Social Photos Generate More Engagement: New Research

#1: Photos Are Worth a Million Likes

Photos are the primary type of content posted and shared on Facebook. According to March 2014 research published on eMarketer, photos accounted for 75% of content posted by Facebook pages worldwide.

Photos are the main type of content posted by Facebook pages.

From a user’s perspective, photos are also the most engaging type of content on Facebook, with a whopping 87% interaction rate from fans! No other post type received more than a 4% interaction rate.

Photos receive the highest interaction from Facebook users.

Key Takeaway

Posting photos on Facebook is the best way to get more attention from your fans because images are easier to consume than text. However, be aware that not all photos are created equal. Not only must you share high-quality photos, you must alsoshare photos that interest your target audience.

If you haven’t done so already, start to increase the number of high-quality images that you post on your Facebook page. And of course, don’t forget toinclude relevant links with your images, to ensure that you’re sending all that traffic back to your website. Take note of the following:

• Only post images that you have created or that you have a right to publish.
• Mix up different types of images (e.g., banners, infographics, photos, memes, etc.).
• Take impromptu photos on your smartphone and post them in real time.
• Post “Caption This” photos – post a funny picture on your page and ask fans to offer their best caption for the photo.
• Avoid “selfies” unless you’re posing with a celebrity.

One last thing, it may be worth your while to hire a designer or a visual content creator as part of your social media team.

#2: Photos Get More Retweets

People don’t engage equally with every tweet. Research by Media Blog, which analyzed the content of over 2 million tweets sent by thousands of users over the course of a month, shows that adding a photo URL to your tweet can boost retweets by an impressive 35%.

Photos can boost retweets by 35%!

Key Takeaway

Just like Facebook, Twitter engagement can be boosted with photos. Only this time, you’re posting the image URL. Otherwise, here are some new tips to get more engagement from your Twitter photos:

• Tag people in a photo – Tagging other users makes conversation easy and sharing more likely. You can tag up to 10 people (tagging doesn’t affect the 140-character count on a tweet).
• Share up to four photos in a single tweet – This is a relatively new feature on Twitter, which allows you to upload multiple photos and automatically create a collage using your iPhone, Android device or straight from Twitter.com. For this to work, you need to download the latest Twitter app.

#3: Comments and Shares Outrank Likes

Comments and shares are beginning to overtake likes on Facebook, showing that brands are getting better at engaging with fans.

According to the Social Intelligence Report Q1 2014 by Adobe Digital Index, Facebook comments are up 16% compared to the same time last year, and up 40% compared to the same time last quarter. The report also shows that likes have actually gone down from 82% (Q1, 2013) to 78% (Q1, 2014).

Fans are commenting more on Facebook pages.

Key Takeaway

Since comments from fans require more time and effort than simply clicking Like, this trend shows that marketers are becoming rather savvy about fan engagement. Fans must be finding content posted by pages interesting enough to invest time and thought into their interactions.

If you’re seeing more comments on your page, keep up the good work! But don’t stop adapting. Find different ways for fans to see your content, even via paid posts if necessary.

Since Facebook introduced its new comments feature in March 2013, you and your fans are able to reply directly to specific comments on your page. This creates a conversation thread, which ties relevant conversations together.

Be sure to reply to ALL comments from your fans, and to like every commentfrom every user in two ways – as yourself, and as the page. Not only will the user get a notification about the like, which may spur more comments, but it’ll also create a “Ticker” story about your Facebook page.

#4: Fridays Rule on Facebook

More research published in the Social Intelligence Report indicates that brands are targeting Facebook users on Fridays because that’s the day with the highest engagement rates. For example:

• 17% of all comments occur on Fridays.
• 16% of likes occur on Fridays.
• 16% of shares occur on Fridays.
• Sunday is the least likely day to receive a comment on a post.

“TGIF” seems to be the theme among Facebook users.

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New Social Media Research That Could Change Your Strategy

#1: Users ‘Like’ Facebook for Social Logins

When logging onto sites with a social network ID, research by eMarketer shows that a majority of users (51%) prefer to log in using their Facebook credentials.

In fact, professionals across all industries favored Facebook. Only 28% of users log in with Google+. Facebook is also the preferred social login network ID for 63% of global mobile users.

Facebook login trumps all other social logins or registration requiring username and password.

Key Takeaways:

If you have a website that requires users to register, you should understand the concept of password fatigue. 92% of shoppers abandon a website rather than go through the process of recovering a lost or forgotten password. But if a website has a social login option, 65% of shoppers are more likely to return.

