The growth of smartphone usage and evolution of social media is moving at pace. Over 75 per cent of adults now own a smartphone, 53 per cent of whom check their devises within five minutes of waking up.
Growing businesses, wanting to ensure they are communicating in way that responds to current consumer behaviour, can’t afford to get left behind. You snooze, you lose!
Below are the top five social media trends for 2016 that will give SMEs the ability to ensure your social media activity is line with this ever changing world.
1) Mobile the epicentre of communication
Mobile has to be a number one priority for any businesss digital activity whether or not you sell online. More and more, mobiles play a key role in pre-purchase research, with 50 per cent of consumers visiting a store within one day of conducting their research on a smartphone.
Putting mobile first means ensuring your digital activity provides the right user journey, making the consumer experience as seamless on mobile as it is on desktop. What works on desktop make not necessarily directly translate on to mobile so think about design, layout and the amount of content used.
Google Analytics can provide data on the percentage of consumers visiting your site by device type so you can ensure your online presence is directly responsive to your consumers online usage behaviour. Whats more, Google is already penalising sites that are not mobile responsive, so ensuring your web presence meets this criteria will positively impact your SEO rankings too.
2) Reviews, reviews, reviews
These will impact that consumers ultimate choice to click the “buy” button more than ever before. Eighty-five per cent of consumers say they will read up to ten reviews before making a purchase.
Acquiring consumer reviews needs to be part of our day to day business whether it’s about gaining reviews on a product purchased or a service provided. Having a process in place to acquire these and keep them updated will not only impact the propensity for a client or customer to take the next step in the journey to your business, it can also impact your brands Google rankings.
3) Make customer service top of mind
More than 65 per cent of consumers are now using social media channels for their queries and complaints.
While it may be easier for the consumer, it comes with certain expectations and risks for businesses as 42 per cent of consumers expect a response within an hour and the conversation may well be public.
Whomever manages your social media channels must wear a customer service hat when it comes to responding to queries quickly and efficiently. More than ever, it is imperative they live and breathe your businesss customer service policies and that procedures are in place for dealing for all types of queries that can land on your Facebook wall or Twitter feed.
Discover other social media trends for 2016 on page two…
4) Snapchat and Pinterest the rising social media stars
There are now 100 million daily Snapchatters of whom 37 per cent are 18 24 years old. If you’re targeting the youth market then this channel is one that needs to be on your radar for 2016.
Pinterest continues to evolve especially within the female audience with 80 per cent of Pinterest users being females between 25 and 54 years old, often the key purchasing decision maker in a household.
Whats more, with Pinterests recent deal with Apple Pay, consumers will be able to buy your products through the network with just one click. These social channels are only going to increase further so make sure you evaluate their potential to your business; dont just ignore them.
5) Content v advertising
Theres no question that quality content and advertising are going to have to work hand in hand in your social media activity to drive reach and engagement.
A strong content strategy is imperative for driving organic reach and interaction with video content becoming even more key. Make it educational or funny or ideally both. As the sophistication of algorithms grows, the risk of poor quality content getting lost grows too.
But content alone will not drive your results to their full potential. It is anticipated that social media advertising will reach $30bn next year. Even regular boosting on Facebook will make your content work harder through to regular Facebook advertising if you want your channel to drive significant growth and impact.
More channels will be taking advertising too. With 300 million active users per month and on average 70 million photos posted very day, Instagram is the latest channel to introduce advertising. The deployment of its advertising strategy can allow small businesses to advertise too so theres potential to use this popular channel to work even harder for you.
2016 is set to be another year of mobile and social media growth. Theres great potential for businesses that embrace these ever evolving trends, responding to consumers behaviour as we become an even more mobile savvy, socially engaged nation.
Hayden Allen-Vercoe is chief operating officer at social media and digital media firm Orbital Media.
