10 Social Media Predictions for 2015

It’s the first month of 2015, that’s why Buzzoole Team decided to predict which social media trends will dominate this year. What will be the future of the Internet and digital marketing in the next few months? Take a good look and use these 10 answers below to get the most out of your social media strategy.

1. MEDIUM

One of new platforms that is likely to grow even faster this year and take Internet by storm is Medium. It’s an open blogging website that encourages people to put up short influential stories and ideas that can make the world a better place. User can share there a message that it’s not longer than 140 characters. On Medium you can contribute often and find the suitable audience to your articles. If you are a content marketer, it would be the right place for you.

2. VIDEO

Buzzoole Team predicts that video is going to be a major driving force for marketers. Notice that in the last few months video started to be the most important medium in the social media channels. It’s enough to mention that Mark Zuckerberg let automatic auto-playing of video (without sound) in your Facebook feeds. Additionally, in 2014 more videos were directly uploaded on Facebook than through YouTube. We can assume that Vloggers will become progressively significant to the social market. Now, YouTube Influencers are more popular among U.S. teens than mainstream celebrities (source link). So what could it mean to your Company? Cooperating with Video Influencers will give you a lot of marketing power and social engagement that you are looking for.

3. BIG DATA

Social Media Reporting is making a crucial improving. Marketers will be able to analyse the results of their social networking strategies in more details than ever. One of really interesting, new tools is Facebook Data Visualizer that allows users to check their Facebook activity; annual trends or daily actions. What is even more important Visualizer  lets you determine your moods regarding other Facebook users. This kind of detailed analytics can help you to monitor better the results of your Profile and to be more precise in tailoring your post to the right audience. Moreover, big data allows you to create more targeted and personalized advertising messages, in other words, it will let you to reach your target goals easier and faster.

4. MOBILE

In 2015, we recommend you to focus on your mobile strategy! Being “mobile-friendly”, it’s not only about having a mobile-optimized website or blog anymore!

[Tweet “Being mobile-friendly”, it’s not only about having a mobile-optimized website or blog anymore! “]

Marketers have to remember that in the next few months the great number of Internet audience will probably engage with brands’ content through their mobiles. How this knowledge could be useful to your Company? Keep in mind that your posts ought to be created in “mobile-friendly” way. It means that all your social channels will have to be ensured with a mobile strategy and your customers should be able to find and connect with your Brand on any device. Your content, that users will see in theirs feeds, have to be optimised for mobile phone sharing.

5. INSTAGRAM

Instagram “left Facebook” behind in the number of published photographs in 2014. The facts speak for themselves: Instagram hit more than 300 million members, who shared 70 million photos and videos every day (source link). We can presume that it will continue to grow even faster this year. Instagram is a enormous photo gallery, so don’t forget to keep improving your visuals (including short videos!) to increase importance and awareness of your Brand. Try to use its potential to tell the story about your product. Creating image-based social marketing strategy will let you to connect better with your audience.

6. HASHTAGS

Adding hashtags as a way of filtering and sorting users’ communication and trending topics will become even more common than it was in 2014. The hashtag is a powerful connector in the whole group of social media networks. A word with the symbol of # links a dialog across Facebook, Google+, Twitter  and Pinterest. It helps users with the same interests to combine and form a community. It’s likely that a lot of companies will based their marketing strategy on hashtagging. Example? Check Kik out. They introduced ‘group chats‘ based on a topic or interest, where hashtag works like a username for a community letting people to find and create searchable public groups. Don’t underestimate the power of hashtagging! It’s a perfect soulution for your market research and online campaigns!

7. SLIDESHARE

With 3 billion presentation views per month, SlideShare has become the number one website with the .net domain (source link). This notable and visual tool allows users to create, share and explore presentations. It works perfect for B2B marketers to prepare a content marketing for their target audience. Moreover, SlideShare added video and audio capabilities for LinkedIn users. What does it mean to you in the long run? That SlideShare video might develop into YouTube for business. So if you don’t know how to create visual content for your Company that could grab your users’ attention, we suggest you to choose SlideShare. It will optimize your Brand’s information and generate qualified traffic to your website! If you are a blogger use this tool to enhance your posts!

8. FREE TOOLS

Yes, you read it right! We can assume that in the next few months more and more marketing tools will be for free or companies will release a free plan of them. Famous blogger and influencer Neil Patel speculated that among of tools like; Google Analytics, Optimizely or Hellobar, we will probably soon find more marketing costless products. Why? Because simply small and medium businesses can’t afford to pay for them. Companies are willing to give you their products, or at least a limited option, for free. They know you will ultimately grow enough to be able to pay for a ‘premium’ or a ‘full’ version. So don’t miss the opportunity to improve your Page by using free tools!

9. BLOGGING

Bloggers! Your work will become progressively important for social media marketers! Over the last few years, the importance of blogging has fundamentally raised; from the number-four place in 2012 to number three in 2013 to number one in 2014 (source link). We can expect even better results in 2015! However, our advice for any blogger is You have to stay social! It means that in 2015 you need to be active in all your social media accounts. Boosting your social following and influence within your niche will make you a titbit for any smart marketer!

[Tweet “Boosting your social following and influence will make you a titbit for any smart marketer!”]

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Marketers were asked how they planned to change their future blogging activities (photo source).

Buzzoole can help you with this! Check out here Buzzoole.

10. YOU

That’s right! It’s all about the personal content. Brands will pay more attention to creating quality and engaging posts and offering their fans more value for their time and effort. You User, Follower, Influencer will be the most important in 2015!

CONCLUSION

Social media will remain a big part of our lives and our marketing strategy in 2015. It’s going to be an interesting year. We can’t wait to see what will actually happen… But for now, we would like to know what do you think? What are your 2015 social media predictions and why? Don’t hesitate to share with us your thoughts about it!

Happy influencing!

Marta is a Social Media Manager at Buzzoole s.r.l. where she is a company's voice on social and digital media channels. Get in touch with her at @Marta_Marcello

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