The Changing Social Media Landscape &

Best Practices

L Vehlewald

July 2014

Evolution – web 1.0 to today

• Social Media began with the era of bulletin boards and inbound marketing. • The common wisdom was to blast out information – one-way dialogue.

• The brand defined the interaction – how, when, why, what.

• “Interruptive” marketing

• We’re currently in the era of content marketing and social marketing.• The audience has changed and evolved with the technology and platforms.

• Audience expects to control the conversation.

• Interruptive marketing is being replaced by participatory marketing.

Traditional Marketing Problemsin a New-Traditional Medium

• “Old School” models of communication

• Not understanding your audience

• Not understanding the playing field

• Scattershot efforts

• Lack of meaningful content

• Lack of definition for social media success

NuanceHow to use what you already know to get where you want to go.

The Evolution of Content Blocks

Changing Social Intelligence

How to Leverage Your Data

Data (a.k.a. Your Content)• Valuable/Supportive of goals

• Searchable

• Measurable

• Actionable

• Reusable/Adaptable

Leverage (a.k.a. Your Profile)• Create new campaigns

• Create meaningful, viral content

• Stimulate activity

• Understand your audience

• Segment your market

Understanding how your virtual data works for you• Affiliates = Owned + Paid

• Properties = Owned

• Community = Owned + Social

• Channels = Social

• Advertising = Paid

• Partnerships = Paid + Earned

• Content = Owned + Paid + Social + Earned

• Influencer = Earned + Social

• Intelligence = EVERYTHING

Social Media Platformsdata + marketing + method

The Conversation Prism of Today’s Social Internet

The landscape is a little overwhelming.

Where are you going to focus your efforts?

The Usual Suspects (with donuts)

• Facebook: “I like donuts.”

• Twitter: “I’m eating a donut.”

• LinkedIn: “My skills include donut eating.”

• Instagram: “Here’s a vintage photo of my donut.”

• Pinterest: “Here’s a donut recipe.”

• Tumblr: “Trigger warning: donuts.”

• Foursquare: “This is where I go to eat donuts.”

• Vine/YouTube: “Here’s a video of me eating donuts.”

• Google+: “I’m a Google employee who eats donuts.”

Popularity Contest

1st: Facebook, 900,000,000*

2nd: Twitter, 310,000,000

3rd: LinkedIn, 255,000,000

4th: Pinterest, 250,000,000

5th: Google+, 120,000,000

6th: Tumblr, 110,000,000

7th: Instagram, 100,000,000

8th: VK, 80,000,000

9th: Flickr, 65,000,000

10th: MySpace, 42,000,000*estimated unique monthly visitors

Audience BehaviorWhat they do, why they do it, & how to get them to do what you want.

74% of all internet users are on social media

Social media has replaced porn as the majority of how we spend time on the internet.

No kidding.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/16/us-internet-book-life-idUSSP31943720080916

• Your biggest advocates have the fewest followers. 91% of brand advocates have fewer than 500 followers. “Power users” result in only 9% of brand mentions.

• The real-time nature of social media has led to the consumer expectation of a fast response. Most consumers expect replies within an hour.

• Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter drive the most traffic.

http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2013/consumers-will-punish-brands-that-fail-to-respond-on-twitter-quickly

WHY they share

http://www.business2community.com/infographics/people-share-social-networks-0943494?utm_content=bufferc0224&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#!bhL9v1

What people like to share on social networks

• Pictures – 43%

• Opinions – 26%

• Status updates – 26%

• Links to articles – 26%

• Personal recommendations – 25%

• Photos are the most common updates on Facebook and G+

• Quippy status updates are the most popular content on Twitter.

Average Facebook User71% of all internet users

Average user:

Female, age 18-29

Black, non-Hispanic

Some college

Makes less than $49,000/yr

Urban

The fastest growing user group is age 45-54.

189 million Facebook users are “mobile only”.

Average Twitter User18% of all internet users

Average Twitter user:

Age 18-29 or 30-49

College+

$75,000+/yr

Urban

The fastest growing user group is age 55-64. (Up 79% since 2012)

Timing is EverythingWhen you talk determines your audience.

Facebook*86% of posts go out Monday-Friday. User engagement peaks 18%

higher on Thursdays and Fridays.

This coincides with Facebook’s cited “Happiness Index” – spikes 10% on Fridays.

Engagement falls 3.5% below average Monday – Wednesday.

Photo posts get 39% more engagement. Emoticons increase comments by 33%.

The ideal post length is fewer than 70 characters.

80% of users connect with brands. They also check their Facebook feed 5+ times/day

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Afternoon posts get the most engagement.

1p gets the most shares. 3p gets the most clicks.

Post-dinner posts get lonely. They have no friends.*Your results may vary.http://blog.bufferapp.com/7-facebook-stats-you-should-know-for-a-more-engaging-page

Twitter*Twitter CTR is 17% higher on the weekends .

B2B engagement is higher on weekdays. B2C is a draw.

Engagement falls 3.5% below average Monday – Wednesday.

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Twitter users are 119% MORE likely to use it during business hours.

Retweets are most common in the afternoon. 5p is the sweet spot (6% increase).

Twitter CTR peaks at noon and 6p. It’s considered the “commuter peak” – 181% increase.

*Your results may vary.http://danzarrella.com/infographic-how-to-get-more-clicks-on-twitter.html

Blogging*

70% of users catch up on their blogs in the morning.Men are more likely to read blogs at night.

Mondays have the highest average traffic. 11a is the highest average traffic hour.

Most people comment on Saturdays.

Posting more than one blog per day increases the inbound links and unique views.

More blog posts are shared by readers on Thursdays.

*Your results may vary.http://blog.bufferapp.com/best-time-to-tweet-post-to-facebook-send-emails-publish-blogposts

The end. Please enjoy the cat tax.