Every year, new social media trends emerge. To gain more visibility, attract more customers, and beat out the competition, it is imperative that you learn the trends for 2017. Of course, there are far more than 5 social media trends that will have a powerful impact on businesses, but those mentioned below are considered the most important.
Key Trends to Know
Question and Answer Sessions – Even when you do a good job in promoting your company, as well as the product or service offered, people often have questions but find it difficult to get answers. A trend for 2017 involves holding a Q&A session on a social media platform. Not only will this give customers a direct path to you for expressing concerns, it will give them the opportunity to ask questions and even provide compliments. By opening up a line of communication with both current and potential customers via social media, your company will gain tremendous respect while becoming more trustworthy.
Real Experiences – Instead of reading blogs and watching videos, more users of social media sites are saying that they want experiences that are real. Keep in mind that images and video are definitely powerful but to meet the demand of users, you have to go a step further. One way to accomplish this goal in 2017 is by posting real-time videos or broadcasts. With this, it is as though users are physically present at your event. That experience will help promote your business but also encourage users to convert to customers.
Analytical Decisions – For quite some time, marketing on social media was a hit-or-miss type of scenario. Today, new and innovative analytics are easier to use, more powerful, and an essential part of any marketing campaign. Especially for 2017, more businesses will need to rely on statistics. While there are many great options worth consideration, Google Analytics is one of the best enterprise-level solutions.
Genuine Engagement – Another social media trend for 2017 is the need for genuine engagement between customers and businesses. According to a recent report, as much as 72 percent of all Twitter users not only want but expect to get a response within one hour from the brands that they follow. Providing your audience with an immediate or quick response is imperative. This year, an effective client support program will make it easier for your staff to resolve problems and answer questions.
Mobile Customer Support Channel – Considering that millions of people use mobile devices every day to conduct searches, send messages, read and send emails, and more, experts believe that for 2017, companies need to adopt a better mobile customer support channel. This will allow customers to reach you on a mobile device while going through a social media site. You will need to add this new channel to your customer support capabilities already in place for non-mobile users. When set up correctly, this provides you with a huge opportunity to use social media as part of your overall customer service strategy.