Erik Qualman, author of "Socialnomics" and the creator of the popular video series of the same name, has released a new clip filled with fascinating social media stats and how marketers are using this to reach out to consumers.

• Most brands, by now, recognize the power of social media and understand it's not just a passing fad. In fact, if Facebook were a country, it would have the third-highest population, behind China and India. 
  
• More people these days own a mobile device than a toothbrush.
  
• While brands seek out their "Oreo"-moment with real-time marketing messages, they're now looking beyond just Facebook and Twitter. 
  
• With the rise of Vine, companies are using the platform to promote their own products instead of relying a 30-second commercial spot, which makes sense considering the average human attention span is 7 seconds (just one second less than a goldfish).
  
• Did you know 20% of the terms typed into Google have never been searched for before? 

Initially posted in Mashable

Keeping up to date with current marketing developments now also means staying up to date with the realm of social media. As well as staying informed about new platforms and developments to existing platforms, finding out how to effectively use all of these platforms simultaneously presents a big challenge. Find out here more information on how to use Pinterest for a small business.

Pinterest - the new social media buzzword and social media giant that has made the leap from a waste of time, to a cost effective marketing tool to not live without for many businesses.

Below are some effective and interesting uses for Pinterest that could increase your brand awareness and help drive more traffic to your website.

Many businesses just post photos of their product or services. However, your boards will be far more interesting with some ‘out of the box’ ideas. A great example is Deschutes Brewery’s board. Their page has great boards for recipes using their beer, lists of events and even how to reuse old bottles around the house. This is a novel way to extend your brand making your business even more useful and accessible.

Weekly or monthly competitions with prizes will always go down well. People will stay tuned once they hear about the prizes up for grabs. There are many ways to create a competition. Research what others are doing and see if you can come up with a unique competition of your own.

Customers love vouchers which they can easily print off and cut out. Posting coupons is a cost effective method for driving customers to the checkout.

In fact, it is. As a recent study, performed by Forrester Research unveiled, GooglePlus does really help you to increase your brand awareness and brand engagement.

First, GooglePlus has more users than you think. 
Yes, it pales in comparison to Facebook — but so do most other social sites. Out of the 60,000 US online adults who responded on which social sites they used, 22% admitted that they visited Google Plus each month. That’s the same number for GooglePlus as for Twitter and more than the equivalent for LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram. 

As such, a real follower base on Google Plus can be built. On average, as the study shows, top brands have collected 90% as many fans on Plus as on Twitter. 

Second, and more importantly, Google Plus generates much more brand engagement than you think. Out of 3 million user interactions, with more than 2,500 brand posts on seven social networks, studied, it appears that Brands’ Google Plus posts generated nearly as much engagement per follower as their Facebook posts, and almost twice as much engagement per follower as their Twitter posts.

To put it shortly, 

• Of 60,000 US online adults who use social sites, 22% visit Google+ each month.
• Brands have collected 90% as many fans on Google+ as on Twitter.
• Brands’ Google+ posts generated nearly as much engagement per follower as their Facebook posts — and almost twice as much engagement per follower as their Twitter posts.

Who can argue against these hard facts? Google+ is growing, and marketers can no longer afford to ignore this powerful social marketing tool.

Here is a short list of 11 small social media tips that will help you to steadily increase and maximize your social media results in the next couple of days to few weeks:

1. Stay Relevant - Post relevant, insightful, and informative content on a regular basis. What’s new in your industry?
   
   Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s hot and share that along with your thoughts around the topic. Create a conversation through compelling content!
   
   
2. Be Valuable - Mаkе ѕurе that content we talked about above рrоvіdеѕ real vаluе tо уоur readers.
   
   Understand their needs and share solutions, tips, advice and guidance that allows them to make educated decisions.
   
   
3. Build Credibility - Ensure that уоur information verifiable, reliable аnd a direct reflection of your products аnd services.
   
   There is never a time when inaccurate or misleading marketing is acceptable.
   
   
4. Share Tweetables - Make your posts and tweets shareable. The more pertinent, insightful, and targeted your content, the more likely your followers and fans are to share it.
   
   
5. Listen Up - Create a simple way to listen to what is being said across your social media channels. No one wants to be talked “at.” They want to be talked “with". 
   
   As such, listen and then engage in conversations important to those that follow you.
   
   
6. Get Social - Social media is a two-way conversation. If you are going to make the most of your time on social media, you must be interactive.
   
   Ask questions, share your thoughts, and offer feedback that shows you are truly interested in the conversations happening around you or your business.
   
   
7. Build Relationships - Take your conversations one step further and begin to build relationships. It is poor social etiquette both offline and online to simply blast out a message.
   
   Don’t put up a brick wall of content between you and your followers. Ensure that you are accessible and quick to respond.
   
   
8. Start Talking - Get out and engage! Visit Google+ profiles, Facebook pages and Twitter followers to begin to build awareness around your personal brand.
   
   
9.  Set Goals - Define what your goals are and then put them in writing. Determine who you are trying to reach, what makes you unique, and what results your are looking to achieve.
   
   Do this now before you begin throwing content out there without a plan.
   
   
10. Strategy Wins - Identify a system or tool that will allow you to stay consistent.
    
    Whether it is a third-party management tool like Sprout Social or a social media content calendar, put it in place to manage your time and content.
    
    
11. Embrace Success - Let go of the “shoulda, woulda, gotta’s” when it comes to social media, and just focus on what works best for you. Focus and consistency will allow you to quickly embrace social media success!
    
    

 
A little more than two-thirds of the time Facebook users spent on the service happened on a mobile device, according to +comScore Inc.  data that was analyzed by +Statista. For +Twitter  the number was north of 85%.

Activity on image-heavy platforms like +Pinterest and +Yahoo! +Tumblr Fan Page are happening on mobile, too.

+LinkedIn on the other hand, saw only 26% of its activity on mobile — perhaps its user base is checking in from the old company desktop at the office?

Some services, like the messaging app +Snapchat and the Twitter’s video tool +Vine are inherently mobile. But in +Facebook+ Fan Page case, the data back up the company’s urgency (and validate its success) in rapidly building out its mobile-ad network.

#socialmedia   #mobile   #desktop