Since “social media” became a recognized term in the early 2000’s, its popularity has been growing at an incredible rate. In 2014, 74 percent of Internet users were using social networking sites. Those numbers are only going to grow throughout 2015.
Given the prevalence of social media, it’s become a wildly effective marketing tactic for corporations and small businesses alike. This year, business are only going to devote more time and money to social media marketing, and with this comes evolving and emerging trends. Check out these social media marketing trends for 2015.
1. Short Video Content will Rise in Popularity
William Johnson predicts on Social Media Today that visual content on social media will rise, but not in the form of still images. Instead, more businesses will be pushing short video content on social media. Short video content will be effective for several reasons:
- People love visual content. Given that 65 percent of the population are visual learners, it makes sense to produce visual content that they can connect with.
- With the benefit of audio, you can connect with your audience on a more personable level.
- People’s attention spans are short; a 2-minute video is likely to perform better than a 20-minute video in the fast-paced world of social networking where people want information quickly.
These short-form videos will include everything from entertaining content to educational material. With the rise of video content will also come an increased popularity in sites like Instagram that offer video marketing opportunities.
2. Niche Networks will Grow
Niche social networks have been around for a lot time. Dating sites, for instance, are a type of niche social network, and 2014 saw several niche network launches. 2015 is likely to see a rise in niche network popularity for all industries. For instance, social networking sites like Foodie will attract the likes of chefs, restaurant managers, food manufacturers, and other food enthusiasts.
Time.com says they’re unsure of how long these networks will stick around, but we will see new networks launch this year. While these niche networks won’t reach the type of popularity Facebook and Twitter currently have, many businesses will turn to them to reach their target audience.
3. Ecommerce and Social Networking will Merge
We’ve already seen the start of the ecommerce and social networking partnership when both Facebook and Twitter started using “Buy” call-to-action buttons. In 2015, the prevalence of social commerce will only grow as businesses start adopting the use of these marketing options.
This will be especially useful for businesses that have a tough time getting customers to visit their website since you’ll no longer need the website traffic to make a sale. This social commerce movement is likely to work best with time-sensitive offers to get customers to act quickly, so expect to integrate these tools into your sales campaigns.
4. Mobile Optimization will Become More Prevalent
In 2014, the world saw mobile Internet use surpass that of desktop use. Social media usage alone boomed by 23 percent on mobile devices in 2014.
This year, mobile will continue to dominate, and the concept of “mobile friendly” will evolve to “mobile first.” For business, that means putting more focus on mobile optimized websites and practices. For social media, that includes optimizing posts and ads for mobile and wearable devices. Businesses will also continue to use geo tracking for real-time marketing on social networks and in mobile apps.
Which one—or ones—of these trends will your business be focusing on in 2015? Or do you see social media marketing going in a different direction? Let us know in the comment section.