So if you have an ecommerce site and you let folks use Facebook to log in, then you already know their likes and interests. Use that information to personalize their experience:

• When they log into your website, offer them products that they actually like or have shown interest in to improve the chances of purchasing. In fact, one of the benefits of social login is that it limits the incidence of mistargeted ads.
• While they’re logged onto your site, they’re simultaneously logged onto Facebook, which means they can share a useful post or comment on a cool product. Make sure they find fresh, interesting, and shareworthy content every time they log in.
• Users want value in exchange for giving up their personal information on your site. So offer them premium content such as training videos, SlideShare presentations, free ebooks and how-to guides.
• To enhance brand interaction and social visibility, offer a community message board on your website that is only accessible to members who are logged in.

#2: Social Customer Care Demand Is Growing on Twitter

When it comes to social customer service (or social customer care), Twitter is becoming the place to be for consumers who want to reach out to brands. Research by Socialbakers indicates that 59.3% of customer questions are asked on Twitter, compared to 40.7% on Facebook.

Use Twitter rather than Facebook to address your customers’ concerns.

Key Takeaways:

Social media has conditioned consumers to get feedback fast. As a marketer, the risk of failing to meet this expectation can result in losing customers, getting a bad reputation or both.

• Twitter is especially fast-paced, so here are some tips to providing customer care on that platform:
• Train and empower your staff to respond promptly and directly to customers. If you can’t trust them to respond appropriately on behalf of the company, then you either have the wrong team or the wrong strategy.
• Don’t let customer complaints or questions go answered for over an hour. If you wait too long, the customer (or prospect) may decide to move on to a more responsive vendor.
• If you have to use your brand’s logo, try to personalize each response by signing each tweet with your name or Twitter handle.
• Don’t just monitor mentions of your brand’s name. Try to evaluate sentiments attached to those mentions. Tweets that include words like “not working,” “fail” or “poor experience” should be resolved immediately, and to the customer’s full satisfaction.
• Know when to jump into a conversation. Sometimes customers are just talking about your brand and don’t actually need your help or input.
• Decide how to prioritize inquiries. Should influencers get priority over urgent customer needs or will you use a first-come, first-served approach?

#3: Younger Audiences Are NOT Unfriending Facebook

There’s been a lot of talk lately about teens unfriending Facebook. Turns out it’s not quite true.

Facebook has indeed lost its exclusive grip on teens. Young audiences are flocking to more visual platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Vine; however, these stats from eMarketer speak for themselves:

Teens and young audiences are still the largest demographic using Facebook.

Key Takeaways:

Like everybody else, teens and younger audiences have become multiple-platform users. That doesn’t mean they’re done with Facebook, it just means that their social interests are broadening.

Consider this: teens are particularly interested in image and video sharing. Sure, they can share images on Facebook, but they’re more comfortable on Snapchat and Instagram where there’s less drama—and parents are not present. So if your target audience includes teens and young audiences, don’t panic. Instead, try to enhance their experience by following these tips:

• Be everywhere. If teens are important to your business, follow them wherever they go. Create and distribute content across multiple platforms. Your brand will be more memorable for young audiences when they see your content across the board on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
• Be relevant. Teens live in an “egosystem,” so the only opinions that matter are their own and their friends’ opinions. So whether on or off of Facebook, engage them with stories and visuals that show how other teens like them are interacting with your brand.
• Make it about them. Be very subtle when promoting your product. Instead, focus on what THEY can get out of it. Sweet Frog of Catonsville, MD does this well:
  

  When reaching out to teens on Facebook, make it about them, not you.
• Above everything else, make sure ALL of your content is mobile-friendly.

#4: Instagram Is the Fastest-Growing Site Globally

Facebook-owned Instagram may be the platform to watch closely, according to new research published on TechCrunch in January.

Active user base grew by 26% in the last six months of 2013. In addition, available data shows that Instagram had 90 million active users in January 2013. By January 2014, that number had doubled to 180 million active users.

Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most interesting places to be online.

Key Takeaways:

Users love Instagram because images are super-creative and interesting since users can choose filters after the photo has already been taken. But of course the best part is being able to instantly share those photos with a community of like-minded people.

Narketers can leverage Instagram to promote their brands. Some other tips:

• Make your followers famous on Instagram by acknowledging their photos and sharing them with your Facebook fans. Starbucks does this well! They even go as far as updating their Facebook cover with Instagram photos created by their fans.
  

