Social media is an evolving brand of communication, inter-connectivity, media, marketing, and ecommerce that has only grown during the past decade. In 2004, Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, and in 11 years, it has become one of the primary platforms for engagement, interactivity, and marketing.
With the imminent increase in sales of smartphones, tablets, and other devices around the world, social media networking has exploded and is now a cornerstone of online marketing. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the trends in social media marketing that you should know about in 2015!
Social Media Sales on the Rise
While tracking the effectiveness of social media campaigns is still a challenge for marketers, there is no denying that direct sales from social media have been on the rise. In fact, according to Social Media Examiner, social commerce sales that were tracked, hit a new high of $3.3 billion, increasing by nearly 26% from 2013, which is a feat in itself.
Statista claims that the total social commerce sales will amount to nearly $30 billion worldwide, increasing by 50% from last year’s figures. There is no denying that the internet is fast becoming the preferred shopping destination for consumers. Don’t forget to take into account that Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Amazon are developing buy-type buttons, which will only boost the ad platforms of these networks!
Mobile Tsunami, But Desktop Still in the Mix
In the U.S. Digital Future in Focus, a research by ComScore, suggests that in the past four years, social media access through mobile has increased four times, while desktop access has also increased by a respectable 37%. The study also suggests that the predominant mobile activity is social networking, which gets to show the vast potential of conversion that marketers could tap into.
As predicted, the mobile tsunami is sweeping the internet, coupled with record breaking sales in smart phones and tablet devices. Speaking of tablet devices, their share in the market has increased by an astounding 1800% from 2010, where tablet usage was also nonexistent in terms of social networking. In simple words, your social media marketing efforts today will depend a lot on the responsiveness of your website, as more and more users are now accessing social networks from their smart devices!
Facebook Still the Leader of the Pack
Unsurprisingly, Facebook continues to dominate the social networking world and doesn’t plan on letting networks like Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest get ahead either. In fact, Facebook has become the leading marketing platform of all social networks, and the recent acquisition of LiveRail, a video advertising firm, will only help it provide advertisers with video ads that can be targeted for specific audiences.
So far, Facebook is light years ahead of other social networks in terms of outreach, mobile activity, advertisement, marketing, and ecommerce. The social network provides free analytical features like purchase history, buying intent, demographics, and much more. In other words, if your business needs to capitalize on the power of social media, Facebook is the best place to get started!