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• The Journey of Social Media: 2008 to 2013 [Infographic]
• Social Media is About Relationship Building, Not Blasting Messages
• How Brands Use Infographics To Create More Powerful Messaging
• New Algorithm Devastates Facebook Brand Pages. Here’s What You Can Do.

The Journey of Social Media: 2008 to 2013 [Infographic] Posted: 19 Dec 2013 09:13 AM PST In a world where Social Media is constantly changing it's interesting to see its journey from 2008 to present day. The roots of social media stretch far deeper than you might imagine, we have already discussed the social media stats in 2013 here. It has effectively changed everything we thought we knew about the Internet (online communications), Marketing and the overall perspective of brand messaging! Let's have a look at the Visual below We just cannot ignore these key statistics from the Infographic which just made us go "Wow Social Media is huge". At Present there are 1.7 Billion Social media users worldwide, that means 1/4th of the population uses social media. Then and Now In 2008, it began with 130 Million Facebook users and now it is at 1.2 Billion users that mean most of the population on social media uses Facebook and is valued at $100 Billion which is 2/3rd of the grand total of $150 Billion for all social networks. Impressive right? Followed by LinkedIn in 2008 at 30 Million users and now in 2013 at 260 Million users and is valued at $26.6 Billion. Lastly followed by Twitter it had a mere 1 Million users and now in 2013 has a whopping 225 Million users and valued at $24 Billion. Initially there were very few social networks namely Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Then entered an array of social networks Google+ (300 Million), Instagram (150 Million) and Pinterest (70 Million). All other social networks have bloomed but as we can observe, but Myspace looked extremely promising in 2008 with 115 Million users but now only has 36 Million users! Social Media Milestones In 2008 Barack Obama was the 1st president in History of USA, to run a political social media campaign. Facebook had surpassed Myspace in terms of users and Facebook being a new entrant then compared to Myspace. In 2009 Twitter the micro-blogging site had changed the meaning of news and Journalism. When the news of plane landing in the Hudson River was broadcast to the world by a regular citizen and not a journalist! Facebook Launched the like button a new way for brands to map their content metrics on this social platform, do you think was this the beginning of number obsession? In 2010 Facebook had surpassed Google as being the most viewed website in U.S. Here started the trend of visual content which exploded with the launch of Pinterest and Instagram. In 2011 Social media changed the entire world stage by being used as a social change 'Arab Spring'. Google launched its own social network Google+ and became the part of the social network bandwagon; it is still struggling till date! In 2012 the reach of social media took to new heights, literally! Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted images from space and Red-bull used social media to drive its stratosphere campaign. Facebook reached the 1 billion mark here and shelved that many U.S dollars to attain Instagram! This year Twitter has joined the IPO party, the very 1st day its share prices rose. Videos are the new way to share content so twitter unveils Vine a video tool which captures and shares videos duration of 6seconds, Instagram one-upped them by releasing Instagram videos which were of a longer duration 13 seconds! We have seen the growth from content to visual impact and now videos! And lot's of new trends like political campaigns, social causes etc. Social media has changed the meaning of online communication and wears a lot of different media hats with these social networks. Makes you wonder what is in store in 2014? Source: Hootsuite just released this very good infographic that retraces the journey of social media since 2008. And this infographic even maps the journey of Hootsuite from 2008 with just 3 employees to present with 250 employees and 8 million users!

Social Media is About Relationship Building, Not Blasting Messages Posted: 19 Dec 2013 07:18 AM PST Social media was once touted as the solution for "one-to-one engagement" and "relationship building." Somehow building a relationship in social media has become blasting messages at as many people as possible and hoping someone is attracted. This sounds like traditional outbound marketing to me. With the right strategy and tools, businesses can use social media to form real relationships with leads and customers. You can use social media to work with prospects, leads and customers throughout the entire marketing funnel. Social media goes beyond the conversations. Social media is about building relationships and nurturing those relationships every step of the way. Find unique ways to surprise and delight your customers and, in turn, you will be surprised by the results. While free, social media takes an extensive time investment and tool investment to be done right. How do you build relationships with people on social media channels?

