Big changes are going to take place for major social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and LinkedIn. This is the time when the marketers are busy analyzing their accomplishments on the social media front for the year 2014. Changes in the online world generally happen quickly and it’s the same with social media as well. Marketers need to analyze their strategies constantly in order to know the ones that were successful in the year 2014 and also to know the ones that need to be dropped.
Bellow mentioned is a list of social media trends that should be implemented at top priority:
Content Marketing
This has always been an important thing that you need to pay attention to. There is a shift from text content to visual content. People have been responding more positively over most of the social media channels and video posts are getting three times more likes in comparison to the posts that only contain text. In these regards, the content marketing trend is clear. Another important point that can be added to the content marketing strategy is that smaller posts that are audience specific, informative and designed to be shared gain far more views and traffic rather than the posts that lack these elements.
The Mobile Revolution Is Taking Over
Browsing information through smart phones and tablets is a global trend that has been on the rise for the past few years. This trend is expected to completely take off. Browsing through smart phones and tablets is not just convenient for the people having a busy lifestyle but it is also beneficial for the freelancers and for the self employed individuals. Smart phones and tablets are convenient modes of being online all the time.
We have noticed that a large number of users prefer engaging in social media through their mobile devices and this number is set to increase. Therefore, marketers should seriously consider putting mobile web first while planning the social media campaigns. They should focus on creating designs intended for the mobile devices instead of only covering the desktop users.
Use of mobile devices is not just limited to social engagement. Mobile users are also using their devices for making online purchases. More and more companies are investing in mobile apps and mobile websites for the convenience for the users.
Investing For Better Social Media Results
It’s a fact that companies marketing through Facebook have had their own share of experiences. The organic traffic reach on Facebook has reduced considerately and fans are now getting lower number of posts for the pages they are following on Facebook. Marketers have to invest money for promoting the posts on Facebook. Although there has been some resistance from users for this new reality, you can expect the cost of Facebook’s ad space to be on a rise.
However, rising of ad cost is not the only trend that you will be seeing. You might have noticed that both Facebook and Twitter have added the ‘buy’ buttons alongside some posts that enable the users to shop online without leaving the page. This needs an account that is created for purchase but the opportunity to shop while tweeting or posting on Facebook will be an exciting new trend to follow once these two social media giants come out of the beta versions of the new applications.
Watch Out For LinkedIn
LinkedIn made some impressive moves in 2014, the most notable move was incorporating a publishing platform for the users. LinkedIn is a big name in the B2B industry, and now it extends the opportunities for the companies to establish a professional brand by engaging the followers in informative and valuable content. The publishing platform also enables the individuals to showcase their talent on specific topics.
With almost 88% of B2B marketers already using LinkedIn, and with many journalists actively participating on LinkedIn, will see LinkedIn grow into the only source of reference required for the employers and employees. The important aspect of LinkedIn that has always separated it from the other social networking websites is that it earns its profits from paid users. The paid users of LinkedIn are expected to increase and the networking opportunities will also be maximized.
What Can You Do From Google Plus?
You might be aware that the Google Plus Authorship program was stopped. Vic Gundotra, the man behind Google Plus stepped down because it might be the case that he realized that Google Plus does not offer with any unique value other than the prominent social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Although ‘Hangouts’ was one of the few positive features of Google Plus; it is now available as a unique standalone application that is accessible outside Google Plus. Therefore, expectations from Google Plus platform are not that great but you should make sure to maintain a good presence on this website because after all it is going to help you in building traffic to your website. If you have been on Google Plus, continue to post updates on a regular basis.
Social Media Will Rule And The Coming Years!!
All the SEO and social media trends have a certain time span. Some trend might become the hottest trend in the market that everyone wants to imitate and then in the next year, that same trend will be disappeared. Every website or blog will be integrating the social networking websites so that people can cast their opinions immediately. The one thing that you can bank on is that social media will officially gain the position of the most important and influential tool for the marketers and advertisers. Social media will be one major platform with the ability to reach out to unlimited number of consumers. Marketers will have the ability to create and co-ordinate many types of campaigns including videos, text, still pictures and audio. There will be improved software for tracking analytics.
Adapt to AR and VR Technology
Brands are trying to offer a compelling user experience through Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). E-commerce companies have adapted to AR-powered shopping, allowing customers to try products before buying. Before investing in something, consumers will be able to make thoughtful purchase decisions.
Users can apply hundreds of different filters to their images and videos on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, including updating their profile pictures with brand logos and mascots.
Social media will reign as the most powerful and supreme platform for engaging audience across the globe!
