The Rise of Social Media

It is an accepted by the world of business that social media plays a vital role in digital marketing, allowing spirits brands to reach millions of consumers worldwide.The tremendous use of social media is demonstrated brilliantly in this data from Statista, which gives a projection for 2019 social media users to reach approximately 2.77 billion people. That’s right… 2.77 billion! That’s 36% of the estimated current worldwide population of 7.7 billion (shown in this equally brilliant Current World Population clock ). According to research from Betipy, the 2.77 billion social media users in 2019 have risen from the recorded 0.97 billion users in 2010, giving a whopping increase of 1.8 billion over this 9-year period. The scale of this is simply unimaginable, and it’s set to continue, with 2021 figures expected to increase by a further quarter of a billion users to reach 3.02 billion.

This isn’t a unique case, and this process of evolution has driven the social media landscape from a selection of early, cumbersome sites, all the way through to the wealth of brilliant platforms available today. We went from Piczo and Bebo to Facebook and Twitter in a matter of years. Many past social media successes have been destroyed by their upcoming new rivals, such as the overthrow of Myspace by Facebook. It’s interesting to read old articles that discuss this takeover as it was happening, such as this Forbes article from January 2011. The article explores how and why Facebook flourished while Myspace deteriorated, eventually leading to Myspace being forced to lay off half their workforce in the same week as the article. 

As the old giants fell, the new behemoths rose. According to another informative bar chart from Statista, the top five most popular social network platforms worldwide, in terms of their number of active users, are:

1. Facebook: 2,320 Million
2. YouTube: 1,900 Million
3. WhatsApp: 1,600 Million
4. Facebook Messenger: 1,300 Million
5. WeChat: 1,098 Million

Interestingly, some sites that may be widely considered larger, such as Twitter and Snapchat, fall further down the list, at #12 (330M) and #17 (287M), respectively.

The Complete Social Media Cheat Sheet 2017 [Infographic]

Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest all have the opportunity for you to attract people to your brand and content, by adding compelling visuals and images. There are some really creative ways you can express yourself (even though the platforms change often), so if you have access to a camera or photographer or really awesome graphic designer & artist, I recommend having at least one stunning visual that expresses your brand, on every page.

Needless to say, the social media landscape is constantly changing, and it can be difficult to stay on top of all the changes happening at lightning fast speed. Luckily, there are resources, tools, blogs, and infographics like the one below that help marketers cut through the noise and stay up to date on these trends.

Source: OnBlastBlog

What People Share On Social Networks [Infographic]

Social media has contributed a lot to the web by sharing contents, pictures, videos and other important stuffs. What people are sharing and how they are sharing, it is changing. You can't compare the way users used to share 2 years back would be in the same way. 

Lets find out What People Like to Share on Social Networks:

• 43% Pictures
• 26% Opinions
• 26% Status Update of what and how they are doing
• 26% Links to articles
• 25% Personal recommendations of things they like
• 22% News items
• 21% Links to other websites
• 21% Links to other people’s posts
• 19% Status update of what they are feeling
• 17% Video clips
• 9% Plans for future activities, trips and updates

Go-Gulf has gathered the latest data and presented in the below social media infographic.

Source : GO-Gulf.ae

The Powerful Social Media Logo [Infographic]

If you want to engage readers, interact with people, or to generate content, Social Media is a power tool for businesses. Facebook has 1,230,000,000 users, and every user spent almost 18 minutes per day on the platform. And about 350 million photos upload on Facebook every day. Twitter has 645,750,000 registered users, while the average time spent on Twitter is 12 minutes and 51 seconds per day.

Check out the below infographic by thelogocompany for some of the most popular online networks and how much of an impact they have.

Source : thelogocompany

Best Social Media Platforms For Your Business [Infographic]

If you think Facebook and YouTube are your most preferred social media platform then you may be wrong. No doubt that they are most popular, but do they solve your purpose. Just because a site is popular doesn't mean it is a good fit for you business and online services what you are offering.

To guide you decide which social media platforms is best suited for your business, here is a nice infographic created by QuickSprout, that explains which social sites you should be leveraging based on real data and according to the social media strategy.

Source: Quick Sprout

How To Use Social Media For Lead Generation [Infographic]

Social Media has become essential tools for everything and everything we perform digitally. Social media create deep, fast and prompt effect on users as social media has become lifestyle element.

Following is the infographic made by Wishpond indicates that the social medai is like a leathal weapon in the battle of most suitable performance based marcom media tools war.

Source : Godizital

The Types Of Social Interactions [Infographic]

Social media has changed the way people communicates and think before taking any decision whether it is on education, online shopping, hospitals or buying properties. It has positive and negative effects on a business.

