Inside Outdoor Fall 2016

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It’s been about 10 years since Facebook opened its
pages to all the world and Twitter first hit the Interweb.
How much has social media changed in that time? So
much so that some leading thinkers even argue that the
term “social media” itself is incomplete if not obsolete.
The leading contestants in the space seem to feel the
same way. Twitter, for instance, now defines itself as a
“news app,” while Pinterest see itself as an “online scrap-
booking service.” Snap, Inc., the company behind Snapchat,
self-identifies as “a camera company” (i.e. Spectacles), and
Facebook sees itself as, well, everything.
For lack of a better term, we’ll stick with “social media”
for now, considering it reflective of today’s social network
platforms that primarily center on consumer generated, ag-
gregated and shared content, and rely largely on advertising
dollars. That’s not to suggest change has not been preva-
lent. Rather, the pace of change can be dizzying to market-
ers, particularly those at smaller retailers and vendors that
lack substantial social media teams and budgets.
Which brings us to what is arguably the biggest shift:
social media can no longer be viewed as a free or super
cheap form of marketing. “[B]rands are coming to grips with
the (sad) reality that social is a pay-to-play field now,” said
Ben Donkor, Social Media Analyst, Microsoft UK. Paid social
advertising and sponsorships as well as software tools that
measure campaign effectiveness have become the norm,
at least among larger contestants. In turn, social ROI is no
longer just a concept thrown about by keynote speakers and
session panelists. The prioritization of quantity and action is
being replaced by informed decision making and analytics.
All the while, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Snapchat continue to bake advanced advertis-
ing and promotional platforms, conversion mechanisms, calls-
to-action and buy buttons into their products. On the horizon,
Facebook and Twitter also are expected to roll out more B2B
ad products in order to take advantage of that large and largely
untapped market of advertisers for social networks.
With all this, and more, in mind, we’ve poured over piles
of research and data, reports and updates, in the hopes of
providing smaller organizations that lack dedicate teams or
large budgets insight into some of the recent developments
and shift of strategies in social media marketing. We also
hope to dispel a few myths along the way. After perusing our
10,000-foot view, feel free to contact us
if you’d like to receive a digital packet of the data
and surveys used to produce this report.
Insights and updates on social media marketing at specialty
By Martin Vilaboy
22 Inside Outdoor | Fall 2016