The Fundamental 2016 Social Media Trends You Should Know About

Here’s a quick recap of what some of the 2016 social media trends are all about.

First and Foremost, Live Video

On average, videos get 62% more engagement than photos, and video shares increased 43% at the start of the year. Oh, and Facebook sees an average of eight billion video views a day. We could throw statistics around all day, but you get the idea. It’s important.

There’s a great article on Wall Street Journal written by Joanna Stern. Hidden in a catchy storytelling, there are a couple of important points which every marketer should take notice of:

• Facebook is investing big time in live video;
• Twitter and Periscope are doing the same;
• As well as Google and YouTube;
• And the whole thing is about getting us to watch more online.

According to Cisco, by 2020 75% of the world’s mobile traffic will be video. There are two factors in play here: movies grab our attention. Live video grabs our attention spontaneously.

It’s also very adaptable, as it can be used both by the CEO of a huge corporation, or a singer taking song requests.

Social Articles versus Your Own Blog

Medium, Facebook’s Instant Articles, LinkedIn Pulse – it’s all at your disposal. “Publishers of any type, anywhere in the world can deliver an incredibly fast and immersive reading experience”, as we can read in the platform’s description on Facebook.

Should you go for it? Yes. And no.

Viewing your content as a detachable asset is surely something to consider, but I wouldn’t go for it all the way. I’d surely include all of the possibilities, as Medium, for example, has a very specific audience.

[mid_banner]

But still, you don’t own the platform. You don’t regulate the changing trends. You can’t control what’s highlighted as much as you could with your own publishing methods. Sure, it takes a lot of time to get the blog up and running (not to mention conversion), but, in the end, you have your own media outlet. Watch out for loading times, though, as it is absolutely critical to user experience – and that’s surely something that Facebook’s Instant Articles is great at.

For now, I’d stick with cross-promotion, creating dedicated content for each platform, and reasonable reposting. For example – with Medium focusing on IT, startup success stories, entrepreneurship, wantrepreneurship, et cetera, you should publish articles that will engage such audience, and then link back to your blog. Or even repost an article from your own blog on Medium after a week or two. And don’t worry, it probably won’t affect your performance in search. External outlets are not great for conversion, though, especially when compared to an internal one.

Further analysis of reposting a piece of content on various social outlets was conducted by Ryan Battles – and if you have 10 minutes to spare, we highly recommend clicking here.

S.N.A.P.C.H.A.T.

Here’s a cheeky acronym:

• So
• Now
• All
• People
• Can
• Honestly
• Attract
• Them

You can. The whole inbound/content marketing thing, video, personalization (geofilters!), and more – that’s all accessible through Snapchat. The app has taken over the world, and not only the world of 13- and 14-year-olds, but also the world of people with much more life experience.

Quick sidenote: if you want to find people who actually can create acronyms that make sense, use social listening and get real-time mentions regarding the topic of your interest!

Projected growth for Snapchat in the US only is huge. Now, the platform has about 58,6 million users and is supposed to reach up to 85,5 million overall by 2020. What’s even more important is that year after year the median age of users will not be associated with 12-17 and 18-24, but also with 25-34-year-olds.

Right now, the statistics for age groups in Snapchat look like that:

• 13,6% of 12-17;
• 20% of 18-24;
• 15,8% of 25-34.

By 2020, they are supposed to look a bit different:

• 18,1% of 12-17;
• 25,4% of 18-24;
• 25,3 of 25-34.

But even today Snapchat has vast business applications. With expiration date on the posted content, you can attract social-savvy customers with various promotional offers aimed directly at your target group. It simply forces people to pay attention.

Customer Service is The Thing

Treat your customers as you’d like to be treated. And if that’s not a sufficient incentive, maybe the economical point of view will make it for you: it’s up to seven times cheaper to retain a customer, than to look for a new one.

American Express noted that up to 78% of customers will bail on a transaction or a company due to poor customer service. And it will have nothing to do with the product itself.

Actually, a great customer service is not a 2016 social media trend. It’s an all-time trend. Social media (and social listening) just make it easier to provide it in the best way possible.

But don’t just take my word for it. Go and try it out for yourself with our free trial.

Related read:

• How to measure PR campaign?
• The golden rules of PR crisis management