  Nobody does it better than Starbucks when it comes to showing off their Instagram followers.
• Make videos. Instagram now has short video capability, which means you cancreate 15-second videos that capture the mood and lifestyle of your brand. For example, if you’re launching a new product, take a video of your staff members behind the scenes preparing for launch, or show the actual launch with excited customers waiting for the move that bus moment!
• Partner with other brands on Instagram. Whether you’re a small business or a big brand, you can leverage the relationships you have with other businesses by partnering to showcase each other’s photos. This works even better if your products are complementary.
• Ask questions about lifestyles. For example, if you’re a shoe store, ask followers what kind of outfit and accessories they would wear with a new line of boots.

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6 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2013: New Research

#1: Media Fragmentation

Consumers are everywhere, all at the same time. According to the Edison report, there are 256 million U.S. users on TV, 243 million on radio, 232 million on the Internet, 182 million connected at home via broadband, 177 million connected at home via wi-fi, and 139 million smartphone users.

Media multitasking is the new normal.

In this age of multimedia consumption, consumers are using more devices across a common set of platforms to do more things than ever. That means marketers have to play catch-up and shift away from strategies of the past. Today, the “e” in ecommerce means “everywhere.”

Your goal as a marketer should be to distribute content across as many types of media and platforms as your budget can allow. Make fast, confident decisions that give digital consumers opportunities to buy.

Keep in mind that capturing your customers’ attention will become harder as media multitasking becomes the new normal. Your digital content will need to be smarter, more creative and more visual to connect and engage today’s audiences.

#2: Smartphone Device Adoption Has Reached Half of U.S. Population

With 139 million (53%) of Americans owning smartphones, mobile use has reached critical mass in the United States.

Research by eMarketer shows the amount of time people spend on a mobile device is growing at 14 times the rate of desktop usage. The same research indicates thatmobile is becoming a more prominent channel for commercial transactions.

In the second quarter of 2012, mobile sales accounted for 15.1% of total B2C retail ecommerce sales, compared to only 1.9% for social ecommerce sales.

Smartphone usage has reached critical mass presenting unparalleled opportunities for digital marketers.

What this means for marketers is that a mobile-first strategy is the new priority.

The significance of location-based marketing, which has been around for a couple of years, will only continue to grow in importance.

Finally, with a growing number of users downloading apps on their smartphones, a focused app strategy will help ensure that your brand remains forceful and relevant.

Post social media content that is easy to consume and interact with on the go; for example, more images, brief posts, easy-to-execute calls to action.

#3: Content Marketing Is Still King

There’s no argument that content is still king. A 2012 survey conducted by Outbrain and research firm eConsultancy showed that 91% of in-house marketers use content marketing to sell their products and services. Additionally, 90% of all digital marketing professionals believe content marketing will become even more important over the next 12 months.

Digital marketers believe content marketing will become more important than ever.

The same research pointed to the top 3 types of content that are working best for marketers: social posts and updates (83%), email newsletters (78%) and news or feature articles (67%).

Focus on content marketing rather than advertising because consumers interact with content first, giving brands ideas or insights about what is important to them. Brands can then use these insights to craft their ads.

#4: Facebook Is Still Dominant

Despite all of the changes that continue to take place on Facebook such as Graph Search and hashtags, the number of users on Facebook is rising, giving marketers opportunities to interact with audiences in innovative ways.

Despite constant changes to the platform, Facebook remains top dog among social networks.

Brands that use hashtags in their posts may have slightly higher reach than brands that don’t use them, according to Edgerank Checker. Hashtags will also open up new advertising opportunities for marketers, including the ability to advertise directly to users who have used or clicked on a particular hashtag.

On the other hand, Graph Search is a valuable tool for helping you find people who like your Page. If you’re a local business this means you can create content, ads or free giveaways just for fans in your geographical location, thus encouraging a more vibrant local community.

To stay ahead of the game, marketers must learn and master the Facebook environment in spite of unexpected and often frustrating changes to the platform.

#5: Users Notice More Branded Content on Their News Feed

A majority of Facebook users (62%) noticed more branded content on their news feed. Most users don’t visit a brand’s Facebook Page. They interact with brands on their news feed, which is where opportunities and challenges lie for marketers.

Branded content on users' news feeds presents significant opportunities and challenges for marketers.

On the bright side, users who want to interact with brand content will be more engaged and open to brand messages. The opposite is true for users who just want to hang out with their friends. They’ll simply hide any brand content they don’t want to see (especially if those posts are frequent and intrusive).

