The 3 Social Media Lessons of 2013 – And What’s In Store for 2014

This week, we have a very special Year in Review episode of Social Pros. Jay, Jeffrey, Zena, and Jess Ostroff discuss content, collaboration, free lunches, predictions for 2014, predictions for 2015, and Mark Wahlberg.
Read on for some of the highlights and tweetable moments, or listen to the full podcast.

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• From ExactTarget, a free whitepaper called The Audience Growth Survey.
• From Cision, a free ebook called Power Your Story: Content Marketing Essentials.
• From Janrain, a free guide to improve your conversion rates and your data quality.
• And from Expion, a free report on the top 50 retail brands’ social media use in 2013.

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Tweetable Moments

In 2014, “the big bang of social will finally, I think, slow.” -@jkrohrs (tweet this)

“Every employee is in marketing, whether or not they’re in marketing.” -@jaybaer (tweet this)

Lessons from 2013: The Big Bang of Social

The Social Pros boiled down 2013 in social media into 5 general trends.
1. There is no more “free lunch” in social media.
Now it’s more about the media and less about the social. Big bucks are getting poured into various social media platforms these days, in large part because the platforms have finally caught up to where traditional media had been for decades. Now, in many respects, you have to pay for your audience. So where do those dollars come from? That’s the emerging balancing act, and it brings us to our next point…
2. There’s more collaboration between “social” and “traditional” media.
Instead of disparate departments, these teams are now starting to work together. This is due in large part to the fact that, often, they are sharing the same budget category. Communication is becoming easier with some of the great tools that are coming out, and it’s becoming necessary. “The idea of this beginning to impact the actual structures and the cross-channel teams themselves really intrigues me as we head into 2014,” Jeff says.
This also applies to large increases in social customer service. This year we’ve seen it become more mainstream and, more importantly, expected by customers. Of course, tools like Expion‘s are helping brands integrate these different teams, but ultimately the priority has to be there on the part of the company. More companies seem to be realizing that this is a priority that is not going away.
3. The core focus is content.
Internet ads (and advertising in general) used to be all about the “push” – how can we push the product? Now, though, brands are spending more time creating useful content to draw people in. “It’s more of a content and Youtility focus,” says Zena. Specifically, visual content has exploded in popularity: videos, Instagrams, photos, Snapchats… anything but words. The words are still relevant and valuable, Jess points out, but they are not the trend.
For the predictions for 2014, you will just have to listen.

The Big Two

This week, everyone answers the Big Two!

What’s your one tip for becoming a social pro?
“Talk to everybody, and never assume that somebody can’t help you.”
If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?
Mark Wahlberg.

What’s your one tip for becoming a social pro?
Zena wants us to break down the walls internally. “Really what it boils down to is being a renter, not an owner.”
If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?
Bob and Suzanne Wright, founders of Autism Speaks.

What’s your one tip for becoming a social pro?
Take an improv class. “Improv can help you to deal with the CEO who goes off the rails or the local franchisee who thinks it’s appropriate to put something racially questionable on a board outside of their local restaurant, and it impacts your entire brand nationwide.”
If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?
Oprah.

What’s your one tip for becoming a social pro?
Shorten your horizons, at least for planning purposes. These days, your strategic time cycle should be in terms of months, not years. By the end of a year, the whole game has changed.
If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?
Author Bill Bryson.
See you next week!