At the end of 2015, there are more than 2 billion active social media users worldwide. That number has continued to grow at nearly 25% each year, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing. The world of social media changes quickly as we see dozens of new platforms emerge year to year. What should you expect for 2016? Here’s a look at three trends to keep an eye on in the coming year:
Ever since Twitter emerged in 2006, the nature of social media has become focused around the right now, the in-the-moment, the real time. Take for example Periscope, a Socialfly favorite, which lets users broadcast short stretches of their day to other followers to watch in real time. Instagram and Snapchat are also big players in the in-the-moment game, allowing users to post real time updates to friends and followers. While many brands are already using Instagram for customer outreach and follower engagement, you can expect to see that number grow in the new year, and watch as more brands take on the task of joining Snapchat.
Gone are the days of “clicking the link in our bio” to “shop this look.” As 2015 sees its way out, we’ve seen an uptick in “Shop Now,” “Buy,” and “One Click to Shop” buttons on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Users who see a product that they like in a sponsored post can now click once to make that item their own. While the feature is mostly mobile focused right now, the action buttons are fitting nicely into Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest’s interfaces so well that we should expect to see it on all of our screens and devices in the near future.
Just last year, Facebook more than doubled its daily video views to 8 billion, matching their YouTube competition. Twitter launched a native video service of its own in 2015, and as the year comes to a close, Snapchat reports 6 billion daily video views! It isn’t surprising that 70% of companies claim that video is their most effective marketing tool when it comes to online advertising, and we shouldn’t be surprised if we notice video dominating social strategies in 2016. It wasn’t all that long ago that companies were too scared to get their feet wet when it came to video due to the cost, time, and extra staffing they require, but thanks to 8-second Vines and 15-second Instagram videos, content possibilities continue to diversify.
What do you think will be the biggest social media marketing trend of 2016? What do you see succeeding when you look into your crystal ball, and which trends do you think we’re going to leave in the dust of 2015?
