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4 Social Media Trends That Will Revolutionize Your Marketing In 2016

While 2015 marked a shift to mobile for advertisers, look for 2016 to mark a shift to social media. In the coming year, social media is poised to become the next great multitasking medium for advertisers. Advertisers will use social media not only as a marketing platform, but to directly sell products, and share branded content, too. 

Here are four predictions on how advertisers will use social media in 2016. 

1. Market With Snapchat

Snapchat is more than just a Millennial’s selfie playground, it’s a solid marketing tool, too. 

In 2015, brands like ESPN and P&G were already using Snapchat to reach Millennial consumers. Now experts are predicting Snapchat will become a standard marketing platform in 2016. As consumers crave more real-time integrated marketing, Snapchat will fulfill that need. 

Although Snapchat doesn’t provide a way to trace ads to sales, it does provide invaluable data including number of views, number of times people used the branded filter, and how often people swiped to see the branded filter. 

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2. Direct Buy With Social

2015 was an epic year for shoppers and fans of Pinterest: the popular social media site launched buy buttons. In 2016, expect other social media platforms to follow suit, including Facebook and Instagram, too. Buy buttons will continue to be a hot commodity as social media emerges as a multitasking medium.  

Buying direct will be even easier as online payment methods continue to grow more efficient and convenient. Apple Pay and other mobile payment services offer shoppers the option to store their payment and shipping info for quick purchases.  

3. Share Branded Content 

Currently, Facebook is testing ways to become a publishing platform with “Instant Articles,” a way to allow third-party content to appear. Instead of having to click a link out to view an article, you can view it right on Facebook. And in addition to articles, look for advertisers to share branded photos and videos on social, too. 

Many advertisers are gravitating to Instagram. With over 400 million users, Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social networks. As mobile continues to grow, Instagram is anticipated to balloon to 2 billion social media users in 2016. 

This year look for Instagram to offer a greater focus on personality, fluidity of content, and the incorporation of multimedia content. Now more than ever, advertisers would be remiss not to use Instagram as part of their social media marketing strategy. 

4. Engage With Social Video

Advertisers will engage consumers with social media video on YouTube, Vine, etc. And to maximize views, they’ll produce high quality content in the form of interactive and shoppable videos. 

Already designer Kate Spade is employing shoppable videos that combine storytelling with product demos. Spade’s well-crafted YouTube series #MissAdventure keeps viewers invested to the tune of 2 million plus views. They want to know what happens next, and keep coming back for the next installment. And it doesn’t hurt that they can shop the video, too.

2 comments about "4 Social Media Trends That Will Revolutionize Your Marketing In 2016 ".
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  1. Ted Rubin from The Rubin Organization / Return on Relationship, January 14, 2016 at 5:54 p.m.

    And with any luck, and forsight, Brands will start to truly be SOCIAL on Social Platforms... not simply measuring and promoting click-to-sale. #RonR... #NoLetUp!

  2. Ted Rubin from The Rubin Organization / Return on Relationship, January 14, 2016 at 5:55 p.m.

    foresight ;-)

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