We've scoured all the latest trends and predictions to bring you 5 actionable things to consider for your social media strategy in 2015.

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Confidential © 2014
Confidential © 2014
28/01/2015
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28/01/2015
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Confidential © 2014
Social in 2015: the edit
Here’s what you need to know right now.

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What’s in this deck for me?
We all know social is to be taken seriously. 74% of internet users are
registered on a social network. Probably now including your Dad.
Brands need to be present.
But with the landscape evolving so fast it can be hard to keep up -
and easy and comforting to hide under the duvet and stick to what
you know.
That’s where this deck comes in. We’ve trawled through millions of
predictions and all the latest platform news to bring you the 5 things
you need to think about in 2015. Yes, there are cats, so please read
on…

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Facebook’s organic reach almost disappeared through 2014, panicking some Page
owners and ensuring more marketing money was spent on the platform.
Social in 2014: The headlines
As Facebook ramped up their ad options, so did other social platforms, with
Instagram introducing Promoted Photos outside of the US, and Twitter introducing
native video, amongst many other ad formats.
Social got serious, with more brands sharing content, using platforms as
extensions of their advertising campaigns, and in many cases making campaigns
social first e.g. Domino’s Meltdown
In 2014 even more social platforms emerged. Some are interesting, some will fade
away by 2016. While Facebook is still the big player, niche networks are
appearing, and sticking around e.g. Ello, Fitocracy, Jelly,Tinder

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5 actionable, effective
things to do in 2015

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#1: Think outside the
facebook box

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The truth
It’s time to test and learn, looking
beyond Facebook as the primary
social channel, towards more
strategy appropriate channels

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Facebook is reducing organic reach of Pages
Organic reach will soon be a thing of the past for
most Pages.
Other social networks are catching up
Tumblr,Twitter, Instagram, and even
Google+ have all grown more than
Facebook in the last 6 months - Tumblr
has increased its MAUs by 120% (Source:
GlobalWebIndex, Nov 2014)
Niche networks are emerging
- Millenials have been abandoning Facebook–a
Piper Jaffray report showed teen Facebook use fell
by nearly 30% in 2014
- Some cater for those wanting a more
personalised experience e.g. Fitocracy, Foodie
Twitter is expanding its advertising remit
- Twitter will challenge Facebook in 2015 for
innovative advertising options
- Twitter is also partnering up with companies such
as Nielsen to offer additional insight into user
behaviour for advertisers
The evidence

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What does this mean?
Putting all your resources
into Facebook
Investigating which social networks
your live on E.g. sports fans love
sharing on Twitter, millenials prefer
Instagram
2014
2015
Hoping for organic reach
on Facebook
Experimenting with link posts & videos
to get organic reach on Facebook.
Optimising for organic reach on other
platforms
Facebook Promoted Posts
Twitter Cards, Snapchat’s Our
Story, Instagram Promoted
Posts

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§ Find ways to post efficiently on Facebook (fewer,
better posts), while looking at other networks
§ Beware of brand new networks that might seem
ideal for your brand–critical mass is essential
before jumping on board
§ Ensure the platform suits your audience AND
your brand. If you’re not a very visual brand,
Instagram might not be your ideal space
three takeaways

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#2: get smart with
social measurement

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Engagement Rate won’t be
enough in 2015. It’s time to
use social to its full potential
The truth

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Social is your new ad platform
- Social ad formats are becoming more advanced - at
least one person in your team should be in the know
and prepared to test
- Facebook Atlas, and G+ using the GDN for promoted
posts are evidence of social ads breaking out of social
Analytics are getting smarter
- Engagement Rate is just a starting point
- Retargeting, advanced video analytics, and post-
exposure brand surveys are showing true social ROI
- Different measures have different weights–a like
is not equitable to a share. A comment may be
negative
It can be a great traffic driver
- Buzzfeed–an online publishing success story–
gets 5x it’s traffic from social vs. search (Source:
Buzzfeed Insights, Nov 2014)
- But much social traffic isn’t tracked–what do you
need to measure to show ROI?
It’s not just about Grumpy Cat memes
Social is becoming a market place:Twitter and
Facebook are testing Buy Buttons,Tumblr is adding
CTA buttons to posts from certain sites e.g. Etsy–
these are the things that will show true value
Why?

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What does this mean?
Reporting Engagement
Rate
Reporting social referral, share
rate, sentiment, click through
rates, brand preference
2014
2015
Promoted posts and
tweets
Twitter Cards, lookalike
audiences, Promoted Pins,
Sponsored Photos
Dead-end posts
Social as a traffic driver
Standalone social
Social as an extension of
your website–shared
articles, Buy Now buttons

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§ Know your strategy inside out to ensure you:
- Report what matters to your business
- Create content that serves your business
needs
§ Don’t run before you can walk with social
advertising
§ Don’t do everything - choose to do a few things
really well
three takeaways

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#3: social wants to go
shopping

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The truth
Social media channels are
introducing new ways to shop
without leaving their platforms,
providing a one stop shop for
consumers and a data mine for
marketers