How Brands Use Infographics To Create More Powerful Messaging Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:46 AM PST With numerous different types and formats available, infographics provide ample space for creativity and analysis for brands, both in the kinds of information they capture and in their approach. For customers, the form helps them quickly visualize complex issues. Together, that's a recipe for engagement and messaging, making creative visualizations an ideal marketing format. That said, not all infographics are created equal, and any quick search of the genre is sure to source any number of hilarious "fails." Here's a deeper look at the kinds of approaches the most successful brands are taking for a lesson or two in how to get infographics right. The Hard Data Infographic Designed by mycleveragency using data collected by Brandwatch, the data visualization above entitled "Language on the Internet" explores a topic that's of interest to just about anyone with a Twitter account: how social media is changing the way we speak. In visualizing these stats, both Brandwatch and Mycleveragency can reach a broad base of people who are inherently interested in this subject and are highly likely to engage in sharing (I mean, who wouldn't want to know what all those LOLs and ROTFLs mean for humanity?). The precision of the stats chosen and the logical, seamless layout and flow of the infographic help establish both brands as marketing and design authorities — go-to experts for anyone looking to market their brand or just learn a little bit more about marketing best practices. In this way, the engaging choice of topic and design help to expand the reach of both agencies, while the excellent research and communication that undergird the project establish both companies as niche authorities not to be ignored by the industry. That's the best of two worlds, in one infographic. The Timeline Infographic If you're a music fan of any stripe (so, if you're human), you've probably wondered how we've moved from gospel music to grunge. oncertHotels, a booking service that helps you find rooms near events, capitalizes on this curiosity in the above infographic, "100 Years of Rock", which helps viewers visualize the timeline of rock in less than a minute. Though it doesn't directly discuss what ConcertHotels does, it stays within the brand ecosystem, which is built on a passion for music. And because the timeline also provides samples of music, the infographic provides a fully interactive experience in a single interface for a totally dynamic experience, ensuring the infographic will be well-shared. That's sure to sell a lot of rooms (and maybe some MP3s) in the long term. The Guide or Process Infographic One of the most popular forms of content on the internet falls into the "how to" genre, and the guide or process infographic is no exception. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as it reflects the shift from passive to active media consumption; viewers want their content to help them create or learn, not to pitch to them. In "How to Create Perfect Posts on Social Platforms", mycleveragency again takes a very popular yet mystifying subject and breaks it down in a step by step, highly-visual manner that makes it easy for just about anyone to follow. In doing so, the infographic reinforces the brand's influence as a social media expert, ready to help both novice and advanced users, both of whom are more likely to develop brand loyalty thanks to this helping hand. Again, the infographic is inherently shareable, especially in niche social media groups, and it's sure to get followers engaged. The Location or Map Infographic London may be one of the world's great shopping capitals of the world, but few working people have the time or energy to expend on dashing all about the city to find that perfect gift. Online shopping is one solution; using this interactive map entitled, "Where Should I Go Shopping in London?" is another. Just click the stores you'd like to visit on the sidebar and they'll automatically populate on the map so that you can head to the areas with the densest concentration of your target shops. For the company that produced this infographic, Trainline, which helps customers find the best tickets and routes for their travels, this kind of route planning is well within their area of expertise, and just goes to prove so even further. The Christmas angle makes the infographic timely, relevant and helpful. It's highly likely that consumers would take this map with them on their shopping adventures, meaning the brand's messaging will be in the palm of their hand wherever they go. Note that there are many other effective ways to use maps to illustrate important points. Maps, just like infographics themselves, are a powerful tool for instantly capturing an important point that's directly relevant to the people who care about the regions pictured. The Quiz Infographic There are few things people like quite so much as taking quizzes that reveal something about themselves. All the better if doing so involves a healthy dose of childhood. That's something Two Little Fleas embraces wholeheartedly with the above "90s Nostalgia Quiz". The infographic is bound to be a hit with (you guessed it), a wide audience of '90s kids who will definitely want to interact with the quiz and share their results on Facebook. That does a lot for the Two Little Fleas brand, as it brings more and more visitors to their site, where they'll find even more quizzes and other fun games, recipes and quotes with which to engage. The quiz is a quick, easy way to move potential consumers deeper into the brand. The Takeaway From hard hitting research to goofy quizzes, there are just about as many ways to approach an infographic as you can imagine. But whatever your approach, an infographic is the perfect way to expand your viewership while still satisfying your diehard fans, establishing your authority and reinstating your authority within your niche.

New Algorithm Devastates Facebook Brand Pages. Here’s What You Can Do. Posted: 18 Dec 2013 05:59 AM PST If you've been scanning headlines this week, you may have noticed that Facebook ticked off a very, very large group of people: social media marketers. Headlines concerning the new Facebook algorithm are brutal. - Facebook Slightly Tweaked How the Site Works: And It Screwed An Entire Profession - 'Chilling' News for Brands on Facebook - Does Everyone Else Hate These Facebook Changes As Much As We Do? … the list goes on. What Happened to Facebook Brand Pages On December 10, Ignite Social Media published a study of 689 posts across 21 brand pages, focusing on pages of different sizes and industries. Ignite reports: [In] the week since December 1, organic reach and organic reach percentage have each declined by 44% on average, with some pages seeing declines as high as 88%. Only one page in the analysis had improved reach, which came in at 5.6%. Engaged users plummeted along with reach. Only one page noticed an increase in engaged users – a pathetic 0.7%. Bottom line: while Facebook brand pages used to reach about 16% of fans, they now reach about 2.5%. For brands that have spent thousands of dollars building their fan base, these new Facebook algorithm changes are clearly disappointing. Some internet marketers are even calling the algorithm changes fraudulent. What Facebook Is Saying Facebook doesn't seem to be making any attempt to cover up the effects of the new algorithm. AdAge turned up this quote from a November Facebook sales deck: "We expect organic distribution of an individual page's posts to gradually decline over time as we continually work to make sure people have a meaningful experience on the site." It gets worse. AdAge also reports this comment from a Facebook spokesman: "We're getting to a place where because more people are sharing more things, the best way to get your stuff seen if you're a business is to pay for it." What's a Social Media Marketer To Do? At first blush, this all sounds pretty rotten, doesn't it? Many people have fallen into the End-of-The-World Camp, as exhibited by those sample headlines I shared above. I want to encourage social media marketers to avoid this mindset. Here's what you can do. Avoid digital sharecropping. Digital sharecropping is a term coined by Nicholas Carr almost seven years ago to the day. Carr uses it to refer to the practice of building your business on a digital platform that you don't own. In other words: don't put all your eggs in one basket. For more pragmatic advice… Stop thinking of social media as 'free'. Social media is not free, and it never has been. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ may provide you with free tools, but it requires dollars to really make them work. I'm not necessarily referring to "promoted posts" and ads. Rather, social media should cost you something, whether that's your time or a slice of your marketing budget. Otherwise, you're probably not doing it right. If all you do is schedule a few Tweets and a Facebook post for the day then get to "the real work," then why would you expect actual results? Facebook probably won't be going back to the Golden Era of high reach and engagement rates ever again. But if you change your mindset and focus on building high quality content, then it really shouldn't matter so much. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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