The revitalized look of Facebook's News Feed (Image courtesy of Flickr user Thomas Hawk)

In March, Facebook announced its new mobile-inspired news feed which has again sparked conversations surrounding the vital importance of visual elements in social media marketing. “Visual Marketing” was coined as a breakout trend of 2012 with the growing popularity of social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram. With pictures being shared and liked more than text, links and videos it’s clear that more images equals more engagement. This is not surprising considering the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text alone, 83% of all learning is visual, and 93% of communication is non-verbal.

Image courtesy of Dell's Official Flickr Account

Identifying ailing digital marketing strategies can be challenging. Even if you are posting content on a regular basis and gaining followers, are you meeting goals and generating a return on investment? In order to answer these questions, you have to evaluate your social media strategy.

How are you presenting yourself? (Image courtesy of Slideshare)

Social media users love images. The popularity of Instagram and Pinterest along with Facebook’s redesign forecast an image-saturated future for social media. This should come as no surprise since research shows that between 60-65% of people are visual learners, meaning this portion of the population prefers visual stimuli over text.

How is your brand using Vine?

Have you been following the progress of Twitter’s new social platform Vine? Well, it has been nearly two months since Twitter announced Vine and it is continuing to gain popularity with not only the everyday user, but top brands as well. This social app allows users to create a 6-second max video loop and then share it across various social media platforms.  There are numerous ways that brands are able to utilize Vine to share content and engage with their audience.  Brands can use Vine to highlight a product launch, run a product/service demo, create contests, or simply just create engaging content that can reach a mass audience.  Learn how some brands are already using vine to leverage their products and services in this recent article from PRNewser.

Nielsen's 2012 Social Media Report - Social Networking Is All About Mobile

It is no surprise that social media plays an increasingly substantial role in the lives of today’s consumers. As marketers continue to evolve social media strategies, it’s crucial to refer back to learnings and trends from the past to properly plan for the future. Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report provides valuable insight on the growth, evolution and impact of social media based on its increasing base of consumers across the nation and the globe. So what can we learn from the Nielsen’s report’s key findings?

Example of using a banner on a company's Products & Services page

Are you using LinkedIn to acquire more traffic and leads? If not, this might be a missed opportunity. Experian Marketing Services research shows that LinkedIn received 94M total US visits in December 2012. That is a 40% increase compared to the same month the previous year.