2015 is bringing some incredibly innovative social media marketing trends to the forefront. The end of 2014 saw some of these techniques sneak up on the marketplace; however, this year will bring them in full force. Here are some of the trends that you should jump on top of if you are planning to create longevity for yourself into the next decade.
First, the video will come into its own as a marketing tool.
Facebook finally surpassed YouTube as the number one place to put videos in 2014. Although YouTube had more views, Facebook had more videos. This goes along with the trend of videos becoming a marketing tool rather than a social tool.Additionally, the lines between personal space and business space are beginning to blur. People are beginning to monetize their personal blogs.
The last variable that virtually ensures that video will take over social media marketing is the decreased cost of video technology. Virtually anyone can afford a high definition camera and even a green screen in the current environment.As other social networks begin to embrace hosted video, you can expect to see a decline in the dominance of YouTube as the number one facility for business video. All of the major social networks including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn will show preferential treatment to videos that are hosted on their particular platforms. This means that marketers will likely begin to upload tailored videos for each social network specifically.Second, organic content will move away from Facebook...Although video may move towards Facebook and away from YouTube, there will be many other web platforms that will rise to usurp the lack of reach that Facebook provides for its users.Ever since Facebook went public, it has been attempting to siphon users into a paid advertising format that reduces the amount of reach that any organic campaign can have on the network. In response to this, business owners have been looking for other social networking avenues. 2015 will bring more social networks that will rise in direct competition to Facebook in terms of organic advertising.
Third, there will be an emergence of new content forms...
With new social networks will come new content forms. It is difficult to say exactly what these content forms will be; however, they will likely have a great deal to do with interactive video and other types of short form visual content. These new content forms have already risen to some deal of prominence within the business mainstream on sites such as Pinterest.
Some of the older social networks such as LinkedIn are already looking for and implementing new ways to engage their audiences. LinkedIn specifically has created SlideShare, a great tool for business to business marketers that combines the organization of PowerPoint and Google Drive with the visual power of Instagram.
Fourth, new applications will help consumers limit their content choices...
As more marketing makes its way to the Internet, consumers will look to automated applications to block out things that do not have immediate relevance to them. One of the best examples of this type of technology is Zite, a filtering application that actually learns what you like based upon your past preferences.
Lastly, social micro conversions will begin to make their way into the business mainstream...
The current way that most companies use social media is to drive traffic to a landing page through a social media site. However, the major social networks are attempting to cut out the middleman by supplying calls to action from direct engagement with the network itself. For instance, Twitter is beginning to allow purchases directly from tweets rather than having to direct a customer to a landing page.
