Changes in social media happen rapidly, and it might be hard to keep track of all of them. From influencer marketing to the rise of the ‘buy button’, here are the 5 Social Media Marketing Trends we think you should keep an eye on in 2016.
1. Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is going to be more important than ever. The place for consumers to share their experiences with a business is the Internet, and these comments can either make or break a company. The key is to find the right strategy in controlling what is being said about you on social media. In order to do this, always make sure that you monitor what is being said about you on a daily basis. Try to find every comment that is out there about your brand. Don’t limit yourself to just checking Facebook and Twitter, as there are many platforms out there where consumers can express their opinions about your brand. Make sure to engage with consumers when possible, especially when comments are negative. When you find a negative comment, fix it immediately, contact the customer and offer a solution. When you take immediate action, customers are likely to write a positive remark in return. Don’t just respond to the negative comments; engage with consumers who are posting positive comments. An example of this can be seen in the picture below, where a blog posted a picture of some cinnamon buns, and included Cinnabon in their post. While the post was already positive, it’s still smart to engage with your consumers as a company. Leaving a positive comment and engaging like this might incline the customer to buy your products or use your services again.
2. Using Mobile Phones to Browse the Web
For many years, web development has been focusing on the needs of desktop users. 2016 is the year where there are more mobile users than ever, and they are using their devices to do basically anything online. Consumers constantly browse social media, post comments, research and buy products online, communicate with people, watch videos and look for companies online. All of this will only increase even more this year, as the total number of mobile users is expected to rise to 2.08 billion according to Statista. This makes it extremely important for companies to make sure that their websites are mobile friendly. Also look into the possibility of developing a mobile app for your company and make sure you’re visible on all major social media platforms.
3. Purchase Options on Social Media
The rise of the ‘buy button’ will likely be a major trend in 2016. Twitter, Facebook, Google and Pinterest are just a few examples of companies who have introduced a ‘buy button’ to their platform. People are buying more and more products online, and the ‘buy button will likely only increase this. Using the buy button is simple, customers simply click on the ‘buy’ or ‘buy it’ button next to the featured product and are able to immediately purchase the product by paying with one of the supported pay methods.
4. Newer Social Media Sites Will Be Important
Until recently, social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat were only considered to be places where people communicated and shared pictures and video’s with each other. They were not necessarily considered to be digital marketing mediums. Instagram is now starting to provide similar advertising opportunities as Facebook is making it easy for companies to use this platform for marketing purposes. Snapchat is also proving to be a great marketing opportunity for companies. ‘Snapchat Story’ is already being used by many brands, and this feature will probably grow into an even bigger marketing tool than it already is.
5. Consumers Search Directly on Social Media
Using search engines such as Google is still the most common way to search for information, but there is a new shift to watch for. Many Internet users out there are often using creative and new ways to get information about products and services. Many now directly search on social media, they do so because they will probably find more trustworthy reviews written by other users than they would using traditional search engines. A lot of people also search for information on social media because they can often directly get in contact with a company, instead of using Google to find the contact page of a company’s website. Due to this new development, it’s important not only to think about being found on Google, but additionally also being found on social media.
About iRISEmedia
iRISEmedia.com is a Toronto based digital marketing agency and SEO company, specializing in Social Media and internet marketing. Our team helps clients increase their reach and profitability by developing and implementing customized and targeted online and social media marketing strategies. We service clients in Toronto, Ontario, the GTA and throughout Canada as well as globally.