People believe more on online reviews to assess local business. Here are the do's and don'ts for social interactions.

Source : Ohio University Online MBA

Which Social Networks Should You Care About In 2017 [Infographic]

We’ve seen a big shift in favor of videos with the likes of Twitter and Instagram improving video features. No surprise here though, with the second highest number of monthly visitors, YouTube is a perfect example of how viewers are visual creatures!

So as you can see keeping up with the Joneses of social media can be as difficult as pleasing your mother in law, but we’ve compiled a list of the top highlights to keep you in the loop with our Social media in the news 2016 – 2017 Infographic.

Courtesy of: The Website Group

Social Media Trends in 2017 [Infographic]

It is safe to say that social media indeed is one the most indispensable tools in marketing products and services in today’s competitive market. And as we approach 2017, its popularity among marketers is expected to boost up, making other sales methods to be obsolete or inappropriate in today’s digital environment.

Today, more than 83 percent of marketers say they use social media platforms to increase exposure to their brands and that stat shows no signs of decreasing any time soon. Let's see how the trends would impact the web world.

Source: CJG Digital Marketing

Top Social Media Trends in 2017 [Infographic]

Social media has become the perfect environment for people to communicate with brands and companies, and ask questions in a convenient way. In today’s world, any digital marketing campaign must include running social media accounts. If you believe that people only use social media for private communication, then we have some bad news for you.

Industry leaders list Facebook and Instagram as the most popular social media platforms for brands, so here’s a list of current trends for each of these platforms and what they can do for you. Let's see in the following infographic about the trends in 2017.

Source: CJGDigitalMarketing

Social Media Trends & Facts 2017 [Infographic]

Are you interested to know about social media facts, figures, its users and statistics in the year 2017 till date? Do you know the fact that more than 25% of marketers are investing in blogging and social media. To know more, here is an infographic prepared by Digital Insights that covers all latest Social Media facts, figures, numbers and statistics of 2017.

If you want a more in depth look at some of these trends, take a look at the infographic below produced by SocialSprout and get your company ready for the social media transition of 2017.

Source: sproutsocial

Social Media Ranking 2016-2017 [Infographic]

Companies need to communicate socially with other companies in the B2B as well as with their customers and prospects today. From Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest to Xing, here’s an illustrated look at the social media landscape. The infographic shows the list of current social networks, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, to Xing.

Social Media is big – its user volume is bigger than some of the most populated countries in the world. Facebook has 1.55 Billion Monthly Active Users. If FB was a country it will outrank China, India and will be the most populated country in the world.

Source: thewebsitegroup

Social Media Comparison [Infographic]

Social media platforms have been popular since few years now. It would be nice to come up with an infographic that breaks down each of the most popular social outlets demonstrating advantages of each and how they can be best utilized. Let us see how to best leverage each platform with this social media comparison infographic.

Pinterest

• 70 million users
• Social site that is all about discovery
• Largest opportunities are in decor, crafts/diy, cooking, health, and fashion
• Users are 20% male and 80% female

Twitter

• 289 million active users
• Micro blogging social site that limits posts to 140 characters
• Largest penetration in the US but spreading slowly and steadily
• 9,100 tweets happen every second

Facebook

• 1.5 billion monthly active users
• Mobile is Facebook’s cash cow – 1.31 monthly active mobile users
• Mobile ad revenue makes up 76% of all ad revenue ($2.9 billion in Q2 of 2015)
• Users share 1 million links every 20 minutes

Instagram

• 300 million active users
• Social sharing site all around pictures and now 15 second videos
• Many brands are participating through the use of hashtags and posting pictures consumers can relate to
• Most followed brand Nike

Google+

• 300 million active users
• Social network built by Google that allows for brands and users to build circles
• Not as many brands active but the ones that are tend to be a good fit with a great following
• Hangouts and Photos have been separated from Google+ but posts remain as ‘streams’

LinkedIn

• 380 million users worldwide
• Business oriented social networking site
• Brands that are participating are corporate brands giving potential and current associates a place to network and connect
• 79% of users are 35 or older

Social Media Marketing Trends For B2B Companies [Infographic]

Social Media Websites are meant for communication and it may be personal, professional, business related. These sites help in engaging customer communication, more brand exposure and draw traffic to the websites or blogs. Several social media platforms provide an opportunity to offer quick resolution to issues. Because the customer base is typically smaller in a B2B model this can be a manageable task.

There are trends and shifts that are looming the social media marketing sphere that B2B marketers should watch out in 2017 to remain competitive in the marketplace. In this infographic, Digital Marketing Philippines will present to you the top trends that will shape the world of social media marketing landscape for B2B organizations in 2017.

