Social Media & Search Marketing Trends for 2016-2017
Social Media is constantly evolving. Between now and 2017, there are expected to be an estimated 2 billion social media users. Here are a few trends to look out for in 2016 and beyond.
Facebook’s Buy Buttons:
Mobile users no longer have to leave their Facebook app in order to make a purchase. When mobile users see a product or service that interests them in a sponsored post, they can now click and make the purchase instantly. Statistics show that people are spending the majority of their time in their News Feed. Marketers are taking full advantage of Facebook advertising. If Facebook ads are a part of your marketing plans, here are a few things to consider to help make your Facebook ads stand out in your potential customer’s News Feed.
- Use attractive product imagery or lifestyle photos
- Avoid images with more than 20 percent text
- Keep posts authentic, short and to the point
- Text – 90 characters
- Link title text should be 25 characters
- Image ratio – 1.91:1
- Image sizes – 600 pixels for News Feed ads and 1200 pixels x 627 pixels for all others
Social Media Live Streaming:
Live streaming has totally changed the face of social media. If your company has seminars and other live events, live streaming should be a part of your social media strategy. According to Pew Research, Smartphone ownership has doubled from 35 percent to 72 percent from 2011 to 2016. Additionally, live video apps like Periscope have grown rapidly. Periscope reached 10 million users in only 5 months.
Live video is an excellent tool to use for boosting engagement. As far as Facebook, users spend 3 times longer watching live video compared to video that has been previously recorded.
Social Media Videos
In the U.S., over 50 percent of people who log onto Facebook every day watch at least one video, according to a Facebook report. You have heard that image posts can help increase a marketer’s organic reach. But, video posts have 135 percent greater organic reach than image posts. From now until 2019, a million minutes of video will be shared among users every second. Video will account for nearly 80 percent of all traffic online, according to Cisco.
YouTubers are also increasing the amount of videos they watch. Over the years the amount of hours people spend watching YouTube videos has increased 60 percent according to YouTube. Outside of youtube, snapchat continues to grow, and is expected to exceed $1 Billion in advertising revenue in 2017.