There is always interesting discussion at the end of one year looking into the next – What are the social media predictions, trends and hot topics to look forward to. This year I thought to analyze several of the expert predictions for what is to come from a recent Business 2 Community post.
Many marketers are looking forward to a “buy” button availability. During summer 2014 the “buy” button has been tested on Facebook and a roll-out to the rest of us seems to be in the eminent future. And who wouldn’t love the one-click opportunity to buy when the products or services seem impending from those potential Facebook clients. As the article says, this is a strong prediction for 2015!
With the introduction of the ‘buy’ button both on Twitter & Facebook, social commerce will truly get its wings. To ensure the most targeted offer on social for customers based on demographic & behavioral attributes, vendors will build cross channel consumer profiles. Customers will benefit with more relevant offers and companies will benefit with a more comprehensive customer profile across social and traditional channels.
Impending Facebook algorithm changes will make it harder to be promotional. post too many “look at me” posts and your content will not be shown to your target audience. In this social media overloaded society, it will be increasingly important to create content that engages your audience. Starting in January, content on Facebook pages will have increased scrutiny, that why I think that this next statement is likely true for a 2015 outlook. It’s a no-brainer really, work smarter and not necessarily harder. Invest more on sharing your influence and expertise and less on the shameless self-promotions that many are getting tired of seeing. It is not about quantity, but instead good quality!
Businesses will no longer strive to push content out daily. Instead, they will focus on longer form content (stats show effectiveness here) that provides context, hard data and analysis.
Another thought shared by one of the 25 industry experts I agree with, as well as disagree with. As far as social media predictions go, it is certain that social media will continue to be further integrated within business practices, how can it not? What I disagree on is that business owners should never choose their social media channels before considering their overall marketing plan – Just because a social platform is out there, does not mean that you should be there. Be sure to choose the right platforms for your business to be on. Also, always be aware of the implications of being there. Do you have the manpower to properly manage the platform? Is your voice being heard? Are your customers there? Careful consideration needs to take place FIRST!
Social media will continue to be more closely integrated with day-to-day business practices.
DISAGREE: Social media will continue to be more closely integrated with day-to-day business practices. Many businesses will think social first when crafting a marketing plan or developing sales outreach strategies. In addition, businesses will continue to invest more of their marketing and strategy budgets toward existing and new social platforms, as well as social analytics. Specifically, as the organic reach of promotional content faces more challenges, paid placements will become essential in reaching potential customers via social media.
Feel free to read more of what the social media predictions for 2015. There are several more thoughts that merit careful consideration. No matter what happens though, during 2015 we will continue to find more businesses participating in social media to reach their customers.
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