Marketing Trend for 2014: Smaller Messaging Has a Big Impact Increasingly, brands are marketing themselves via short-form social media.

Marketing

The new word in content marketing is small. Increasingly, brands are marketing themselves via short-form social media like Vine, Twitter, Instagram, Instagram video and the newer platform Snapchat--not by broadcasting their silly old messages but by treating their prospects and customers with respect, engaging with them directly through brief snippets of conversation, personality and humor. But it's not just for fun: Consumers who engage with brands via social media demonstrate a deeper emotional commitment to those brands and spend 20 to 40 percent more than other customers, according to a report from Bain & Company.

Taco Bell has been killing it on Twitter, creating a hip, fun presence to turn customers into evangelists. Based in part on its snappy, very human interactions, the fast-food giant generated enough early buzz to make Doritos Locos Tacos its most successful product launch to date. (Taco Bell reportedly sold 100 million in the product's first 10 weeks, and its parent company, Yum Brands, registered a 15 percent increase in profit during the launch quarter.)