Top 4 Social Media Trends You Need to Be Aware Of

Sherman Standberry

Are you keeping up with the latest social media trends? The world of social media and the Internet is continuously evolving. In order to stay ahead of the curve in your career or business, it is important for you to know what is on the rise. Fortunately, there are many new features and opportunities to be excited about in social media. In this blog, we will explore the top four social media trends that you need to be aware of.

1) Instagram Advertising has arrived.

It is official. Instagram advertising has arrived and they are just getting started. Over the past year, Instagram partnered with the top marketing agencies in multiple countries to perfect their advertising platform. Recently, Instagram allowed companies affiliated with Facebook Marketing Partners to begin running Instagram advertising campaigns. They plan to make it public for businesses of all sizes by the end of this year, in which rumors indicate sooner than later.

Instagram’s advertising system will allow marketers to create captivating video and photo ads, including carousel ads that Facebook recently introduced this year. In addition, for the first time in the history of Instagram, advertisers will be able to include call-to-action links in their images to drive traffic directly to their store.

2) Facebook is Getting Smarter

To date, there are over 2 million active advertisers using Facebook to grow their business. Since inception, Facebook’s advertising platform has allowed businesses of all-sizes to be extremely targeted and promote their brand directly to a relevant audience. Some of Facebook’s advanced advertising tactics have included dark posts, custom audiences for retargeting, and their Power editors for ads. With their latest improvements, Facebook is getting even better.

Below are the newest updates for you to be aware:

1. Bluetooth Beacons: Bluetooth beacons is a new feature on Facebook that allows people who visit your business to check-in, like you on Facebook, and receive more content from your business.
   
2. Call-Now Buttons: People can now call you directly from a Facebook ad on mobile devices.
   
3. Carousel Ads are Now Mobile: Multi-image ads that link to different pages on your website is now available for mobile targeting.
   
4. News-Feed Preferences: Users are now able to select certain people or Facebook pages to appear at the top of their news feed.
   
5. Pixel Upgrades: You can now install retargeting and conversion tracking with the same pixel. (In the past you’d have to use two different pixels)

3) Pinterest Promoted Pins is Taking Off

Pinterest marketing appears to be taking off, with businesses across multiple industries being able to generate quantifiable results from being on their platform. Pinterest has been known for having rich content that is ranked based on quality and social interaction. However, with promoted pins, advertisers have the opportunity to gain exposure to their content at an extremely low cost. Below are two great examples:

Cindy Boom By Joseph: An e-Commerce product for women, generated over $ 41,000 in sales with just $ 775.50 in Pinterest ads.

LYFE Marketing: A social media marketing agency targeting small businesses, reached over 300,000 people with just $ 100.00

4) The New Google+ Is Coming

Google Plus, powered by the largest search engine in the world, is revamping to deliver a better experience for its users. Earlier this year, they announced that they would be splitting up their services into separate products called “streams” and “photos”. Since then, they have stopped automatically creating Google+ profiles for Google users. In addition, YouTube announced that comments on YouTube will no longer be synced with Google+.

In the coming months, Google+ will be releasing new features in attempt to compete with Facebook and Twitter. One of the features will be Google+ Collections, which will help users group their post into categories. Additionally, Google+ will put location sharing into Google Hangouts, which they hope will lead to a more engaging experience.

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