Snapshot of Social Marketing in 2016
Social media marketing has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and 2016 saw the medium achieve even more impressive goals. According to Statista, 97% of the global share of companies now uses social media marketing…
while 92% of marketers say social media is important for their business.
By taking a look at how social media marketing evolved in 2016, we can see the trends that are developing within the platform. This should give us a clue as to how social media marketing will grow in the coming year and how we can make the most of the opportunities it offers.
Going mobile
In 2016 the internet went mobile in a big way. New algorithms introduced by Google began to favour mobile sites over desktop versions, and the number of Brits with smartphones reached an all-time high, with four out of five now owning their device.
As a result, businesses using social media as a marketing tool have had to adapt their approach, taking mobile users into account when designing their campaigns. Though this may throw up some challenges, it also gives marketers a range of opportunities and could help to revolutionise the way social media campaigns are conducted.
Keeping it local
Though the Internet is a truly global phenomenon, geography is still critical when it comes to social media marketing. A lot of the time when users are searching for a business or service in their local area, they’ll turn to social media for recommendations. According to research by Google, local searches lead a massive 50% of mobile users to visit stores within just one day.
By encouraging customers to ‘check in’ to premises on Facebook, tag it on Instagram or enable geotags on Snapchat, businesses can raise their profile in the local area and boost SEO. This has become increasingly important in 2016, and it’s likely the trend will continue actively in the coming year.
Facebook still dominates the social media landscape
Despite the growing influence of platforms like Snapchat, Facebook remains the most dominant force in social media. The network has more users than any other, and the people who sign up to the platform log on more regularly than those of any other social network. What’s more, people using Facebook are more engaged when they’re on the platform than they are when using any other social media network. As a result, Facebook has been the number one target for many social media marketing campaigns in 2016 and is set to remain top of the pile in the coming year.
With social media continuing to grow in prevalence and influence, the trend towards social media marketing is set to become even stronger in 2017. How exactly marketing trends develop will depend on customer habits and technological innovation, but we’re likely to see some fascinating trends evolve in 2017.
Article Data Resourced from the following websites:
https://www.greengeeks.com/blog/2016/02/02/heres-why-social-media-marketing-is-critical-in-2016/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37468560
http://searchengineland.com/6-local-seo-stats-every-online-marketer-needs-know-226562
