As we're all unavoidably aware, the social media landscape is constantly changing. This year, we've seen the rise of live-streaming, the decline of Google+ and the explosive growth of Snapchat, just to name a few - and that's just from the first six months. A commitment to constant learning is a must in social media marketing circles - without it, you'll fall away quickly as the things you know to be true are superseded, overtaken and left behind. What's best practice one day can be meaningless the next, turn away for just a month and significant changes will have taken place that force a re-assessment and alteration of your overall approach.
As we move into the latter half of 2015, now seems like a good time to take in the view and examine where we're at in the digital and social media marketing space. To do this, we've asked a range of leading minds in the social media space for their thoughts on where we're at, where the next big opportunity lies and what skills social marketers should be working on in order to best align with current audience trends. These leaders, chosen for their varying perspectives, have provided some great insights into current and future trends - first up in this series, we have Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local, Melonie Dodaro, Founder and CEO of Top Dog Social Media, and Brian Fanzo, Partner and Chief Digital Strategist at Broadsuite Media Group sharing their knowledge and perspectives on the current state of play.
Existing Opportunities
Due to the rate of change in social media and digital marketing, new opportunities can sometimes pass by so quick that we don't even notice. New platforms rise in popularity, new tech opens up different avenues - given this, the first question I asked the trio was: "What's the biggest current opportunity that many social media marketers are missing?"
"The biggest current opportunity many social media marketers are missing is LinkedIn updates and ads," Kerpen said. "Not only does LinkedIn now boast 380 Million users, but those users are also, on average, much more affluent than those on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. So you're getting more bang for your social media buck on LinkedIn."
"I would say the biggest thing social media marketers are missing is combining email marketing with their social media," Dodaro said. "It doesn't matter how large a following you grow on any platform, if you're not converting those followers to email subscribers you're missing out on a big opportunity - it's much easier, and more effective, to make offers via email than it is via social." Dodaro also advised that marketers should use social to drive traffic to a free offer that people need to opt-in to: "It has to be desirable enough for them to be willing to provide their name and email address."
Fanzo, meanwhile, noted that community sponsorship and engagement presents a major opportunity at present. "Many social media marketers are still thinking the old way, that if they don't own the asset or media that they can't create value or build community around it. Today sponsoring events and media that the community produces - like Twitter chats, hangouts, podcasts, live streams and webinars - is not only a great way for a brand to show that they support that community, but also to capitalize on the major benefits of such events without having to do all the leg work themselves."
Crucial Skills
Along with new opportunities, of course, comes the need to develop new skills to stay up with the changes - so given where we're at, what's the most important skill that social media marketers should be developing right now?
"The most important skill that social media marketers - and all marketers, and all people reading this - should develop is listening," Kerpen said. "Listening is the single most valuable and underutilized skill in business and in life. As I've written: Listen first and never stop listening."
Fanzo emphasized adaptability as an important trait of anyone working in the field: "The ability to "roll with the punches" would be the one skill I feel is most important for today's social media marketer. With so much change, both with the technology and how customers are using social media, today's social media marketer has to be able to roll with these changes, adapt on the fly and understand that mistakes will happen," Fanzo said. "Focus on providing value and always learning as you go."
"There are three skills that I think that social media marketers need to develop," Dodaro noted. "They are: lead generation, content marketing and understanding analytics to measure what's working and what's not." All definitely required skills for the modern social marketing mind.
The Next Big Thing?
The next big thing in social is always just around the corner. While it's hard to predict, some people can sense the trends and shifts and see where audience attention may be headed - and who better to ask than these three? So what's the next big thing in social media?
"In a word: video," Fanzo said. "Video on all platforms is not only growing in demand, but it's growing in options also. Twitter video is an amazing way to engage an audience with 30 second clips that are embedded and auto-play within the news feed. Facebook video is producing amazing organic reach, YouTube is continuing to grow as the second largest search engine." Fanzo, who's also a major proponent of live-streaming, also made special note of that option's ongoing growth: "you can't be on social media without talking live-streaming. Mobile live-streaming apps Meerkat and Periscope are only the beginning as our phones and cell phone networks are now strong enough to allow every brand and user to be their own broadcaster."
"It's always hard to say what the next big thing in social media will be," said Kerpen. "But based on Mark Zuckerberg's prognostication and purchase history, I'd say it's group messaging, a la What's App, followed by 3D connectivity, a la Oculus Rift.," Kerpen predicted. "He sure was right about Instagram, so my money's on him being right again here."
"Less is more and paid ads," Dodaro said. "In regards to less is more, you can't be everywhere and do it effectively. I would suggest concentrating on content marketing, creating quality content that will position you as an authority on your topic, as well as limiting the networks you use to the top two you can do well, where you can easily reach your target audience." And in regards to paid ads? "This is especially relevant if Facebook is one of your preferred networks. They've now created an environment of "pay to play" if you want to see results. If you have a high converting landing page and offer this can be an investment well worth making."
Some great insights from some of the smartest social media minds on the planet. We'll look to gather further thoughts and opinions from other social leaders over the next few weeks in order to get better understanding of where we're at in social media marketing and where we're headed in future.
My thanks to Dave, Melonie and Brian for sharing their time and knowledge for this post.