Each year, for the past 7 years, Michael Stelzner, Founder of Social Media Examiner has been releasing The Social Media Industry Report that is filled with excellent insights and key research findings. This year he has surveyed more than 3700 marketers around the globe, from various industries and has put together the industry report, with 80+ charts, packed with super useful info.
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The Top 10 latest social media trends based on 2015 Social Media Industry Report, by Social Media Examiner:
1. Video is the next big thing in content marketing:
Research findings: 72% of the marketers want to learn how to use video as part of their content marketing (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Are you spending enough time creating relevant video content for your target audience? If not, then this might be a good time to start doing that. Start with the basics, you can even use your mobile phone for making these videos. You just need to know a few simple techniques. Check out this beginners guide to vlogging (video blogging!) by Amy Schmittauer, with useful tips and advice.
(Source: Page 49 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
2. Social Media Marketing improves Search Engine Ranking:
Research findings: At least 61% of those investing 6 hours per week in social media marketing saw improvements in search engine rankings (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Do you have a social media content calendar that can help you create consistent, planned, targeted social media campaigns? Search rankings are highly dependent on consistent, fresh and relevant content. If you do not have a social media calendar yet, check out this awesome infographic by Hubspot on social media calendar creation. You can also download a template from the same page to help you get started.
(Source: Page 21 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
3. Integrating Social Media Marketing with Traditional Marketing is the way to go:
Research findings: 84% of marketers say that they have integrated their social media and traditional marketing activities (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Take a moment to think about your overall marketing plan and check if your social media activities are aligned and working along with your traditional marketing activities.
(Source: Page 14 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
4. Want exposure for your brand? Focus on Social Media:
Research findings: 90% of the marketers say that the top benefit of social media marketing is ‘Increased Exposure’ (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Google your brand name. See what turns up on search results. Do a search of your brand on all Social Media channels as well. Talk to your team about the results and come up with a measurable number that quantifies ‘exposure’ (eg: number of likes, reach, retweets, conversations, engagement, etc) and start working on your social media activities to reach that goal.
(Source: Page 18 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
5. Social Media Marketing reduces marketing expenses:
Research findings: More than 50% of those who spend at least 6 hours a week on Social Media, saw a benefit of reduced marketing expense (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Take stock of your current marketing budget and analyze the ROI for each channel and medium (for both traditional and digital media). Realign your digital marketing budget with the end goals and objectives of your company. Take the help of a consultant or an agency to take you through this process and help you budget your marketing spend.
(Source: Page 21 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
6. Facebook marketing is more effective for larger companies than for self-employed:
Research findings: 50% of businesses with 1000+ employees agreed that Facebook marketing is effective, compared to 33% of self-employed (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: If you are a self-employed marketer or a small business owner, diversify your social media efforts to other channels. The question is: where are your audience? If your target audience are spending a lot of time on Facebook, then I recommend you stick to Facebook and change your strategy to create useful content and meaningful engagement. As an agency that works with small businesses, startups and non-profits, we still see good response on Facebook for ‘targeted and planned’ campaigns.
(Source: Page 12 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
7. Blogging is on the Top of the ‘most important content’ list:
Research findings: 45% of the marketers say that blogging is still their most important content (Tweet this stats)
Action Plan: Start blogging! Create meaningful blogs with the intention of helping your audience. Start small. Even one blog a month posted on a consistent manner is good. Eventually you will get a hang of blogging & you can increase your frequency. I strongly recommend you follow Darren Rowse and his Problogger site to learn about blogging. He has very useful resources.
(Source: Page 45 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
8. It is not going to be easy for new Social Media Platforms:
Research findings: Only 5% of marketers actively adopt new social media platforms (Tweet this stats)
Action plan: If 95% are doing it, then they must have good reason for it. So follow the trend and be cautious about investing time and effort in new platforms. Focus more on what works well. After all, your time is precious.
(Source: Page 50 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
9. Twitter is the Top Social Media Channel:
Research findings: 66% of the marketers will increase their activities on Twitter (Tweet this stats)
Action plan: Plan, allocate and spend atleast 30 minutes a day on Twitter. It is a very powerful medium. Here is an article from Forbes with 31 Twitter Tips for businesses.
(Source: Page 31 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
10. Measurement of Social Media Marketing ROI is possible
Research findings: 42% of marketers say that they are able to measure the return on investment (ROI) for their social media activities (Tweet this stats)
Action plan: Measurement can make all the difference when it comes to overall effectiveness of marketing. If you are a beginner, download our free eBook “A Beginners guide to Social Media Metrics”.
(Source: Page 9 of Social Media Industry Report 2015)
You can download a copy of the 2015 Social Media Industry Report here.
Is your personal experience in line with these research findings? Leave your comments below. Thanks!
