This year will definitely be a significant year for Social Media Marketing. From driving targeted traffic to websites and improving rankings on organic search results to improving a brand recognition and communicating with prospective customers, social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Instagram provide businesses with huge opportunities that other marketing tools can’t offer.
The iRISEmedia team prepared the Top 10 predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2013 that will make a difference.
1) Twitter Analytics – Last year Twitter introduced customized profile pages for users that include profile header photo and profile background to showcase the brand image.. One important component still missing on Twitter is an effective analytics tool like Facebook offers to its users. Because more and more companies are now looking for measurable results from Social Media Marketing, we predict that Twitter will release analytics for its users in 2013.
2) Facebook Search Engine – Nowadays, users are searching on Facebook not only for other people, but also for brand pages, products, businesses, applications, and more. It opens up a huge opportunity for Facebook to get into search. In 2013, Facebook will introduce a search engine that will combine both traditional search and social media.
3) YouTube TV – YouTube continues to be the second largest search engine displaying relevant and related content to its users. In 2012, a YouTube video hit more than 1 billion views for the first time. Youtube has become a major platform for news and is used by bloggers and organizations. In 2013, news companies will be providing live streaming videos and YouTube will become an online alternative to television.
4) The Year of the Tablets & Smartphones – 2013 will be the year of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Microsoft has recently released the new Windows 8 that is fully adapted for touchscreen devices. Google released the Nexus 7 tablet. Apple is offering a mini-version of its well-known iPad.Not only will we see a wider range of devices released this year, but they will become more affordable, and get in the hands of many more consumers. (In Canada, we predict that Tablet usage will double!)
Which leads us to our next prediction….
5) Mobile users are now more engaged on Social Media channels than non-mobile users. Facebook will offer more mobile advertising solutions to businesses and increase its revenue from mobile News Feed ads, Promoted Posts and Sponsored search results.
6) The Release of Google Glass – Google Glass was recognized as one of the best tech inventions in 2012 by Time Magazine. Will the product become available to the public in 2013? Well, Google is always pushing the limits of its technology and is most likely to become the first player in the marketplace for this technology.
7) Increased Usage of Social Media Management Tools – Tools that provide effective management, measurable results and reliable reports from a variety of Social Media channels will be in high demand in 2013. Brands have increased their presence across multiple Social Media platforms. Therefore, Social Media tools will help monitor, manage and measure the effectiveness of Social Media campaigns.
8) The Growth of Intagram, Pinterest & Flickr – 2013 will be the year of rapidly growing Social Media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest andFlickr, whereas Facebook will dominate and continue to be the main platform for sharing visual content with the public.
9) More Social Media Integration on Blogs – Blogging will continue to expand with a further integration of Social Media platforms onto blogs. This year, bloggers will be using a variety of platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, and Instagram for creating visually engaging and interesting content.
10) Visuals will Reign – Brands will focus on creating and sharing visual content like infographics, photos, “how to” solvers, comics, slideshows and videos.
Sources:
http://www.techwyse.com/blog/social-media-marketing/social-media-predictions-for-2013/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-predictions-2013/
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-trends/2013_social_media_predictions/