We know that photos already make up 50% of news feed stories, and that images will continue to grow in importance. To get consumers to interact with branded content on Facebook, marketers should make posts more visual and provide interesting yet relevant insights about your company.

Invest in eye-catching, high-quality photos that will be pulled into users’ news feeds when they interact with your Page.

#6: Twitter Getting More Popular

Although Facebook is at the top of the social media world, the Edison report shows that Twitter is getting more popular. Notice that only 11% of Americans “Have not heard of Twitter,” which means 89% have!

The hidden potential of Twitter is bigger than most people think.

You might say, “But only 15% of Americans actually use Twitter!” (See Fig. 4). True. However 44% hear about tweets on other media “Almost Every Day” and 84% have seen or heard of tweets in other media at some point (green, plus blue, plus yellow, plus purple slices = 84%). This means that an overwhelming majority of Americans have been exposed to Twitter via multimedia consumption.

This statistic justifies the conclusion that Twitter is a much bigger platform than most people give it credit for, and marketers should be the first to recognize its hidden potential.

Take advantage of the current Twitter-friendly multimedia environment andpromote your brand among non-Twitter audiences. Encourage them to talk about you online using tweets, and in particular, using your brand’s hashtag.

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9 Consumer Social Media Trends That Could Impact Marketers

Are you wondering how consumers are using social media?

Would you like some insights to help your business better understand people’s social habits?

Here are 9 of the most interesting findings from the study.

#1: Almost 58 million Americans Use Social Sites Daily

A social habit is the tendency to use social media sites several times a day. By mid-2012, the number of Americans with the social habit had risen to 22% (approximately 58 million people) from 18% in 2011.

The use of social media in America has increased almost five-fold since 2008.

A similar study by NM Incite provides further insight as to why people use social media. 89% do it to keep in touch with friends and family, 67% for entertainment, 66% to learn about products and services and 48% for career networking.

Key Takeaway: As consumers invest more time on social media sites, try to find new ways to connect and engage with consumers throughout the day. For example,post a short question on your Facebook Page in the morning, a helpful article in the afternoon and an interesting photo or brief video in the evening. And don’t forget weekends.

Remember too that consumers are interested in learning about your products and services, so showcase them and use appealing images and keyword-rich descriptions. Also consider introducing an e-commerce experience on your Facebook Page.

#2: Twitter Driving New and More Engaged Users

Twitter continued to draw new users by impressive numbers. 23% of consumers surveyed joined Twitter six months before, 30% joined less than a year before and another 25% joined less than two years before. The study also showed that engagement levels among Twitter users rose from 69% in 2011 to 76% in 2012.

Twitter is a magnet for attracting new users.

Key Takeaway: New Twitter users will not know whom to follow right away. Make it easy for them to follow your business and tweet useful resources and thoughtful tips that answer their questions, rather than tweeting promotional content.

This will also help establish you as a thought leader in your industry, particularly if your tweets are focused mostly on a specific subject.

#3: 40% of Americans Exposed to “Tweets” from Traditional Media

The study found that 43% of Americans hear or read about “tweets” almost every day in traditional media. Another 16% hear this term regularly, but not daily. TV shows such as CNN’s AC 360 and Piers Morgan Tonight are known for promoting and extending conversations to their Twitter platforms.

Americans are being exposed to Twitter terminology through traditional media.

Key takeaway: Every day, TV audiences are being heavily exposed to Twitter and the idea of tweeting. If your business advertises on TV (or is thinking about it), be sure toencourage your audience to take the conversation online in the form of tweets. Don’t forget to give viewers a unique hashtag to distinguish your brand.

To get your creative juices flowing, take a look at this stunning TV ad by American Express with numerous mentions of “tweets” and “Twitter.”

#4: Number of People Following Brands Doubles

This was an interesting discovery. Turns out that social media users are more interested in brands than ever before. In fact, brand-following behavior on social media sites increased by a respectable 17% in the last two years, and by 8% from 2011 to 2012. It’s likely that this trend will continue on the same upward path.

Interest in brands is actually growing among social media users across the board.

Key Takeaway: According to Get Satisfaction, the top reasons why users follow brands are to get free offers and deals, because they are existing customers, for interesting or entertaining content and because their friends are fans of the brand.Make sure the offers you make on your website are also promoted on your social media channels. For example free research reports, webinars or product giveaways.

