| | MAY 201819CIOReviewAN ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIMIZATION (SMO) IS AHEAD: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN 2018?By Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO, SocialbakersThe debate brands are having around social media marketing is no longer about its value, but about maximizing the results and finding the route to success in an environment where the increase in demand for ad space is outpacing the supply of the audience's attention.With over a third of the world's population on social media, it has become mass media marketing, but if brands want to really take advantage they have to be prepared to open their wallets wide. It is the rocketing advertising costs that will lead the next year's trend towards Social Media Optimization (SMO), costs that on Facebook alone have risen by 35 percent over the last quarter.The trend in SMO has grown much like the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) took over the marketing agenda a few years ago. Now instead of paying to compete to be at the top of search result, we contest for the audience's views on the News Feed. SMO and SEO, both are a multistep process, and both leverage machine learning to ensure marketers achieve more with the same budget. The SMO process starts by gaining audience insights across social channels to create content that resonates with users. It requires AI recommendations to eliminate guesswork when publishing content and promoting it. It is only valuable as long as the results are benchmarked in a competitive context, both by verticals and regions, as the true proof of success on social. Marketers who stick to traditional, manual social media marketing methods, will see returns diminish and their competitive advantage fade.Marketers know-trends rarely come alone. While SMO is forefronting the marketing agendas across meeting rooms, it's followed by further trends rooted in the first-trends that are set to cut corners and hack growth, reach audiences and drive business results faster. Resolving Inefficiencies Through AI Marketing Employing machine learning to make strategic investments has resolved guesswork from the day-to-day for many marketers. The advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) certainly made it easier for marketers to pinpoint what content is truly engaging their audiences. It helped them return more value from their social media investments through efficiency. In the next year, we should see automation take over other integral parts of social media, especially in the area of audience segmentation and building of accurate audience personas for brands.Personalizing Content on an Entirely New LevelNo brand ever speaks to one audience. As we move into 2018, we predict that we will see advancements in real-time AI-driven personalization on social media. It is the dynamic element of personalization that is integral to making marketing click with customers. We can no longer assume that Chart Title: Interest in Social Media Optimization Is Reaching Its PeakSource: Google Trends DataCE INSIGHTS
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