Social Media Marketing Trends to Watch for 2015

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The field of digital marketing is constantly changing and when it comes to social media marketing, the changes are even more frequent and fluid. Staying on top of the trends will help ensure the success of your social media marketing efforts. Here are 5 trends in social media marketing to watch for 2015:

1. Mobile First: For the last year or two, the advice has always been to make sure that your website is mobile friendly. Moving forward, the emphasis is changing to a “mobile first” strategy. This means that mobile is becoming increasingly more important than desktop as more users access websites and contact companies on smartphones and tablets. Smartphone users are searching for local businesses on their phones and they are shopping on e-commerce websites from their smartphones and tablets. Instead of changing to a web design that is mobile friendly with a scaled down version of the desktop layout, you should be re-designing your site with a mobile friendly layout as the priority default. It should have the ability to “scale up” just in case someone is accessing it on a larger, desk top size version. This is the opposite strategy of the past and should not be ignored because smartphone and tablet usage is continually on the rise. As some smartphones are being designed slightly larger, don’t forget about smartwatches and other wearables that will take over the market in the not-to-distant future.
2. Educational and Engaging Content: Content development has been a mantra for many years, even before Google forced webmaster’s hands and changed the search algorithms to require good content and legitimate practices. Going forward, the content you provide your customers, fans, and followers is going to make the difference between success and failure. Think of the content you provide as an extra added service to your customers. You should be educating them about your products, your industry, how to use your products or services, etc. The other side of the content is it should be shareable and engaging. Fans and followers on social media see so much on a daily basis, what can you do with your content to make it something they want to click on? When you post something on social media, there should be a purpose behind it. Set goals and create landing pages that will help execute those goals. Create the content with your customer in mind so that you can structure it in a smart way that they will benefit from it.
3. Paid Campaigns to Supplement Organic: As each social channel is building on their paid advertising format, it is important to understand that organic social media posts have less value and less reach than they used to. Yes, this is frustrating, but rather than dwelling on the past, look to the future and embrace smart paid campaigns that are sharp, targeted, and very strategic. This will maximize your ad spend budget and coordinate organic social media with your paid campaigns.
4. Find the Channel Your Customers and Target Audience Uses Most: Metrics and analytics are so important in social media. Companies, like iSentia Media Analytics offer services to help with analyzing and monitoring your media efforts. Finding out where your customers and target audience spend their time on social media is vital to the success of your social media marketing efforts. If your target audience has shifted from Facebook to Instagram or Pinterest, you should switch your focus too. You should still maintain your presence on Facebook, but target your niche market in the social channel they use most.
5. Creative Videos: Most brands have received the memo that video is important to engage consumers online. However, just putting your commercial on YouTube is not enough. The creation of smart, targeted, creative, and engaging video will make the difference between you and your competition. Create a strategy and innovate video in your space. This is something you can become known for; and it does not mean that you have to be a videographer or movie producer. Innovative and creative video ideas do not always have to be a costly production. Interviews, customer testimonials, and education videos can help personalize your company and make that connection with your customers and target audience.

Summary

If you take these 5 tips on social media for 2015 into account now and start working on a plan, you can be ahead of the curve for 2015. Social media marketing is still a developing and growing field. The companies that embrace social media and stay on top of the trends are the ones that will experience success with it. Don’t be left behind and start working on innovative social media campaigns for 2015.