Over the years, social media has had a significant impact on our daily lives. Not only has it been used for leisurely purposes, but it has become a useful marketing tool for businesses as well. Social media is here to stay and continues to evolve. Since 2016 is almost over and the new year is quickly approaching, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest social media trends in order to integrate these changes into your marketing strategy.
1) New Network Trends
Users are moving away from platforms like Twitter. Twitter hasn’t been performing well lately, which has caused users to gravitate towards social media outlets that produce less rapid news. People are becoming more active on Instagram and Facebook, as these platforms do not have content limitations and only have to be updated once a day. In particular, Snapchat has exceeded users’ expectations and has transformed major trends in the world of marketing. The app has enabled a moment focused view of communication, allowing users to live experiences. Beyond its traditional means of sending messages, Snapchat is looking to develop other products, such as the introduction of real-world glasses that help users capture first-person visual information. Businesses should expect big things from Snapchat, and take advantage of this growing platform.
2) Expiring Content
In 2017, look out for an increase use of social media companies incorporating expiring content. With platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, users look forward to informative content that expires. Expiring content creates scarcity. This form of social media brings urgency to the content table and prevents procrastination in viewing posts. Typically these posts last only 24 hours, so if you miss it, it’s gone forever and users hate feeling out of the loop!
3) Real-Time Engagement
Customers rely on social media to provide them with answers to questions and concerns they may have. They often demand responses and want quick and easy solutions. An emerging trend to look for in the new year is the use of chatbots—a solution to this CRM (customer relationship management) problem. Companies have taken notes from both Siri and Google Assist, and they are starting to incorporate the use of Chatbots. These Chatbots provide users with answers to their problems instantaneously.
4) Social Media Automation
There are thousands of competitors and millions of users. The use of marketing automation tools from platforms, such as Hootsuite, is on the rise. Businesses are looking to deliver content to the right users at the right time. With the use of these automation tools, 77% of marketers reported seeing online conversations increase and 80% of marketers also saw an increase of leads. So if you haven’t yet incorporated social media automation into your marketing plan, 2017 would be the perfect time to start!
5) Being Mobile Matters
Did you know mobile traffic now exceeds desktop traffic? And now there are over 2 billion smartphone users worldwide. People are always on their phone and manage to always be connected. Keeping this in mind, mobile users should be a key priority to your business. So it is extremely important to make sure your website should have mobile capability and is user-friendly.
These will be some of the biggest social media marketing trends that your company should look out for in 2017. It’s time for businesses to pay closer attention in finding ways to convert traffic from your content into leads and sales. Learn from your mistakes in 2016, and make this part of your company’s new years resolution!