THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
What Top 20 Experts Think!
We asked 20 experts, 5 questions regarding the future of Social Media Marketing:
- What are the primary strategies you use to engage with your social media followers?
- Which are your favorite Social Media Marketing tools?
- What are your boldest predictions for The Future of Social Media Marketing?
- Which are the new social media platforms you expect will build momentum?
- Do you believe social media channels will increasingly become "pay-to-play" for marketers?
The future of Social Media Marketing according to Jason Demers, Founder and CEO at AudienceBloom
I think the key here is to remember the "social" part of social media. You don't need to think about "engagement" in an overly mathematical or strategic way - just talk to people!
Your primary engagement strategies?
I syndicate content and give helpful tips on a regular basis, so my first line of engagement is simply conversing with people who react to those posts. Beyond that, I try to find interesting conversations about marketing, social media, and SEO already going on and participate. I think the key here is to remember the "social" part of social media. You don't need to think about "engagement" in an overly mathematical or strategic way?just talk to people!
Your favourite Social Media Marketing tools?
I've used a number of post schedulers and analytics tools in the past. Hootsuite, BuzzSumo, and Sprout Social are all popular, but one of the best analytics tools I?ve found for calculating social traffic and overall ROI is good old Google Analytics.
Your biggest prediction for Social Media Marketing?
I have two, and we'll see whether they pan out. The first is that through survival of the fittest, our myriad niche social platforms will eventually boil down to one or two major contenders (much how the early days of search engine competition eventually led to just Google and Bing dominating the market). The second is that social media will eventually be so integrated with the physical world (through VR devices or wearable tech), the line between the two will be blurred.
The next up-and-coming social media platform?
Instagram is on an upward hot streak, and I don?t think it will stop anytime soon. I'm also interested to see how Peach develops.
Will SMM become increasingly pay-to-play?
In some ways. Facebook's organic reach is declining, but at the same time, it has increased organic targeting options to improve organic messaging relevance. If you're offering enough targeted, valuable material, you don't need an ad campaign to see results.
