4 Social Media Predictions to Guide Your Marketing in 2017

Experts predict that by the year 2017 the number of social media network users will grow to 2.39 billion, which is almost the size of China and India’s populations combined (2.6 billion). This means that the efficiency of social media marketing will increase further, and you need to make sure your strategy is adjusted to all the most recent trends.

1. Increased use of brand ambassadors

Promoting your business via your employees’ accounts on social media is a technique commonly used today. However, the relevance of these brand advocacy programs is believed to grow in 2017. The secret of this method’s efficiency lies in the fact that promotion through these channels gives you access to a stable, well-connected audience. In order for your brand ambassadors’ program to bring the best results, you need to tailor your social media content to the specific tastes of their followers.

2. Establishment of a real-time support service

Stats say that about 72% of Twitter users expect the brands they follow to reply to their inquiries within the hour. Ultimately, the shorter your response time on social media channels, the better. People today are extremely busy and their attention spans seem to grow shorter by the day. A Live Chat feature on your website is a definite must, but its efficiency is limited. If you want to stay ahead of the times, you need to have a social media team that will follow your accounts and reply to any messages, comments, and mentions as soon as possible. Small businesses can use specialized alert apps to keep an eye on these updates.

3. Utilizing social media analytics tools

In order to be effective, your social media marketing strategy must be well planned. However, you also need to keep a close eye on its success after launching your campaign. Social media analytics tools will allow you to do this and you can use the data they provide to adjust the overall strategy and improve its efficiency ‘on the go’.

4. Social videos will rock still

The importance of visuals, especially videos, for marketing has been steadily increasing over the years, and this trend will continue in 2017. The difference is that nowadays, live-streaming is becoming the most popular type of video of social networks. Don’t stick to YouTube and Facebook only, as Snapchat (10 billion daily views) and Vine are fantastic networks for spreading your video content. Instagram has also joined the leaders recently, and its Stories feature offers a chance to introduce your Instagram followers to the wonders of Snapchat format.