Common Themes for the New Year
2015 Social Media Predictions Roundup: Common Themes for the New Year
It’s that time of the year again, where marketers try to decipher what’s going to happen in the new year and how changes will influence their work. Within the social media space, changes are so frequent, predicting them all is a tough challenge, so Shoutlet has looked at current common themes that are likely to influence some changes:
Brands will officially shift their Facebook Strategies in Light of the Organic Reach Changes in 2014
Brands spent 2014 finding their footing after organic reach on Facebook slid. Spending more on paid amplification is a natural progression, and many will invest more in Facebook advertising to reach their audiences there, as Jay Baer predicts.
Whether some will move more dollars into marketing tactics outside of Facebook remains to be seen. As Dan Robbins, VP of Corporate Marketing at FOX put it: “Now that Facebook’s monetisation plans are out of the bag and knowing it’s likely that other social platforms will follow suit, my prediction is this: In 2015, I predict that brands will divert budget away from social platforms and will funnel that investment towards enhancing owned digital platforms like their website(s), email marketing lists, and mobile apps.” For ways to rethink your Facebook strategy, check out 4 Approaches to Overcome the Decline in Facebook Organic Reach.
Data will move from being a Buzzword to being the Centre of real, actionable strategies
Only a few bold brands have truly moved from the investigation phase to the action phase when it comes to taking a comprehensive and cross-channel approach to data, especially social data. 2015 will be the year where data will converge and businesses will organise around it, writes Susan Etlinger of Altimeter. “We can no longer afford to make data the province of siloed teams who don’t talk to each other. Want to understand the customer journey? You’re looking at social, mobile, email, web, CRM, BI, market research, supply chain and soon sensor data, at a minimum.”
Get ready to break down data silos. Start setting up meetings early in the year to get prepared. (We created a playbook to help with that here.) And learn more about data intelligence from Etlinger on Slide 24 of this presentation. this presentation
Brands Start Rolling: Video Continues it’s Upward Trajectory
Video has been an up-and-coming format for brands for years, and 2015 is no different. But with auto-play videos, a greater emphasis on short videos on apps like Instagram and Vine, and a need for brands to cut through the noise and capture the attention of their audiences, video will become an even more important element. And as Mike Stelzner of Social Media Examiner points out, video will also be more successful when uploaded directly to each social network because they will likely prefer natively hosted content. It seems to be working for Facebook – the network’s desktop views overtook YouTube for the first time ever in October after introducing auto-play. Uploaded directly
Instagram is the One to Look Out For
Instagram has bubbled to the top among networks for engagement, and brands are starting to take notice. Instagram delivered brands 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more engagement per follower than Twitter. And according to data from Global Web Index’s Quarterly Report, between Q3 of 2013 and Q1 of 2014, active usage for Facebook and Twitter, among other networks, had fallen. But active usage for Instagram is up 25%. Expect to see Instagram gain even more speed and traction in 2015, prompting brands to contribute even more efforts into visual storytelling. Learn five quick ways to ramp up your Instagram strategy.
Here’s to Social in 2015
No one can ever truly predict what’s going to happen in social media. But if you mix your company’s business goals, your community’s unique interests, and possible trends into your 2015 strategy, your team is a step ahead.
This post originally appeared here.
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