In the early days of social media marketing, companies did not consider it as a viable strategy to promote awareness or market their products. Now, most of us have become a witness to the fact that social media marketing is indeed a rock-solid platform that offers plenty of opportunities to make our products reach a wider market.
Social Media Marketing Trends in 2016
But the world of social media is changing quickly. Thanks to the dozens of new platforms appearing every year. Existing companies, big or small, are scrambling to stay ahead of their competitors by offering their audiences new features.
So, as a social media marketer, what trends can you expect in 2016?
1. Buy Buttons
Facebook has introduced the “buy” feature for their advertisers and users. It is followed by Pinterest. These two platforms are aggressive in promoting this feature to advertisers. Users of these two social networking sites can now purchase a product directly from these platforms through a sponsored content.
Facebook-owned Instagram is following behind. And more and more platforms are going to follow. That said, when 2016 ends, major social media brands will also be offering a “buy” feature.
2. Live broadcasting
Recently, Facebook has rolled out its live broadcasting feature to non-verified accounts to compete with Periscope, a Twitter-owned company that offers a live video broadcast. Instagram and Snapchat are also offering an on-the-go video update as opposed to the late-game update.
If this trend will continue, scheduling your updates in advance will no longer be advisable. That is if you want to go with the trend.
3. In-App functionality
When it comes to providing users with new functionalities, Facebook is considered the king in this area. Currently, the company is developing a human hybrid assistant and other social media companies are also developing such functionality.
An in-app functionality will prevent users from ever leaving Facebook, Instagram and other social networking apps they are using.
This trend is said to continue in 2016. It will give marketers better opportunities to engage with their audiences using one platform.
4. Publication option
Publishers can publish their full-length articles on a social media site. This is how Instant Articles of Facebook works. With this option, publishers no longer have to provide an external link to their sites.
Social media marketing experts are guessing that, as this trend continues, other social media platforms will offer a more sophisticated form of publishing to some businesses and organizations.
The Project Lighting of Twitter offers a dynamic way of presenting a material to the public. But it still works like the Instant Articles of Facebook. Pretty sure, others will follow.
Will there be fewer smaller platforms to emerge?
There is a dozen of social media platforms that emerged but most of them died a quick death. That said, experts are seeing fewer smaller social media platforms to compete against the big three – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
These trends are just predictions. But some of them will permeate across multiple platforms. Many audiences will use them. Some companies may not adapt to the changes but others will.
Image Source: Cirox
