Three Social Media Marketing Trends To Watch In 2016

With over 2 billion active users worldwide it’s pretty safe to say that the social media revolution is in full swing. Each day people of all ages around the world sign into their various accounts to network, connect and share content with their friends and colleagues.

Of course, this hasn’t gone unnoticed by companies & businesses. In fact, it is estimated that almost 90% of small-to-medium-sized businesses are currently active on social media in some form. Invariably just as the world evolves constantly so does social media. This evolution process can happen so rapidly that a trend which reached the peak of its popularity 12 months ago may become considered old hat this year.

In 2015 we saw

  • Further explosive growth by messaging apps such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger in their trajectory towards dominating communication as we know it.
  • An increase in real-time streaming platforms such as Snapchat & Periscope.
  • The increasing monetisation of all social networks with more scope is directed towards advertising.
  • Facebook’s transition towards becoming a huge visual platform to rival YouTube.

Looking forward to 2016 we analyze five of the main projected social media marketing trends expected to occur over the next twelve months.

Live Streaming & Instant Updates

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Arguably the biggest trend this year there was the increasing fascination and subsequent explosion in popularity growth of live streaming and up-to-the-minute applications such as Snapchat. Periscope and Meerkat. This will almost certainly continue into 2016 with more and more applications seeking to get as close to in-the-moment reality as possible.

Marketers can jump all over this bandwagon by hosting real-time Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes footage of a company at work or live feedback about a product/or service from the general public. Streaming live from events such as sports games or concerts is another surefire way to gain followers and engagement.

More Prominent Advertising

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Snapchat has really set the bar this year in terms of brand advertising with its sponsored stories. The amount of money that social media advertising can generate is staggering so it’s no surprise that all the main platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest are changing the game to capitalise as much as they can.

Paid advertisements will become more specifically targeted around the behaviours and interests of a particular audience. This will lead to more personalised targeting and a higher chance of engagementor intrusion in the eyes of some.

Also much like Facebook’s new algorithm update this year, organic visibility will be reduced. This in turn will lead to greater competition by companies to reach the top of the newsfeed thus resulting in more money being outplayed on boosted and sponsored posts.

Social Media Publishing 

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Content is still king, there are no two ways about it. People love reading fresh & interesting content in the form of articles & text posts. Regularly providing this kind of content is an essential feature in social media marketing. So it’s no surprise that this year we saw a lot of focus turn to social media editorial features such as Snapchat Discover, Twitter Memories & Facebook Memories.

Major social platforms are constantly seeking new and innovate ways to keep users within their channels & applications in order to ensure maximum engagement with paid advertisements and a healthy revenue stream from publishers . With the this in mind it seems like we may only be experiencing the beginning of the social media publishing era.

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