Social media is growing and it is growing fast. There are now more than 2 billion active social media users worldwide and that number is increasing significantly every year. While 2015 was a great year for social media, my prognostication is that 2016 will be even better. Here are 7 trend predictions for the coming year:
1. Content will rocket brands
In 2016, content will remain king, with an increasing focus on quality, personality and variety. Content will be more important than ever. More organisations will focus on content and social media marketing is going to be more about content creation and less about curation. Developing quality content should be seen as a priority for every organisation in the private or public sector
2. Live video will explode
According to Cisco video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. For SMEs or startups, video can be cost effective and when it comes to potential reach, video is incomparable. YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month. That is more than any other channel except Facebook. Online live video will continue to grow in 2016, especially as popular apps like Periscope add new features. In December 2015, Facebook made its live-streaming feature available to all users.
3. Mobile will dominate desktop
In 2015 more Google searches took place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan. The shift was largely due to the large increase in the number of mobile users and the increasing amount of mobile visitors to websites. This trend is only expected to continue in 2016.
4. Cyber security will be an emphasis
Despite some well known social account hacks in the past, many organisations are not taking cyber threat seriously. Hacking of social media pages will cause privacy violations and major lose of data. Because of the rising social media trend, more users will become victims of phishing attacks. In the coming years social media providers will install more security features in order to prevent identity theft, phishing and cyber stalking.
5. Visual will remain king
People are visual. They like things that attract their eyes like image, pictures and movement. Pictures and infographics are much more arresting than plain text. It takes only a second to look at an image, versus a few to read a small paragraph. It is proven that the more visual communication is, the more it is remembered and it makes a greater impact.
6. Social at work will kill email
Group messaging will kill e-mail. Social networks become more and more important at the workplace. A company like Slack has proven a game changer, attracting more than 1,25 million active business users during the last 2 years. Slack is a team collaboration tool with messaging/group chat/document-sharing applications aiming to replace email and other traditional modes of communication. It is used by NASA and Dow Jones. Facebook for Work is another tool of the same type aiming to help brands harness our desire to be connected.
The big three of social media are the most prominent platforms for brands and organisations. While Millenials are quitting Facebook, this network will remain the flagship social media website when it comes to sharing and promoting content, engaging with stakeholders or increasing internet recognition. However, with the social network continually updating its algorithm, there will be less traffic for business and marketing-oriented content. With other words you will have to advertise more if you want to see more traffic.