Tag: social media trends

As the environment continues to mature and grow it is pushing other techniques aside.

Recent analyses and reports are showing that social media marketing is not only greatly expanding in its use and effectiveness, but it appears to be achieving its goals at the expense of display advertising.

Using social networks is proving to be much more appealing to consumers who are growing weary of other ad forms.

Recent research by IZEA, a social sponsorship startup, has revealed that after having surveyed 10,000 brand marketers, social influencers, and social media consultants, approximately one in three marketers are equally weary of display ads as has been seen from the side of consumers. On the other hand, social media marketing appears to be continuing to expand and mature on every level.

The social media marketing study revealed that actions in this area are improving in every direction.

For example, the use of sponsored photos has increased to 33 percent in 2013 after having been only 24 percent at the same time last year. Moreover, 29 percent of marketers said that they had been using Pinterest’s sponsored pins opportunity, said the report.

IZEA also pointed out that when comparing the revenue generated by sponsored images with that of display ads, it is the sponsorships that bring in more money according to 55.7 percent of the participants in their study.

At the same time, though, the rise of promotions and advertising in social networks has led to a notably greater demand from influencers. In fact, these individuals who are highly connected should now increasingly expect to receive brand compensation for making mention of the products or services that they are selling, said the report. Twenty six percent of influencers have said that the amount of time that they spent in the maintenance of their social presence can now be compared to the hours that they would apply to full time employment.

Equally, though, social media marketing remains a confusing environment, as a considerable percentage of influencers have not yet completely mastered the best practices for compensation disclosure, as the FTC now requires that this must occur when a substantial reward is traded for the creation of content.

Recent data analysis has revealed that age plays an important role in the popularity of these networks.

According to a recent release from Doug Anmuth, an analyst from JPMorgan, there are some significant social media marketing trends being revealed that have to do with the age of the users of the various networks.

What he found was that the user base at Twitter tends to be younger than all other large networks, for example.

At the same time, Anmuth also pointed out that on the other end of these social media marketing trends is that the users of LinkedIn are slightly older than those of other networks. He revealed that Twitter may lean toward the younger users, it still has users across every age range. The heart of its user group in the United States is made up of people between the ages of 13 and 44. The age range representing the largest group of its users is from 25 to 34. That said, 10.1 percent of its users are between the ages of 13 and 17, which represents a sizeable group. Equally, 18.2 percent of its users are 18 to 24 years old.

This knowledge, as well as the ages on other networks, is important to social media marketing trends and campaigns.

The reason is that the fact that there is a difference of this nature from one network to the other could change the way that ads are placed and promotions are expressed from one platform to the next.

To demonstrate the difference, looking at Facebook, it reveals that the user range is considerably broader. Still the largest social network in the world, its largest segment is made up of 25 to 34 year olds, at 19 percent of its American user base. Another 17 percent was represented, each, by the groups of users in the 34 to 44 year old range and the 45 to 54 year olds.

At the other end of the scale, LinkedIn, the professional network, leans much more to an older crowd, with the majority of its American user base made up of people aged 45 through 54. Only 9.6 percent of LinkedIn users were within the 18 to 24 age group. Social media marketing trends may soon need to differ from one network to the next to ensure that they will appeal to the largest groups of users.