It’s a new year! While you’ve likely started making personal and professional changes per your resolutions, social media changes all the time. At Sprout Social, we took notice of all the little tweaks we saw in 2015 and wrote the discussion questions for this week’s #SproutChat around the topics we think will be most important and impactful this year.
We kicked off the first chat of 2016 with predictions for the upcoming 12 months. Our community shared their perspective on where they see trends heading and offered up some insights on what they’re planning on implementing for their own brands.
Do It Live
With the rise and subsequent rapid growth of platforms like Meerkat, Periscope and Blab, there’s no doubt that real time marketing and engaging will be on the rise. How well brands utilize these unique opportunities to connect will determine whether their audience buys it or not. Above anything, transparency and connecting on a human level are the most important aspects for a brand looking to join in a live broadcast.
@MarisaASan To me it feels more personal. Blab can feel a little less personal to me. I also love the map features on periscope #Sproutchat
— Searcy Sledge (@SearcySledge) January 6, 2016
A2: Blab has a nice feeling of revolving door, everyone can come in, Periscope is more 1: audience #Sproutchat https://t.co/PBw5M1BXZI
— Zala Bricelj (@ZalkaB) January 6, 2016
A2 Out of those three? Blab, easily. It's the only one I've seen that has me interested, has people doing interesting talks… #Sproutchat
— LUCYrk (@LUCYrk78) January 6, 2016
Social Commerce Is Any Network’s Game
Just about everyone from our chat predicted a different social channel that would be the one to scale social commerce this year. With so many existing options to purchase via social, it has been a slow climb. However, it’s only a matter of time before people start to click through click through and allocate their spending via prompts from a social channel.
@SproutSocial A3 In social commerce? Facebook. Snapchat will be huge but I'm not sure how to attribute sales to it yet. #Sproutchat
— Stephanie Nairn (@stephnairn) January 6, 2016
A3: IMO, as soon as Instagram allows brands to add links into captions, it will be a goldmine. #sproutchat
— Ryan Eisenacher (@ImAGirl_YouKnow) January 6, 2016
a3 #Pinterest and #Instagram people buy stuff off there like hot cakes or link to a platform to shop! #Sproutchat
— Marissa Monroe (@xoxomarissajo) January 6, 2016
@SproutSocial A3 I have to back @facebook , they have the most versatility and are putting a ton of work into new developments #sproutchat
— Alexander (@AlexJStevens_) January 6, 2016
A3. Short $ is on Pinterest winning the day, but the long $ is on Instagram. FB Payments needs to grow users, Messenger helping #SproutChat
— Nathan Young (@notnathan) January 6, 2016
Social Is Becoming a Bigger Player in SEO
First and foremost, social media and community marketers should always focus on quality content. Knowing your audience and being able to provide value for them is more important for the longevity of your brand than any SEO tactic. That’s not to say that SEO isn’t important. Without SEO, there wouldn’t be as many people exposed to your content. This year, the good news is that social signals are increasing in their impact, which means your LinkedIn post or Twitter profiles are ranking higher on the SERP. Continue to maintain strong social channels so new folks can find you through a Google search.
A4. SEO is about making content people value & share. Promote it, but turn away from tricks & focus on making great content. #sproutchat
— Margot Mazur (@margotcodes) January 6, 2016
A4: Short term: LinkedIn publishing, Slideshare, hashtags, etc. Long term: building relationships with industry influencers. #sproutchat
— Erica Marois (@ens0204) January 6, 2016
@SproutSocial I'd prefer to promote based on what helps customers most, not what helps the website's SEO. #SproutChat
— Monika McMahon (@monikarun) January 6, 2016
@SproutSocial that being said, most of the time that content that's suited to help customers does impact SEO positively. #SproutChat
— Monika McMahon (@monikarun) January 6, 2016
No Excuses for a Subpar Mobile Experience
Take a look around. Everyone is on their phone. If your webpage isn’t easy to read and well designed on mobile, users will abandon their experience. In line with that, links to social media profiles must also be easy to navigate to and click on. Keep in mind that a phone may be the sole interaction someone has with your brand. Make sure mobile is just as well-thought-out as desktop!
@SproutSocial A5: Make sure that your full customer journey is a mobile one! #SproutChat
— Mathew Crook (@Mathew_Crook) January 6, 2016
A5. User-centered design & responsive sites! #SproutChat
— Gabriela Cardoza (@CardozaGab) January 6, 2016
A5: Make sure your message is succint & compelling. Attention spans are shorter & attention is often divided on mobile. #sproutchat
— Erica Marois (@ens0204) January 6, 2016
A5: Remember the little details as well as the big details. #Sproutchat
— Searcy Sledge (@SearcySledge) January 6, 2016
Join us next week to discuss events and networking for social media and community professionals. Be sure to join our Facebook community to stay updated on the weekly topic and discussion questions.
This post #SproutChat Recap: Social Media in 2016 originally appeared on Sprout Social.
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