Sarah Worsham

Technology and marketing are evolving almost at the speed of light, and how consumers are using devices, technology and responding to marketing is changing as well.  In a post over on Social Media Examiner, 6 key trends are discussed — two trends, which I think are worth mentioning:  Twitter use is on the rise and people are noticing more branded content on their Facebook feeds.  As a business it may be worth investigating Twitter again if you’ve previously ignored it — for many of our clients, we’ve found that their targeted audience is now much more active on Twitter.

Are you looking for the latest marketing trends?

Wondering how the wide choice of devices and platforms are impacting marketers and consumers?

According to the 2013 Infinite Dial Report by Edison Research, media usage is not a zero-sum game.

Consumers want to use all channels simultaneously, and as a marketer, you have to keep up by tracking them down wherever they go. — 6 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2013: New Research by Patricia Redsicker

It may not be much of a surprise, but people are more likely to engage with Facebook posts that include a photo. If you consider that people scroll down the feed looking for interesting posts, ones with photos are more likely to catch your eye.  And the more interesting the photo, the more likely it is to draw someone in.  Brands are starting to use photos in interesting ways, as shown by the proliferation of brands on photo-sharing sites like Instagram.

It´s been well established that, photos are one of the most engaging post types on Facebook. We looked at a sample of 5000 brand pages monitored by Socialbakers and found that people prefer to interact with photos more than with any other type of post, such as simple status updates, links, or videos. — Photos Make Up 93% of The Most Engaging Posts on Facebook! by Veronika Fuleova

If you’re having difficulty finding photos for your WordPress blog, check out the Zemanta plugin which can search for relevant photos with good sources (ones which allow sharing), and even among your own photos on sites like Flickr.

In today’s social world, creating good, informative content is extremely important to standing out among competitors.  Not to mention that a sales-only approach is a complete turnoff for potential customers.  In this Q&A, Lee Odden explains why content marketing is important for small businesses, and how it works with social media and search engine optimization…

Content is where your stories get told and both SEO and social media are ways to amplify the reach and engagement of those stories. Insights from SEO keyword research can review topics in demand that you should probably write about to attract customers that are actively looking. At the same time, monitoring social media can reveal topics and trends that can drive your editorial plan by covering issues, topics and especially, answering questions that your customers and buyers are interested in. — Essential Q and A on SEO & Content Marketing for Small Businesses by Lee Odden