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The evidence
Moving beyond engagement
- Social networks are looking to move beyond
engagement to monetize their platforms
- ROI is much easier to measure if you have direct
sales figures from social activity
Buy buttons
- Twitter and Facebook have launched ‘Buy’ buttons
allowing users to purchase items without leaving
the platform
- Perfect for lower priced, impulse goods and
services
Personalisation is powerful
- Data on consumers allows brands to target deals
and offers to maximise cut through
- Data insights gleaned around shopping habits
would be invaluable
Checkout processes are too long
- The average abandonment rate of online baskets is
68.07%
- Buying direct from a tweet or post in feed, especially
with timed deals for example, capitalises on impulse
buyers with no need for a basket or inputting lengthy
details

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What does this mean?
Measuring engagement
Measuring sales direct from
social messaging
2014
2015
Globally appealing
content
Locally focused content with
personalised deals and
short-term offers
Your goods get left in a
basket
Your goods get pushed for
two-click impulse purchase

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§ People are unlikely to buy:
- High price items
- Brands they do not already know
§ Risk of appearing spammy if you bombard
people with flashsales and deals. Beware
“Groupon Remorse”
§ Operational difficulties as retailers face changes
in product demand. Receiving goods will need to
be as quick as buying them
three takeaways

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#4: do “always good”,
not “always on”

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What?
Budgets aren’t infinite. It’s
time to do a few things well,
rather than everything, all
the time, in a mediocre way
The truth

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One good piece of content = 10 average ones
- A good piece of content can be cut, re-cut,
extended and reused. Great quality content is
what Facebook wants in its newsfeed
- Fewer posts = more time to test
Community is (almost) dead
- The original idea of ‘Always On’ went hand in
hand with community building
- The reality is that most brands aren’t building
true communities, they are pulling people towards
their content and providing another Customer
Service channel
We are drowning in content
- 90% of the world’s data was generated in the
last two years.
- Create disruptive content which stops the scroll
- Pinning, promoting and seeding will surface
your best content
Content curation isn’t a dirty phrase
- Sharing other creators’ content can be a simple
way to bolster your calendar
- Choose content from trusted partners, and
brands that compliment your tone of voice
- UGC can also be a great way to tell your story
Why?

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What does this mean?
Creating a huge suite of
content for every channel
Taking select pieces of great
content and adapting them/
extending them for each channel
2014
2015
Posting multiple times a
day
Pinpointing the correct
posting frequency for each
channel, for your brand
Only posting your content
Posting curated content from
other trusted brands and
partners
Creating content in silos
Sharing content across the
business, creating a repository of
‘evergreen content’

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§ Don’t suddenly stop posting. Ensure you have
enough content to post semi-regularly, and if
necessary only promote to fans/followers
§ Ensure your ‘evergreen content’ has value and
isn’t just posting for the sake of it
§ Curated content won’t work for every single brand
–do due diligence before basing your content
plan around it
Three takeaways

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#5: video video video
(stay with us…)

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The truth
Video has been touted as the next
big thing for, well, ever. In 2015 it
really is. But as major networks
push video to the forefront of their
platforms, how is best to use it for
your brand?

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The evidence
Massive increase in video uploads
- Facebook has seen uploads increase 75% during
2014
- 12 million Vines are uploaded to Twitter everyday.
Lo-fi is ok in this age of democratised content
production
Networks are pushing video to the forefront
-Twitter is launching native video capabilities
allowing shoot and edit within its app
- Facebook’s algorithms and autoplay surface and
highlight video in newsfeeds
Think outside of YouTube
- Facebook is racking up a billion video views A DAY
and outperforming YT links on the site
- 75% of video views occur outside of the YouTube
ecosystem
Native video ads
- If you produce great, compelling video content, you
can make sure it’s seen by the right people as video
play ad units are released across major networks

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What does this mean?
One shiny hero video a
year
Variety of videos for different
platforms, to suit your
business objectives.
Lo-fi is ok.
2014
2015
YouTube links in social
posts
Native video with autoplay
in-stream
Reposting your TV
commercials to YouTube
Crafting tailored video
content for your platforms
and audiences

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§ Yes, video engagement rates are impressive, but
only if your videos are good.Think “what’s in it
for them”when creating content.
§ Aim for ‘valuable virality’. What’s the use of your
video being seen by millions if they don’t
remember it was you who made it?
§ Be imaginative. How can you use video to your
best advantage? Look at the old classic General
Electric ‘6 Second Science’ series and think how
you can make your video something people want
to talk about
three takeaways

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What your boss needs
to know

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ü Facebook is not going anywhere, but its realities need to be addressed. Make it work for
you–not the other way round
ü Your social platforms are generating data all the time. Likes won’t win the heart of the MD,
but using smarter analytics to show ROI and brand preference will
ü Social commerce could make your business more profitable–moving social out of the
discovery phase, into the purchase phase. Now is the time to get your house in order to
push for that 2-click purchase
ü Do less content. Do it much better.
ü Whether you’re a multi-national brand, or a SME, make 2015 the year you nail your video
strategy
Key takeouts

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Thanks
Julia.Filsell@iris-worldwide.com
Julia: Digital Content Strategist
Hannah.Beesley@iris-worldwide.com
Hannah: Senior Social Media Manager
Any questions about social:
socialclimbers@iris-worldwide.com