Social Media Trends

In 2014, brands are getting serious.

They’re using the wealth of data as well as the human connection that social media can provide to develop deeper relationships with customers.

Here are seven ways brands are using social media to increase customer loyalty this year.

1. Social Listening

People are increasingly turning to social media to report their grievances with companies. And when complaints are lodged in such a public manner, brands are learning the hard way not to put social media customer service on the back burner. This is why 24% of brands plan to participate in “social listening,” or paying attention to what’s being said about them on social networks like Twitter. While this means brands and customers are now more likely than ever to interact online, brands are still figuring out how to make social listening work in their favor: only 31% of marketers think their social listening is fully effective.

2. Social Advertising

The internet has begun to fragment the way brands spend on advertising. While television used to receive the lion’s share of advertising dollars, brands are beginning to understand how to leverage social media ads in a cost-effective way to build business. This year 80% of brands are expected to advertise on social media sites, a 23% increase over last year.

3. Data-Based Marketing

Unlike traditional forms of marketing such as television spots, billboards, and newspaper ads, social advertising offers real-time analytics on the effectiveness of campaigns. This means businesses are now free to spend small amounts of money on a Facebook-sponsored post, for example, and measure its effect before altering the campaign a week later. This leads to more precise marketing fueled by data.

To see the rest of this list head over to dashburst.com.

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