If you have a business, it’s essential these days to have an online presence. For that, you need a website. If you have that too, there’s no reason why you should not promote your business online. And when it comes to marketing your business online, you just can’t keep social media away. It has been a big thing for both personal lives as well as businesses for the last half a decade or so. And experts opine that it will continue to be so, at least for the next few years as well.
Social media is really a big platform. As
Here’s a quick look at some of the most anticipated social media trends for 2015.
#1. Social Media will be More Mobile
Social media has already been present across mobile devices for quite some time now. According to a research by Pew Research Internet Project, in January 2014:
- 58% US adults own a smartphone
- 42% Americans own a tablet
- 32% own an e-reader
This is expected to increase in 2015. So, people are more likely to use social media on the mobile devices. Hence, these platforms are expected to be optimized more for such devices than for the desktop computers.
#2. Smarter and More Customized
Social media is not going to be the generalized platform anymore, like the one you know it now. It is being used extensively by the advertisers. And depending on the way you use it, they are expected to make the ads even more personalized. For example, if they find that you use social media more on mobile devices than desktop computers, they will design the ads depending on what device you are expected to view it. This is likely to increase your chances of purchasing the products.
#3. Craze for Viral Content
Social media already has almost 2 billion members. So, for companies, this seems to be the best place to reach out to 2 billion potential customers. But this is not possible with ordinary content. Something out of the box is necessary. And it should also be unique enough to ensure that people feel the urge to share it. Only then it can become viral on the internet and gain innumerable number of views.
So, companies are likely to go for viral content in 2015. Third-party service providers might be hired for creating them. A properly created viral content is expected to give better results to the businesses that can leverage it properly.
#4. Use of Images Likely to Increase
Although this might sound cliché, but a picture still seems to speak a thousand words. And in an age when minimalistic approaches are gaining ground, they are surely going to help communicate better than what can be done with texts. It has been observed that image-based online ads perform much better than those created only with texts. Moreover, images are easier to remember as well. So, the image-based ads are going to be more popular in 2015 as well.
Websites, such as Pinterest, which are primarily image-based, are likely to become more and more popular. Besides, there will be use of more number of large images on social media.
#5. Video Marketing to Become Prominent
With increasing importance of images, another more prominent form of visual content is also likely to gain ground. These are the videos. According to Canva’s Zach Kitschke, “The strongest brands are adapting and creating a clear visual social media strategy”. The year 2015 is expected to experience a rise in video marketing activities. A number of websites have emerged in recent times, which help to create short videos. Use such videos for storytelling about your brand. However, for the best results, ensure that you are not making the videos too promotional. Instead, focus on making them informative, which help to add value for the viewers.
#6. The First Few Steps towards Social Commerce
After a long wait, social media is finally expected to become a perfect platform for you to fulfil your latest shopping desires. It all began with Twitter testing its beta button, Buy, earlier in 2014. Facebook followed suit. This is likely to become more prominent in 2015. You can now expect a blend of social media and ecommerce on these platforms.
#7. Real-time Service to Enhance Customer Relationships
Social media is a perfect platform for all to remain connected. More so for businesses. They can remain in touch with the customers there. Moreover, social media also drives real-time communication. So, the businesses can leverage this to a great extent. They can use the social media platform to communicate directly with the clients and solve issues, if any, almost immediately. This is likely to enhance the rate of customer satisfaction and will drive the profit for businesses.
The year 2015 is expected to be a great one for social media. Businesses leveraging these platforms are likely to gain big. But no matter what they do, it is important to be creative enough on to make the most out of social media in 2015.
Images: ”Happy new year for 2015 – success business man with laptop computer and sitting on wood number /Shutterstock.com“
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