Be creative and change up your offers every so often to keep things fresh and your fans engaged.

#5: Facebook Dominates for Brands

A whopping 79% of consumers prefer to connect with brands on Facebook, while only 9% prefer Twitter for brand-following. Why Facebook?

• Facebook is a familiar space. Consumers already spend a lot of time there connecting with friends and family; therefore, it’s a small effort on their part to connect with brands.
• Secondly, Facebook users are heavily influenced by their friends. If a friend likes a brand, they too will like a brand (remember “birds of a feather…”!).
• Finally, Facebook offers a more user-friendly and visually interesting interface than other platforms. This allows brands to leverage offers, giveaways, contests and other entertaining content in a more appealing way.
  

  More consumers prefer to connect with brands on Facebook.

Key Takeaway: To increase the number of your Facebook fans, consider offering free gifts and entertaining content (or a combination of these). Otherwise you could also reward loyal fans and attract new ones by providing real value (i.e., 50% off or more—not 5% or 10%—according to Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media).

Again remember that contests and sweepstakes create a lot of excitement and energy, because the idea of shared opportunity spreads fast on Facebook.

#6: Young Facebook Users Have Lots of Friends

Notice from the graph that 18- to 24-year-old Facebook users have the highest number of friends, while more mature users have fewer friends. Keep in mind that “birds of a feather flock together,” so friends of fans tend to behave like actual fans on Facebook.

Younger users have more Facebook friends than mature users.

Key Takeaway: To increase your brand’s visibility on Facebook, don’t just target your fans, target their friends as well. Develop personas (or profiles) of your target audience and identify their demographics, interests, pain points, social behavior, etc.

This information will help you to create content that is highly optimized for them. Then create messages that are sharable, such as promotions that require voting (if a fan votes, their friends will be persuaded to vote as well). The idea is to get high visibility on your fans’ newsfeeds, thus encouraging interaction with their friends as well.

#7: Only One-Quarter of Social Networkers Use “Daily Deals” Sites

Generally the American population is not crazy about daily deals services such as Groupon or LivingSocial, and only 23% of social networkers are registered users of these sites. Numerous sources suggest that there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse associated with Groupon.

But now Amazon and Google have grabbed a piece of the daily deals business. It’ll be interesting to see how consumers respond to these brands over the next 12 months.

Daily deals are not drawing consumer attention as they did several years ago.

Key Takeaway: Unfortunately the entire Groupon business model has long been held in question. But from the consumer’s point of view, everyone still likes a good deal. If you’re using Groupon or Living Social, just be careful and make sure there is a profitable return for your business.

Otherwise you may want to reevaluate your goals to check whether this kind of model is still a good fit for you.

#8: One-Third of Social Media Users Do Not Interact

Most people like to engage (post status updates) on social media sites. However, 34% of users are silent for various reasons. According to TopRank Online Marketing Blog, some are lurkers (those who just sit tight and absorb information), while others are newbies who haven’t quite honed their online social skills.

A good number of social media users are listeners, not talkers.

Key Takeaway: Silent users such as lurkers and newbies may not interact with friends or brands, but they are listening and can be valuable connections for your business. If you notice lurkers among your followers, try to reach out directly to them via direct messages. They’ll be more likely to respond if you rouse them with a thought-provoking question or comment.

To draw out newbies, use the usual best practice of sharing tips, tricks and other helpful content. As they start to figure their way around, they’ll remember you for helping them along the way.

#9: People Are Checking in Less Frequently

Both Gowalla and Foursquare saw sharp declines in user activity in 2012. In fact, 57% of users said they “almost never” check in. Of course, Gowalla shut down in early 2012, but even with Foursquare still open for business, consumers started to opt out of the check-in craze due to privacy concerns, according to a study published on Mashable. Others did not consider badges or upgraded status to be sufficient motivation to check in.

The check-in craze is dying down due to privacy concerns.

Key Takeaway: If you use location-based marketing to promote your business, try using a combination of specials and discounts to encourage more clients. Because people are concerned about privacy and safety issues, your business will have to offer unrivaled deals for customers to give up their location. For example, “Check in with three friends and get four free drinks,” or “Mayor gets 35% off entire bill.”

Final Wrap-up

Marketers have a great opportunity to respond to these findings and develop strategies that appeal to changing consumer habits. Continue to focus on Facebook and Twitter as these platforms draw in new users. On the downside, be careful about using daily deals and location-based marketing because consumers are apprehensive about these services.

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