Source: Digital Marketing Philippines

One-Tap, Video and App Promoted Pins For Pinterest

Pinterest has recently announced three innovative ways to advertise product or services on its platform: One-Tap, Video Pins and app Promoted Pins. Please find below the new pin line-up options.

1. One-Tap Pins

With the option for one-tap Pin in your feed, you will be taken directly to the site it came from. 

Pinterest blog reveals that “We’ve only just started showing these Pins on Pinterest, but people already seem to be loving how much easier it is to get right to the products they’re looking for almost twice as many Pinners are finding items to buy through these new Pins.”

2. Video Pins

Video Pins will be available for viewing right on Pinterest. So you don't have to click a link to take you to another site to watch the video. There is also a selection of ideas related to the video to give you more product and information options.

3. App Pins

Lastly, with the option Promoted app Pins that “make it easier for you to find out about the apps and app-makers you want to hear about most.” The pins are directly linked to the store so you can download the app for immediate use.

As of now, Promoted Pins have only been available to U.S. businesses and it has recently launched for businesses in the U.K. as well. Pinterest said they are coming to “even more parts of the world very soon.”

Social Media Impact [Infographic]

How does social media effect on web and its flow around the world? This is somewhat unimaginable numbers or communication made and interactions among all the social media sites. Social media’s increasing influence on our daily lives has rapidly extended into the ways we get away. 

From planning a vacation with social media to posting reviews of our trips upon our return, there’s no denying social media’s impact on travel today. A nice infographic on social media effect with all the online social media majors is here.

Source: MDG Advertising

Use Of Social Media For Recruitment [Infographic]

Since years we have seen the usual way to get a job is either from newspaper ads or from offline or online consultancies. Even we have seen companies posting job ads on their job portal too. But nowadays along with the usual process of recruitment, technology has evolved a lot introducing social media which has become hot favorite for company's recruiting process now.

In the below inforgraphic by Staff.com, you can see how 92% of the companies use social media to select candidates for jobs and manages entire process.

Source : Staff

21 Rules For Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies [Infographic]

Social Media strategies might have a lot of different approaches but all the rules should be effective so that people who are on various social media platforms can get engaged with business campaigns.

Here is a nice infographic which explains 21 rules for effective social media marketing strategies.

Source : SocialMetricsPro

How To Optimize Your Content For Social Media & SEO

A lot of website owners and bloggers always try to keep track on their search engine ranking. Earlier the optimization technique was only about some keywords and phrases into every web page. Nowadays the "keyword stuffing" concept is gone and a new standard of search and social optimization has arrived. Without social media, your site won't rank quickly or it will not even appear in the SERPs. So, you have to optimize for social media and search rankings. You can start thinking of this now for optimizing.

Social Media and SEO Aspects :

Social media and search engine optimization are interrelated. The goal of both is to raise up rankings but the approach is different. For social media, you have to think engagement and sharing. Social media practices are:

1. Increasing organic reach via paid options
2. Real-time content opportunities via social monitoring
3. Brand, messaging and calendar managed topics
4. Engagement – and view – based performance
5. Short form contents status updates, image tiles and blog posts

For SEO, you have to think strategy, process and tactics. SEO touches everything and enhances the ranking and visibility of a website. Search optimization practices are:

1. Content and social promotion
2. Link building
3. Tactics like quality content generating and more search presence
4. Keyword-managed content and focuses on search KPIs and conversions
5. Topics emanating from actual search demand
6. Technical optimization, including meta descriptions

SEO and Social Media Practices

Optimization doesn't need any mathematical calculation. The below four simple practices make your website healthy :

1: Know the backwards and forwards business model  and focus on their main goals.

2: Optimize for search and share on social media

3: Provide search engines the most relevant and high quality websites and content that meets their search criteria.

4: Website should have tags and Meta descriptions

If you put a little bit effort on the above aspects and implement them on your website. It will surely give you a positive result.

Steps Of Strategic Planning Process

The strategic planning process is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Each company

puts its own spin on the process. We wrote this book to challenge your thinking on

how consumer insight informs the entire strategic planning process — before, during

and after — so that you can arm your strategic planners with the information they need

to create competitive advantage for your company.

Here is an eBook from "insightsinmarketing.com", which is about better using consumer insights information in the strategic planning process to create competitive advantage, and how you can continue to impact that process most effectively. You can download the eBook for free by clicking here.

A recent study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by SAS

found that only six in ten respondents from global businesses viewed their companies

as consumer-centric and just over half reported a clear understanding of consumers’

tastes and needs. If strategic plans should be based in consumer understanding is

there any wonder why so many companies struggle with differentiation and competing

effectively? One thing is clear: There is a distinct opportunity to better leverage consumer

insights information to tame the strategic planning beast.