Things change quickly in Social Media Marketing industry.
To succeed in the long term, businesses, nonprofits, marketers and agencies need to monitor their tactics, strategies and plans closely, re-evaluate them constantly and tweak them based on latest trends and developments.
To help you do that, here is the list of Top 15 Latest Social Media Marketing Trends for 2017 based on the 8th edition of 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael Stelzner, CEO of Social Media Examiner, in which more than 5000 marketers from around the world reveal their thoughts and where they focus their social media efforts.
This is one of the most comprehensive and business-oriented studies in the social media marketing industry and it is released every year. You can download the full report here.
Last year, we reviewed the top trends based from the 7th edition of this report and it ended up being one of our most popular blog posts and it helped many business owners, entrepreneurs and marketers. Similarly we hope this one will also be useful to many of you.
Top 15 Latest Social Media Marketing Trends for 2017
1. Social Media continues to be a Key Contributor for Businesses
If you have any questions on whether social media is still important, you can lay it to rest now. Social media continues to play an important role in business. A significant 90% of marketers who were interviewed for this study (and this is a study conducted with more than 5000 marketers) said that social media is important for their businesses.
2. Experienced Marketers spend more time on Social Media
One of the big concerns many businesses have with social media marketing is the time it takes to run campaigns and see results. But this study proves that even though it takes time, experienced professionals continue to increase the time they spend on social media marketing. Why? Because they see great results and tangible business benefits in the long run (See points 2 to 8 below). Of the marketers who have been working on social media marketing for 2 years or longer, at least 64% spend 6 hours or more per week on social media activities.
3. Sales Numbers increase with 2+ years of Social Media Marketing
More than half the marketers who have been using social media for at least 2 years report it helped them improve sales.
4. Business Partnerships grow with 2+ years of Social Media Marketing
More than half of marketers who have invested at least 2 years in social media marketing report that new partnerships were gained.
5. Leads Generation happens with 6 hours a week on Social Media Marketing
By spending as little as 6 hours per week, more than 66% of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media.
6. Marketing Expenses come down with 11 hours a week on Social Media Marketing
More than half of those who spend at least 11 hours per week on social media efforts saw a benefit of reduced marketing expenses.
7. Search Rankings improve with 12+ months of Social Media Marketing
Improved search engine rankings were most prevalent among those who have been using social media for 1 year or longer, with more than 54% reporting a rise.
8. Loyal Fanbase and Following is built with 12+ months of Social Media Marketing
Of those who have been using social media for at least 1 year, 63% found it useful for building a loyal fan base.
9. Increased Exposure and Increased Traffic are the two biggest benefits of Social Media Marketing
A significant 89% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses. Increasing traffic was the second major benefit with 75% reporting positive results.
10. Facebook continues to dominate Social Media
Facebook continues to be the most commonly used social media marketing platform by marketers, followed by Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus. The biggest gainer this year was Instagram which moved to 44% from 36% last year.
Facebook also dominates paid advertising in social media. An overwhelming majority of 87% use Facebook ads, followed by 39% Google ads and 18% Twitter ads.
11. B2B Marketers prefer LinkedIn, while B2C stay with Facebook
Facebook dominates the B2C space with 65% of marketers selecting it as their No.1 choice, while majority of B2B marketers choose LinkedIn.
12. Snapchat is on a Growth Path
While only 16% of marketers plan on increasing Snapchat activities, this is an increase from 7% that we saw in 2015
13. Blog is still the most important content for Businesses
38% of marketers say that blogging is their most important form of content for business, followed closely by visual marketing at 37% and videos at 21%. Live video also features in the list along with Podcasting.
14. Video Marketing efforts will increase in 2016
73% of marketers are planning to increase the use of video for marketing in 2016
15. Republishing Content – Facebook and LinkedIn are the Top Channels for Republishing
Among those who republish, 32% do it on Facebook followed by 25% who do it on LinkedIn
Hope you found these statistics useful.
If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, please let us know using the comments section below. And if you found this information useful, please share it with your network.
