Marketers need to not only set up streams in HootSuite to watch tweets, but they need to get in the habit of listening and responding.

Social listening gives you the opportunity to join the conversation, learn what the overall sentiment is on your product or service, see who your audience is talking to about your product, and learn about new trends.

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-trends-2014/

People are busy creatures, and they can be doing multiple things at once. Hence, people tend to favor content that's visually engaging and can be consumed and comprehended in a shorter amount of time.

Source: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/7_social_media_trends_in_2014_16702.as...

With shorter attention spans and busier schedules, videos are the next big thing. Make them fun and keep them short and sweet with a touch of humor.

Source: http://www.toptensocialmedia.com/social-media-social-buzz/ten-emerging-soci...

More and more, people are hosting and joining podcasts. Podcasting provides you with a new opportunity to reach your audience and maintain their attention for 30 minutes or more depending on the length of the podcast.

Sources: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/podcasting-with-michael-wolf/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-garst/social-media-marketing-wo_b_5110966...

Learn how you can promote your podcast with Haiku Deck here: http://blog.haikudeck.com/how-to-promote-your-podcast/

You might've heard the phrase, "Google+ is a ghost town," but they couldn't be more wrong. This social network is "growing in prominence" and it's time to find out how you can use this network in a way that benefits your brand.

Sources: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/14-social-media-marketing-tr...

http://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/5-social-media-trends-buzzing-in-2014.html

Here are a few things to consider as you consider how to best leverage social ads:

-What are your marketing goals?
-What's your budget?
-What does your audience need?
-Which channel will work the best and what type of ad should you use?
-Experiment and create multiple ads and test them out to find out what will work the best.

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-trends-2014/

Lately, email marketing and social media have been going hand in hand. Stay top-of-mind with email marketing and increase your brand's visibility with social media.

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-trends-2014/

With the increase in smart phone users, people are more inclined to view their social media networks right there on their mobile device -- it's easier and a lot more convenient.

Source: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/10-social-media-trends-summer-2014

Don't just push content to your audience for consumption, create excitement, expand your reach and increase brand exposure by turning up the level of fun with cool contests, sweet promotions and awesome giveaways.

Sources: http://www.toptensocialmedia.com/social-media-social-buzz/ten-emerging-soci...

http://www.business2community.com/social-media/14-social-media-marketing-tr...

Marketers are shifting their focus away from just measuring likes and followers, and are beginning to incorporate more social media reporting tools outside of the native tools such as Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics, to show more value with their social media efforts.

In addition, "social media influence will be the most sought-after metric in 2014."

Sources:

http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-trends-that-are-sticking-around-in-2...

http://www.business2community.com/social-media/14-social-media-marketing-tr...

The growth of social media has been "near exponential," and about 72% of all Internet users are also using social media. New platforms are also being developed and are gaining popularity, such as Ello.

Check out the infographic here to see more stats capturing the growth of social media in the past year: http://socialtimes.com/the-growth-from-trend-to-obsession-infographic_b1413...

Read more about the newest social media platform, Ello, here: http://mashable.com/2014/09/25/what's-the-deal-with-ello/

Additional resources:

Ten Reasons Why Visual Communication Can't Be Ignored: https://www.haikudeck.com/ten-reasons-visual-communication-cant-be-business...

Social Media + Content Marketing Haiku Deck Templates: http://www.pinterest.com/haikudeck/social-media-%2B-content-marketing-templ...

Optimize the Display Of Haiku Deck on Social Media: http://blog.haikudeck.com/optimize-display-haiku-deck-social-media/