Mediaboss Marketing

Kristina: What trends are you watching in social media now?

Ben Cockerell, Director, Global Marketing, Crimson Hexagon: More and more people are including images in their social media posts and this could be attributed to the fact that tweets with images are noticed more. A recent report found social posts that include a picture receive 150 percent more retweets than those that don't and marketers definitely shouldn't overlook this. Brands may not always be mentioned in the text portion of a tweet, but their logos or products may be featured. Without image analysis, brands may miss a huge part of the conversation - and marketing opportunity. Marketers are also able to capture deeper sentiment and context by looking at more than just the text.

Kristina: We're still hearing a lot of buzz about the importance of influencer marketing. Part of the influencer trend is knowing what is "hot" at a given moment. How can brands better use social as a barometer for these trending issues/products?

Ben: When it comes to social media, most marketers focus on the numbers. They're typically trying to figure out things like, "How many people interacted with this social post about our product?" and "Which demographic did this message resonate with most?" Yet, they often forget they can uncover much deeper and qualitative insights beyond volume data by looking at emotions and sentiments referenced in social posts. It's important to remember people aren't making buying choices based on how many of their friends mention a certain product or company. Instead, it's based on what their friends actually say. Sorting through individual posts based on specific emotions can provide much more context to help determine what's trending - and what's not.

Kristina: Could you give us an example?

Ben: For example, my company Crimson Hexagon recently released a report on most discussed consumer trends. One finding that we found interesting was that, while a hot topic in the media, autonomous vehicles actually evoke a lot of fear in consumers. Brands should use this detailed information (not just the fact that people are talking about self-driving cars) to better shape their messaging and address consumers' concerns.

More from Ben and Crimson Hexagon later this week, including his top 3 tips for a better social strategy.

Tags: advertising, Crimson Hexagon, ecommerce, Social marketing, social marketing tips, social marketing trends

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Trends to watch in social - BizReport