and eastern portion of the country, it is no mystery as to why many people would be looking to those applications the most frequently, particularly over the last little while.

At the opposite end of the scale, device users in Saudi Arabia used weather apps the least frequently, said the survey. Though people in Canada did prefer those applications, it was the people in South Africa who used them the most frequently, as 56 percent used them on a regular basis. The report also indicated that people with a higher income appear to use weather apps the most frequently.

Another poll, also performed by Ipsos, suggested that the U.S. is the largest downloader of gaming and music apps for both tablets and for smartphones. When it came to weather applications, they were third most used.

The Ipsos research also pointed out the Canadian smartphone trends in which 33 percent of device users in that country use their banking apps more than music, fitness, travel and news. Among the participants, 42 percent said that they didn’t use any of the apps within the 8 categories defined by the survey.