Remember a time when a company having a social media presence was just an optional way to go above and beyond? Yeah, those days are long gone. As social media evolves and use continues to increase, utilizing it for your business is a necessity in most industries at this point. If you want to be taken seriously, that is. In Ada’s main article this month, she talks about some of the recent shifts in the world of social media. As with all forms of media, it is constantly changing and the online landscape looks quite a bit different than it did even just a couple of years ago. Use continues to rise, new platforms are constantly emerging and a clear age breakdown is becoming apparent between the different types of social media. Even the way people use it and what they use it for is steadily shifting. Here are five things to keep in mind to help you stay up to date with the direction social media is headed:
- Everybody’s Online Now – It wasn’t long ago that Facebook was a cool little online world for teens to interact with each other. How things have changed. Now just about every teen’s parents and grandparents have profiles. It doesn’t stop at Facebook either. If you’re a celebrity or athlete, using Twitter and Instagram to interact with your fans (and haters) is simply a fact of life now. One statistic Ada mentioned in her article is that social media use has increased 78% among the younger crowd and 33% among the older crowd since 2005. It’s safe to say social media is here to stay and will continue to grow.
- New Platforms – As overall social media use continues to rise, so does the amount of social media platforms coming out. Five years ago, there was pretty much just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and maybe LinkedIn if you were a little older. Since then, multiple social media platforms have come and gone, but a few that are clearly here to stay include Instagram, Pinterest and most recently Snapchat. Each platform has their own purpose or niche, and it is important for businesses to stay on top of the new emerging forms of social media. Of course every industry is different and not every business needs to have a presence on every platform. Do some research and figure out which platforms are most relevant and beneficial to your business.
- Know your Demographic – As new forms of social media emerge, different age groups are gravitating toward different platforms. Although nearly every age group has a Facebook account, it is no longer the most used platform among the younger crowd. In fact, it has shifted to be the most popular with adults and college graduates. Twitter tends to resonate with college students, while Snapchat is all the rage right now for teens and high-schoolers. Who are you trying to target? Figure out what platforms are most efficient for reaching your audience.
- What We Use it For – Another major shift in the social media landscape is what people are using it for. It’s not just about posting your experiences, opinions and amusing content anymore. Although these things are still a huge part of all social platforms, they have also become a source of news and current events. Mainstream news outlets are now getting many stories and scoops from monitoring trends on Twitter. Social media has made it possible to receive news in real-time and see how people all over the world are being affected by it. With the domination of smart phones and app-based platforms, everybody is now basically connected to their social media profiles at all times.
- Video Content is Taking Over – Instagram and Facebook used to be primarily photo dominated platforms. That is no longer the case. If you were to scroll through your newsfeed right now I would be willing to bet that a good portion of the content you see would be videos. Instagram recently added the ability to post videos, Facebook now offers live video streaming, Snapchat has both photo and video capabilities, YouTube has always been a gigantic success, and even Twitter and LinkedIn are seeing more and more videos being posted. It makes sense. Videos offer a much more captivating, immersive experience. Expect this trend to continue.
Does your business need help with its social media presence? Give us a call at 701-478-1111 and ask to speak with a Marketing Advisor, or visit absolutemg.com/contact. We are experts in social media and can help you connect with your audience on a much deeper level.