With 2 billion active users worldwide and growing at staggering 25% each year, it’s no wonder that social media has become the golden child of marketing.
No matter your shape, size, product or service social has been the catalyst for some of the biggest startup success stories – and without it they may have not seen their business grow to such an exponential level.
A 2015 report by Social Media Examiner found that more than half of companies actively using social networks have seen the platforms boost sales and give them an overwhelming amount of exposure to their target audience. But like with anything online the landscape is changing.
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These social media trends will have you re-thinking your marketing strategy for 2016, because if there’s one thing 2015 has taught it’s that change is inevitable, and if you don’t begin to harness the power of social you can soon find your business falling short.
Emerging platforms
Just when you thought you had nailed the social media giants currently dominating the internet, there are now new platforms on the horizon looking to transform the way we communicate internally during our working hours.
The death of the email is a mighty prediction, but with Facebook Work currently in trial mode and Slack reporting 1.25 million active business users, the door has been pushed open for the aged email to do a nose dive.
Whilst a trusted tool and one that’s been considered ‘the old reliable’, email has stood the test of time, but it has not developed quick enough for modern business needs.
The end of spam, junk, and endless reply-all threads could come sooner that you thought!
Social messaging
The simple SMS text message feels almost ancient now that we have messaging Apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
And whilst the marketing on such apps is a rather dark area, the wealth of information that these Apps hold about us and the things that we share may hold the key to creating further insights into our behaviours.
This year may see these Apps finally sharing the gold dust that they hold, and give marketers further insights in how to target us.
Some social sites have already seen messaging as a vital customer service tool, with Twitter lifting it’s 140 character limit and follow requirements, users can now contact brands without the exhausting need for it all to be exposed across their timeline.
If you haven’t done so already, harnessing social media for customer interaction could improve your conversion rates, and make your business feel more approachable.
Increasing ads
It’s estimated that by 2017 social media advertising may count for a full 16% of digital advertising spend globally.
Thanks to the relevance method that has now been actioned by many social media channels, adverts that appear in your feeds are probably ones that you actually want to see.
There are now many new tools available for small businesses making social advertising more accessible than ever, when it was previously only available for high-end social spenders.
But further to increasing ad spend more businesses will implement Call tracking and analytical software, as a recent report by Search Engine Land discovered that 43% of search related conversions come in by phone. Stuart Buckley CEO of Calltracks comments that,”The increase in the percentage of social ad clicks that resulted in phone calls has been on the rise since 2010, but it’s been previously estimated that 70% of marketers are not reporting regularly on their social media conversions. Which is something that must change in order to gain appropriate ROI”.
Taking advantage of this more targeted approach could earn your business leads that are actually interested in the service you offer rather than prospects that have only viewed your ad due to poor targeting.
Video goes viral
In 2015 Twitter launched videos, Facebook more than doubled it’s daily video views to 8 billion and Snapchat now reports a daily 6 billion video views.
Video content is hot right now and with adult users consuming an average 66 minutes of online videos each day, it’s no surprise that 70% of companies now say that video is their most effective marketing tool.
The truth is, you don’t have to be a video editing whizz to post a video that makes your brand seem interesting. With the many mobile apps now free and downloadable, you can make even the dullest of tasks seem like a master piece.
From tutorials on how to use a product, or even a fun video showcasing some of your design work in real-time, if cat videos can make it, there’s definitely space on the internet for you to showcase your talent.
It may feel like you have some learning to do when it comes to these new trends but don’t hold back on educating yourself and dipping your toe into the proverbial waters. If you find a platform that fits your brand well and helps you to engage with your clients, then it’s well worth putting in the effort.