Business 2 CommunityInternational Social Media Trends And Tools – Predictions For 2015
“With a Little Help From My Friends”
I am fascinated with social media trends and tools. While currently living in the U.S., and having grown up in Europe, I can’t help but see vast differences in social media usage as soon as borders are crossed! I always tell the following story with a smile to illustrate this point.
My own brother unfollowed me on Twitter because ‘I was tweeting way to much and was sending out too many links to social media articles’. Twitter usage in The Netherlands (at that time, three years ago) was viewed as a highly personal platform to promote personal activities and observations. For example, he used an app to find all his neighbors and he (and his wife) were following the tweets of everyone living on their street to see what was going on! It’s not how I was (or am) using Twitter, but it sure made me think about cultural differences and how they affect social media usage.
I have had several international guest bloggers on the More In Media blog who’ve discussed this phenomenon. If you are interested, start off reading these two articles by Sjoukje Werkman “Deciphering Cultural Differences in How Social Media is Used” Part 1 and Part 2.
It being the end of the year, I found myself wondering what was to come for 2015 and if anything had changed in the past year as to social media usage and platform popularity. Therefore, I set out to contact some of my overseas friends!
In a recent email, I asked several of my international connections to answer two questions for me if they had the time this busy holiday season. Several colleagues took the time out of their busy schedule to answer my two questions to get you, my readers, insight on two things: International Social Media Trends and Tools as well as predictions for 2015. Here are the two questions I asked.
“What are you seeing that is trending at the end of 2014 that might be different from what you see happening in the rest of the world and what trend(s) are you predicting for social media marketing in your country/region for 2015?
“Are there any specific platforms that are more active in your country’s region than in the U.S., and is there maybe a local or native tool that you use that would be beneficial to a larger audience?
Even within Europe, the differences are huge and each country seems to ‘favor’ one platform over the other. One thing only of these friends touched on (because I didn’t ask this question) is that languages matter. For example, the Netherlands is a small country with only about 15 million native Dutch speakers. Platforms like Google Plus and LinkedIn, where the main language is English, turn out to be not as popular as say Facebook, where all of their (real) friends speak Dutch. Size matters, too. In a Skype call with Veronica from Cyprus, she once explained that Facebook advertising is extremely limited (of course!) on Cyprus; because of the geographical challenges, segmenting/targeting ads isn’t even really possible. Things we don’t think about, right?!
I hope you enjoy these insights from my international friends and if you want to be included in the next segment on international social media trends and you live any place other than the U.S. or Canada, leave a comment here and I’ll make sure to send you the next round of questions in early January!
International Social Media Trends And Tools For 2015
Sarah Santacroce – Simplicity Small Business
In Switzerland Facebook is still the most popular social network. In fact people here think Facebook = Social Media. Not the young generation; they are on other mobile apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Kik. My prediction is that slowly people will understand that there’s more to Social Media than Facebook. Already I see an interest in LinkedIn, because the professional & more serious style of LinkedIn fits the Swiss mentality quite well.
We have three language regions in Switzerland (French, German, and Italian) and the German part uses Xing as an alternative to LinkedIn. I wouldn’t recommend it though, unless you want to do business in the German speaking parts of the world. And of course there’s Paper.li, the content curation service which is based at the EPFL university campus just down the road from where I live.
Anneke van der Voort – PRminded
The Dutch love social media, that’s obvious when you look at the usage numbers of each single platform. So what’s expected to happen in the Netherlands in 2015?
An interesting trend is that there are several brands that have started to experiment with Whatsapp. About 50% of the Dutch population uses Whatsapp. This is even higher than Facebook usage. A staggering stat! It is not surprising that brands are looking for ways to make use of this popular social media platform. Among people between the ages of 20 and 34, usage is even higher: around 70%. As Whatsapp is a person-to-person communication platform it remains to be seen how much advertising and brand messages will be accepted by the users (Source: Frankwatching).
Facebook is still very popular among the Dutch, although I’ve noticed an anti-Facebook sentiment due to the issues around privacy and the rising number of sponsored posts and ads appearing in timelines. It is expected that it will be more difficult to get organic reach on Facebook next year. Brands will need to spend more budget on advertising on Facebook in order to reach their target group. For Twitter it might be the same. According to Mediaweb, an average tweet will only reach 10% of your followers, so it’s time to start sponsoring relevant tweets if you would like to create more impact.
Blogging has really taken off amongst business people in 2014. This is clear when you scroll through your timeline on LinkedIn and see the number of blog posts that are posted per day. Now that LinkedIn has rolled out its publishing tools, the number of daily notifications has increased as well. Although it is great that more people can potentially see your content, the only way to stand out is to really create relevant, high-quality content.
Mobile is key. Smartphone penetration has increased from 56% to 72% this year, and next year the penetration rate will be even higher. This sends out one simple message to brands and organizations: make sure your website works on mobile.
And what about the Dutch vs the Americans?
Whereas the Americans love Google+, the Dutch are still holding back when it comes to this platform. According to Google+ Marketing mid 2014 about 12% of the Dutch population were active Google+ users, compared to 26% in the USA. I don’t know why Google+ is not that popular here. The only thing I notice that compared to Facebook and LinkedIn, the Dutch publish less frequent on Google+ and the number of interactions seems to be much lower as well. What can we learn from America here?
