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Top 4 Social Media Trends You Should Watch in 2015

Attention will shift to digital and mobile devices to become the desired platform to access social media. This generational shift, according to Business Insider, will result from young professionals (ages 16-34) driving approximately a quarter of all Internet traffic. This group spends nearly 60% of their time accessing social media on their smartphones or tablets. Thus, it will be critical for businesses to create mobile-optimized platforms and use social media to connect with consumers.

Social media platforms will take a new approach when it comes to organic or ‘free’ marketing, as the following trends emerge in 2015:

1) Facebook will continue to increase its prices for promoted posts.

Facebook news feed changes will affect social media marketing as we see a decrease in organic reach for posts with irrelevant content. According to Forbes, Facebook will continue to limit the number of posts people actually see as the demand for promoted posts and ads continue to increase. Since Facebook is still one of the most popular ways for consumers to connect with brands, they will have to pay for advertisements and produce higher quality content in hopes of increasing their fan base and ROI.

2) 2015 is the year of the bird.

Twitter is ramping up and rolling out new services for users and brands. It recently gave businesses more freedom and flexibility in how and what they pay for advertisements. This means that companies large and small can use Twitter to create campaigns with a broader reach at a more accessible price point. Companies are ecstatic about this change, particularly small businesses, as Twitter’s ‘“promoted tweets’” will help increase revenue and brand visibility.

More good news for brands and users: Twitter is soon to roll out native videos. Instead of having to link to YouTube or Vine videos, users will be able to watch, record, edit, and share videos right on their Twitter feed. In a social media world that is increasingly video dominant, this could be a brand’s answer to higher engagement with followers on Twitter, particularly the younger demographic.

3) Pinterest has enhanced its beta for social media advertising.

Through the rollout of ‘Promoted Pins,’ brand advertisers will achieve about a 30% increase in earned media. This new format will help companies better target their desired audience. Joanne Bradford, Pinterest’s leader of advertising and media partnerships, says her newest project called Pinstitute is a new program for businesses to learn how to connect with a ‘Pinner’ and see even greater returns from Pinterest. This development will allow companies to reach out to possible clients and connect with their consumers by creating a way to craft and measure effective posts. Through this program, brands will be able to get specific data on what posts are performing well and what Pinners want to see so marketers can produce the most effective content.

4) Instagram’s Growth is Exponential #NoFilter

No filter is needed to see how incredible Instagram’s growth has been over the past year. With 200 million active users, Instagram commands attention as the image-sharing social media. According to Social Media Marketing Industry Report, marketers plan to increase use of Instagram by 42% in 2015.

Continuing the video trend, Instagram recently started offering native video advertising. The ability to promote these videos to target a specific demographic of users should prove to boost brand engagement with younger users, a key demographic on Instagram.

Social media must be a core tool in every marketing arsenal for 2015 as brands focus on distribution and quality content. A strong social media strategy includes both relevant, innovative content, while also demanding the insights to ensure your key messages are distributed through the best channels in the most effective ways.

In order to strengthen social media presence, businesses should tailor their ad buys to social media on mobile devices, as well as revamp their social media marketing strategy in light of 2015 changes. As a result, companies can increase their web traffic, user engagement and future success to be ahead of the curve in 2015.

 

Image Courtesy of: Socially Buzz

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Ignacio Cassinelli
nacho.cassinelli@acmconnect.com