Social media trends shaping 2014

2013 was a year of exploration for brands on social media. From testing Vines to launching Instagram ads, many companies were dabbling in social media efforts across the Web just to see how customers would react. Now, in 2014, brands are geting serious. They’re using the wealth of data as well as the human connection that social media can provide to develop deeper relationships with customers.
Here are seven ways brands are using social media to increase customer loyalty this year.

1. Social Listening

People are increasingly turning to social media to report their grievances with companies. And when complaints are lodged in such a public manner, brands are learning the hard way not to put social media customer service on the back burner. This is why 24% of brands plan to participate in “social listening,” or paying attention to what’s being said about them on social networks like Twitter. While this means brands and customers are now more likely than ever to interact online, brands are still figuring out how to make social listening work in their favor: only 31% of marketers think their social listening is fully effective.

More here