Top social media tips for 2014 from IAB: featuring Yahoo, Microsoft, Unicef, Cabinet Office and more

At its first meeting of 2014, the IAB Social Media Council got together to share thoughts on the year ahead. Here, the members unveil their tips, in Twitter-sized breakdowns.

Shape successful strategy

Turn isolated social tactics into integrated marketing strategies and deliver genuine return. --Sophia Amin, director of marketing and communications, IABDon’t have a digital strategy – have a strategy for the digital world. --Julian Grainger, director of media strategy, Unique DigitalEmpower to grow – think about people, not platforms. --Laila Takeh, head of digital engagement, UNICEFMake the most of social data in 2014! Identity is key to engagement so learn those identities! #socialLogin --Richard Parboo, media industry director EMEA, JanrainHarness the power of free social media tools. In Gov we still need to save ££ and all marketers can learn to do more with less. --Anthony Simon, head of digital communications, Prime Minister's Office & Cabinet Office

The keys to amazing content – anywhere!

Make sure your social content is true to your values. Don’t lose your authenticity. --Ashraf Kamel, LinkedInContent = story-centric, not platform-centric. It’s all about the unification of shareable content. --Pete Durant, social media director, Manning Gottlieb OMD2014 will be an interesting year for sequential messaging to drive engagement. --Harriet Pierce, senior account manager, EssenceResolve to make your biggest difference yet & support causes in whatever way works best for your brand. --Paul Skinner, founder, Pimp My CauseDon’t forget social content at events. It’s not just about bigging up the speaker. --Katie Streten, senior strategist, Imagination

Facebook

In 2014, FB is paid-only for brands. Make sure the CMO gets it, optimise spend so it performs & GET BUDGET! --Marc Blinder, EMEA director social strategy team, Adobe Forget what you know about FB, the rules have changed. If you want to play, you have to pay. -- Richard Pentin, group planning director, TMW

#mayfly platforms

Focus on privacy concerns and pay attention to #mayfly platforms. --Andy Way, head of social, MediaCom

The right teams = the right stuff

Media owners, social media agencies, & practitioners: break out of the silos to make the most of social media. --John Pritchard, brand partnerships and social media lead, Microsoft Social teams should have two core skills: SEO + mobile video editing. --Edoardo Cassina, head of social marketing EMEA, Yahoo