Reginald Chan – Social Media Rush
For my country Malaysia, not many companies are heavily involved in social media. They are still adapting to it but not until the whole 9-yards thing. We know that social media marketing can backlash at anytime and therefore, it becomes very challenging especially for companies to take a strong stand on this.
Generally speaking, I am predicting that social media will evolve in several segments below (for 2015):
Native advertising
Visual marketing gets incorporated heavily into social media
More companies will invest time and money into social media marketing
In Malaysia, Facebook and Instagram are rocking the atmosphere here. If you are not in them, you are losing out.
About tools, I wouldn’t call it native or local tools but I am a huge fan of testing new ones. It’s really funny to see the real power that lies in new tools that people aren’t utilizing it enough. Here are a few of the top of my head:
Edgar
MavSocial
Rignite
Veronica Athanasiou – Oroklini Social Media
I see more videos being produced professionally to be shared on social media, especially on Facebook since it’s the most popular of the big platforms. Small business owners are more active on Facebook groups as a way to increase reach. I don’t think this differs from what’s happening in the rest of the world regarding this platform. What’s different is probably what is NOT happening here: people don’t use Twitter nor Google plus that much. They have a profile, either personal or for their business, but they either automate most of the posts or have inactive social accounts on those platforms. Instagram is BIG amongst Russians who visit this island for holidays and it’s starting to pick up amongst teenagers and millenials here.
I predict a diversification and the inclusion of new social platforms into marketing campaigns. I think the way to go is to pair up Instagram and Facebook for a start and then we will see. You can’t predict much further than the first couple of months when it comes to social media.
We don’t have any ‘native’ tools, Cyprus is too small for that, but there are so many start-ups that you never know. Maybe 2015 is the year for a Cypriot platform.
Yael Kochman – Roojoom
I see more and more businesses in Israel realize the power of content marketing. Many of Roojoom’s customers are starting to share content on social media that is not about their brand, but about what their audience is interested in. For example, a vitamin and minerals supplements company is sharing content that relates to young mothers and soon-to-be mothers such as nutrition tips, important pregnancy information and ideas for activities with your baby. While this content is not directly speaking about their product it speaks to their audience and helps to build the relationship with them.
I also see more companies encouraging people to share content and participate in different activities. This UGC takes the relationship to a whole new level and allows companies to tell their story from the eyes of their consumers.
Facebook is definitely the most popular social media network in Israel, and most companies concentrate their social activity there. With some B2B companies, especially those who have an international audience, I see a lot of activity on LinkedIn.
Twitter is still far behind here in Israel, which personally I think is a shame. I’m currently trying to educate more of our local marketing community on how to leverage Twitter. I’ve even started providing Twitter workshops that focus on how to leverage Twitter because it’s painful for me to see how they are missing out on this great tool.
Last, but not least, how could I not get an opinion from at least one of my American colleagues? How about an opinion from two colleagues? Better, right?
Kristen Daukas – Atlantic Webworks
The biggest thing that I am (still) repeating to people is to stop putting all their eggs in the Facebook basket. Unless you have really deep pockets and are willing to spend a lot of money, business pages on Facebook are on their last leg. Instead, focus on owning your content and your audience. Focus on growing your email list and blog visitors. I’m also putting a LOT of focus on video – which is the only thing that I have seen do well on Facebook in the past six months.
Marco Terry – Commercial Capital LLC
I am not sure that social trends from 2015 will be that different from those in 2014. I think that in certain countries, especially in Latin America, brands will continue to integrate their regular media campaigns with their social media presence. Some companies have already done a great job at integrating these efforts, especially in countries where mobile Internet adoption is increasing. In some cases, TV ads are doing a great job at directing consumers to the brand’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, or Twitter feed. This allows them to continue the interaction with the consumer and build brand awareness at a cheaper price. Let me give you an example of what I think is a well-executed cross-channel promotion. During a recent trip to Peru, I saw a great TV ad for Nescafe coffee. The ad tells a story of a young man who wants to see if his Facebook friends are “real friends.” He decides to visit each one, unannounced, to share a cup of Nescafe coffee. The ad shows the result of each visit. The end of the ad directs the consumer to visit Nescafe’s Facebook page or its YouTube channel so they can keep following the story.
(Note: The YouTube channel is for Nescafe Chile. It’s common for some TV channels to be shown in multiple Latin American countries due to satellite and cable distribution agreements. Most ads are valid in different countries.)
In the case of Peru, I am not sure that any social media platform is more active than in the US. This is due to the fact that Peru has a lower Internet penetration than the US. However, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter are incredibly popular in Lima.
International – Global – Worldwide
Whatever you may call it, if you and your business come in contact with international companies, it is important to understand the dynamics of their culture, habits, work relations and yes, their social media engagement and placement.
Doing so before you meet can make all the difference! Preparation before an in-person meeting or Skype call can really put you on an even ‘playing field’ as to social media usage and available platforms. Side note: Not only will your international connection appreciate your thoughtfulness in learning more about their culture and business climate, you also will look super smart!
Do you intent to do business globally?
What countries will you get to see?
Have you noticed any international trends that weren’t mentioned here?
We’d love to know what you are seeing right now and what your predictions for 2015 are!
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: International Social Media Trends And Tools – Predictions For 2015
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