THE PAST,
PRESENT & FUTURE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA
How to Propel Your Program Forward
Nikki Little | Account Manager, Social Media | Identity

THE PAST
PR, marketing and
advertising
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

Communications teams
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

It was all about
SELF PROMOTION
on company social channels.

Businesses were on
EVERY CHANNEL
with no strategy.

It was all about
THE BIG “FOUR”
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube

Earned and paid dominated while
OWNED MEDIA
was trialed.

SEO was all about generating
BACKLINKS
to your site and
KEYWORD STUFFING.

Companies wanted to latch on to
TRENDS AND NEWS
to benefit their brand…
but they didn’t know how.

Likegating contests and hosting
giveaways that had
NO BRAND RELEVANCE
in order to gain followers was
the norm.

Employees were
BANNED FROM
SOCIAL MEDIA
while at work.

Images on social media were
STOCK PHOTOS
and not original content.

Websites were quickly
SLAPPED TOGETHER
when needed.

Brands spent more time
LURKING
than communicating/sharing.

Communities needed to
SCALE
as quickly as possible.

What was the budget for social?
ZERO DOLLARS.

What was our favorite phrase?
JOIN THE
CONVERSATION.

What did we measure?
NOTHING.

THE PRESENT

PR, Companies marketing are
and
advertising
SLOWLY WEAVING
social media into new areas of the
EXPERIMENTED
enterprise.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Brands offer a combination of
BLABBERING advertising
AND
EXPERIMENTED
HELPFULNESS.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
We’re still trying to figure out how
advertising
to create content that
OFFERS VALUE
while aligning with the brand.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, Brands marketing are becoming
and
advertising
MORE SELECTIVE
when choosing social platforms
EXPERIMENTED
to join.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Emerging social channels
ARE advertising
APPEARING
ALL THE TIME.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Brands are focusing heavily on
advertising
OWNED MEDIA
EXPERIMENTED
to drive social media efforts.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Backlinks for SEO take a
advertising
back seat to
EXPERIMENTED
WRITING FOR
with social media.
HUMANS.

PR, marketing and
Some brands are smart with
REAL-advertising
TIME
MARKETING
while others fall flat.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
There’s better alignment with
advertising
CONTESTS
relating to the brand.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Companies are opening up
advertising
and providing
EMPLOYEE ACCESS
EXPERIMENTED
to social media at work.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Brands are incorporating more
REAL advertising
AND
EXPERIMENTED
AUTHENTIC IMAGES
with across social social channels.
media.

PR, marketing and
Budgets are increasing
advertising
to allow for
MORE EXPERIMENTED
MANPOWER &
SOCIAL AD SPEND
with social media.
to help grow programs.

PR, marketing and
Brands are now creating
THEIR advertising
OWN
COMMUNITIES.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
We’re measuring activity,
advertising
but still focus too much
EXPERIMENTED
ON THE NUMBERS.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Engagement is great.
advertising
But, how does it connect to
BUSINESS EXPERIMENTED
GOALS?
Companies with social still figuring media.
this out.

THE FUTURE
PR, marketing and
advertising
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
All aspects of the enterprise
contribute to create
advertising
SOCIAL BUSINESS
EXPERIMENTED
UTOPIA.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Brands always ask,
advertising
“HOW CAN WE HELP?”
EXPERIMENTED
And then they
FOLLOW with social THROUGH.
media.

PR, marketing and
We create
advertising
CONTENT UTOPIA
by EXPERIMENTED
offering information that is
insightful, with unique social and media.
valuable.

PR, marketing and
Big brands with big budgets are
ON MANY advertising
SOCIAL
EXPERIMENTED
CHANNELS
with social media.
with customized strategies.

PR, marketing and
Scalability is less important as
advertising
CAMPAIGN
OPTIMIZATION.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, All programs marketing include and
a
combination of
advertising
PAID, EXPERIMENTED
OWNED AND
EARNED MEDIA.
with social media.

Social investment is justified
PR, marketing and
with reporting on the
advertising
BEST AND MOST
EXPERIMENTED
IMPACTFUL
METRICS.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
SEO goes beyond keyword
advertising
matching and focuses on
INTENT EXPERIMENTED
MATCHING.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
When it comes to real time
marketing, advertising
brands react
SWIFTLY AND
STRATEGICALLY.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Companies empower employees
to be
advertising
BRAND
EXPERIMENTED
AMBASSADORS.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
Contests are strategic, easy to
facilitate and offer the
advertising
LOWEST BARRIER
EXPERIMENTED
TO ENTRY.
with social media.

PR, marketing and
All websites offer a
advertising
SEAMLESS SCREEN
EXPERIMENTED
EXPERIENCE
with social media.
thanks to a responsive design.

PR, marketing and
advertising
Social images are
RAW AND REAL.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

PR, marketing and
advertising
Social teams operate with a
HEALTHY BUDGET.
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

Becoming PR, marketing ingrained and
within
existing communities is
advertising
A PRIORITY
EXPERIMENTED
vs. building new ones just because
with social media.
you can.

What are we measuring?
PR, marketing and
How advertising
social media
MOVES THE
EXPERIMENTED
BUSINESS FORWARD.
with social media.

Those of us working in the
field look at the future of
social media in many
different ways.

“Stop measuring
just to measure
if it doesn’t align
with business
objectives.”
Bryan Willmert, Digital Roots
PR, marketing and
advertising
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

“Twitter will start ranking tweets based on
popularity and engagement—following in
Facebook’s footsteps.”
Chad Wiebesick, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

“Businesses will be more likely in 2015 to
go after the next step, which is the return
on their social effort.” Matthew Laurin, General RV Center
PR, marketing and
advertising
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

“The next generation of trending online income is
going to be these simple steps: Develop a brand,
find an audience, build trust with that audience and
sell a product to that trusted audience.” Curtis Crowe, VisionIT
PR, marketing and
advertising
EXPERIMENTED
with social media.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Social accounts may be free – but success on
those channels isn’t.
• Content and multimedia reign supreme – but
ONLY if you figure out the recipe that works
best for your audience.
• Your content must seamlessly translate
across screens.
• The good old days of SEO are gone – trade in
keyword stuffing for intent-based keywords.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Make your business social – not just your
communications department.
• Pay attention to trends and algorithm shifts – but
always experiment to see what resonates.
• Real-time marketing can come back to haunt you
– be swift, but strategic. Not sure if it will offend
someone? Not worth it.
• Be helpful, build relationships, listen to your
customers and adjust your business
accordingly. Use social to enhance/complement
all this.

That’s how you
WIN IN SOCIAL
BUSINESS.

QUESTIONS?

NIKKI LITTLE
nlittle@identitypr.com
@nikki_little
identitypr.com
nikkilittle.com