Today I came across the blog of Samantha Hartley (link here), which had a very interesting article about marketing trends for 2013. Ms. Hartley is the Direct Marketer at The Conference Board of Canada and also a Board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa. She has a passion for PR, marketing, and personal branding, which are the topics that her blog revolves around.
In her post about “PR and Social Media Predictions for 2013,” she referenced an article from PRdaily.com and also added her own advice and insights for businesses. I’ll briefly list out the six predictions again:
1. LinkedIn is the new Facebook – make use of LinkedIn to connect you brand and business to build relationships with customers, employees, and business partners
2. Government (and war) go social – people are using social media more and more to learn about the world around them and to be updated on the latest news, so businesses should also take advantage of this trend to build their brand awareness
3. The reputable journalist is revived – although using social media is popular, businesses need to be careful when endorsing online information since the massive growth of bloggers has led to unreliable sources and misinformation
4. PR goes mobile – when publicizing via mobile, it is important to keep advertisements clear and concise
5. Pictures tell a story – it is crucial to embellish the business’ website and social media pages with lots of pictures to attract attention
6. PR wins the social media battle – consider hiring external agencies or consultants to handle the social media aspect of the business for you if you and your employees are not entirely comfortable with using it
I think these 6 points are really useful and reasonable. As an avid social media user myself, I’m seeing more and more businesses join Facebook, Twitter, etc. to communicate on a more personal level with their clients. However, Facebook is getting more and more cluttered with advertisements and unprofessional marketing, which is why I think this article recommends the use of LinkedIn. Using social media is risky business though – you either make it or break it. Information spreads so fast that if you make an inappropriate post or retweet something inaccurate, many people will know instantly. Thus, I agree with the 6th point about hiring professionals in the field of social media marketing to ensure your business reaching its full potential. Although the article did not touch on it, personally I would recommend investing into e-commerce if your business has enough funds to do so. Buying and selling online is so popular nowadays and allows customers to interact with your business no matter where they are in the world – unlocking the global market at your fingertips.
