3 Social Media Trends for May 2016

Social media is a powerful tool especially if you use it well. It has a widespread influence and can help you increase your audience and revenue. Marketers and businesses have used social media to bring visibility to their brand. There are several ways in which you can engage prospective customers and audience on social media. However, if you want to stay ahead of the game, you should use new techniques and opportunities. Here are 3 new social media trends and tips that you can implement in May to improve your social media marketing game.  

What are the Social Media Trends for May 2016

Real Real-Time Engagement  

Today, prospective customers and audiences expect a rapid response to their questions and comments. They want businesses to resolve their problems quickly and communicate openly. That’s where real-time engagement can be useful. When you answer questions quickly or send a note of acknowledgment to the customer, it shows you take them seriously.

Research and surveys suggest that people expect an answer to questions and comments published on social media within 24 hours. You can set auto-replies or messages that are trigged the moment your page receives the comment. For example, if a customer complains that a product doesn’t work on your Facebook page, you might actually benefit if you react to the comment immediately and help your customer.

If you can’t answer immediately, set an automatic message stating, ‘We apologize for the inconvenience and will get back to you on the matter.’ You can specify a time. So, you check your Facebook feed by 10 AM every day, you can state in the automated message that your customer can expect a reply from you between 10 AM to 12 PM. A definitive timeline will help. You can also use video marketing for your needs.

Live Streaming Videos  

A few days ago, actor Robert Downey, Jr, engaged his fans on Facebook with live streaming video. He replied to questions and comments immediately, gave a shout-out to some of his fans, and took them along his London premier tour for Captain America – The Civil War. This generated intense amount of interest and recognition.

Imagine the benefits. You can immediately read comments and questions and answer them. You can actually schedule these live streaming sessions on Facebook, Periscope, or Snapchat and actively engage your audience and customers. Hence, it would allow customers to connect with you and your brand.  

Social E-Commerce  

Facebook recently introduced the shop section on business pages. It’s still in the testing phase but it does have considerable potential. Setting up a shop section on your Facebook is very easy. You just need to go to your business page, click Add Shop Section link, agree to the terms and conditions, add business and payment process information, and create. You can add products easily as well. All you need to do is click on Add Products, upload a photograph, enter the details, and click Save. It’s as easy as that.  

Moreover, these tips will help you improve your reach and gain some brand visibility and it won’t take much effort to implement them either. If you take the initiative now, before the trend catches on, you’ll surge ahead of the competition and stand out.

Image credit: pixabay