Social Media & Marketing Trends for 2016 and How to Take Advantage

Our Facebook “holiday deal” ads are wrapping up. Our strategies for the New Year’s campaigns are getting finalized. 2015 is coming to a close, and it’s time to start thinking about what marketing and advertising trends are predicted to take hold during the next twelve months. We’ve heard it time and time again, but social media marketing is changing and growing at rapid speed – if you want to be at the top of your game, this truth can’t be ignored.

It’s important to know what’s coming up in the social media world so that you can prepare strategies that will maximize your marketing efforts. Here are a few of the most important trends predicted for 2016:

Social Media Marketing Trends infographic

Video, Video, Video

It’s no surprise that people are more engaged in content where a video is involved. A Research Now report found that 82% of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter and a whopping 90% of Twitter video views are on mobile. Native video on both Twitter and Facebook get a considerably greater amount of engagement than third-party videos. And, interactions with audiovisual content will only keep increasing. According to Cisco, video will account for 80% of global Internet traffic by 2019.

Get ahead and think about how video can enhance the content you put out there. Whether it’s a Facebook or Instagram ad campaign, or just some organic posts to keep your fans interested, figuring out how to incorporate a nicely-crafted video into it could be the difference between a decent versus above-average engagement rate.

Little Platforms Rise Up

Yes, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are the powerhouses of social media as we know it. But don’t ignore the buzz around platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and even Periscope. While these platforms are not right for every brand, it’s important to know how they are growing and influencing target audiences.

Take Snapchat, for example. As Clickz points out, this year marketers “will come to understand that Snapchat isn’t just a tool for some fun ‘marketing experiments.’” It’s an influential platform that users, especially younger cohorts, visit regularly and now expect real-time information and entertainment from friends and brands. While its advertising capabilities are still new and constantly undergoing improvements, Snapchat offers a unique advertising experience with ample opportunity to get creative.

Away With In-Your-Face Pop-Ups

It would be hard to confidently say that annoying, poorly-designed pop-up ads will ever be permanently eliminated. Unfortunate. But, consumer behavior surrounding the ad-blocking explosion is forcing marketers to be more clever, sophisticated and technical in the way they think about online advertising.

Think about how to get your message across and engage viewers with your online ads. Images are key. Strong call-to-actions are king. Animation and moving parts? Talk about grabbing and keeping your audience’s attention.

What marketing trends do you foresee evolving in the New Year? Send a note to our Facebook or Twitter page!