Social media is constantly changing and evolving. Old trends fade out while new ones rise to popularity, forcing brands to either adapt their social media strategies accordingly or risk losing relevancy in the online community. While the constant changes can be exhausting to keep up with, they come as a direct response to users’ desires and demands. As such, brands can learn a lot about their audience and how to best market to these individuals by looking at the trends dominating the social media marketplace. Which trend in 2016 did you think made the most impact? Here are a few of ours.
Embrace The Temporary
Humans are inherently curious creatures, and it seems expiring content is the golden ticket to successfully pique audiences’ interest. This sense of urgency shot Snapchat to social media stardom and since we have seen many of its competitors following in its ephemeral footsteps. Whether you’re using Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, or all three, expiring content gives brands an opportunity to foster a more personal and authentic connection with their followers.
Go Mobile or Don’t Go At All
Move over desktops, mobile is taking center stage! While mobile optimization has been a long-standing trend for some time, mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic on the web this year. It is more important than ever to make the mobile experience a priority. For brands, this means putting mobile first, rather than simply optimizing for mobile.
If You Want To Play, It’s Time To Pay
As social networks are inundated with content daily, algorithms are weeding out the lesser-quality content and only showing the best of the best organic posts to audiences. And while that keeps users logged in and engaged, it means brands must work twice as hard if they don’t want to disappear into social media oblivion. Brands have two choices; either reach for their wallets or have a true understanding of your audience and the content they want to see. The most successful social accounts are those that incorporate both quality content and a strategic advertising budget.
Influence Your Way To The Top
Customer voice has always been one of the most influential factors in marketing and today’s social networks act as one giant megaphone for that voice. Everyday individuals now have an opportunity to build their personal brand by sharing authentic content and growing a loyal following rooted in credibility and trust. These socially savvy consumers are an invaluable tool for brands, giving them a way to stand out from all the content clutter and reach your target customer.
As we wrap up 2016 and head into the new year, start thinking about how your brand can take advantage of these trends going forward, so you can make the most out of your 2017 social media efforts. For more social media best practices and rising trends, explore our blog or follow us on Twitter!