Online Marketing Tendencies

Making sense of the puzzle

#1. ROI MetricsDevoting financial resources to content production implies

that there is a growing need to measure success. This need has given rise to numerous social media analytics applications, divided into 2 general groups:

•Measure your engagement across popular social networking sites. (ex: PostRankAnalytics)•Assign a measurement of your overall online influence (Klout).

These application and their popularity ties in neatly with the need of control over social media that many have, including social networks themselves

Mathew, SEO Expert

#2. Know WHO mattersCompanies must pinpoint the top influencers for their brands and

motivate them to continue being brand ambassadors through different promotions and offers while extensively monitoring their activities to “to try influencing the word of mouth.”

Maciej, Sales Manager

#3. MultitaskSocial media tools are developing on a daily basis. Companies

need to learn how to manage and monitor a wide variety of tools.

Many companies remain reluctant to join the social media craze as they fear that they would lose too much control over the message and the overall brand perception. Online marketing professionals still feel more confident in their ability to control a traditional marketing campaign “(design of banners, logo, brand, target audience, timing etc.)” causing them to ignore social media for the time being.

Maciej, Sales Manager

#4. Trust is key!Referrals by friends and family members are becoming

more and more important because of overwhelm.Companies would have to be “crystal clear about who their ideal clients are and try as much as is ethically possible to gain access to the conversations going on in their heads when they're seeking out a particular solution or product.”“Content is king”. Corporations should “stay consistent about creating quality educational content in the formats most consumed by their target market. Educating your target market isn't going to be enough in and of itself. Companies are going to have to practice shaping the context within the education they provide. The goal being to influence the actual evaluation taking place in the prospects minds to a standard that only that company can meet. Positioning is probably THE most important thing for businesses to focus on.”

Colin, Internet marketing consultant and author

#5. Give your company personality!

Don’t bombard your audience with the “Like” button.

Some people and companies are just forcing promos, while I think true success is in relationships and providing content. I will click on links and peoples sites when they appear to have a personality, smarts and connect in a friendly way. My view of the major trend: relationships.

#6. Invest in Mobile

Make sure your content and web presence are mobile friendly.

In terms of social media usage, mobile will be the defacto method of engagement. Being able to interact via the net from absolutely anywhere at any time on a small device that starts up instantly - that will drive activity.

#7. Incorporate Online Media into the Overall Marketing Mix

Do not let Social Media stay on its own. Align the goals with your overall marketing goals and make sure that more people participate to reach it.

Rather than [seeing it as] the bright shiny object that sucks in all of their attention.” In his opinion that would imply that social media is better understood and “leveraged in more valuable ways (which should have the nice added benefit of increasing longer-term adoption and usage).

#8. Online Retail goes strong

People are more likely to spend considerately more money online.

Social shopping will continue to expand its influence due to its ability to target and reach consumers early in the decision phase. Also, group buying via Groupon and its competitors will continue to be a growing trend as long as marketers can make money from these promotions.

Heidi, Online Specialist

#9. SEO becomes a real challenge

The big search engines would constantly update their algorithms to make sure that they bring the best service to their clients.

If social media experts want to stay on top of the game they would have to put extra effort into any positioning efforts. Offline partnerships which can be translated into online trust have never been so important.

Flavio, Explicata SEO specialist

Lessons left to learn

Social Media is not for sale!

Large businesses have made no real progress

in integrating Social Media beyond blatant

marketing and promotion.

“A perfect example of this is both Apple and Microsoft's equally, yet different, selfish use of the

Tohoku Earthquake for promotional purposes. (Microsoft said they'd donate when they were

retweeted, Apple said they'd coordinate donations through the iTunes store.) Both of these methods

were largely self-serving and neither were a straightforward donating in good faith.) ”

Erica, Social Media Optimizer

Get in touch with us

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+ 34 626 946 339 maria@explicata.com www.explicata.com