5 Big Changes Coming to Social Media in 2016

It’s been a memorable year in social media. 2015 saw the birth of live social streaming, with apps like Periscope and Meerkat winning over early adopters. Snapchat fully shed its reputation as a niche network and now counts more than 200 million active users. Meanwhile, video dominated social headlines, with Facebook users now logging an estimated 8 billion video views a day(even more than on YouTube, by some counts).

What does 2016 hold for social media users? Expect to see new technologies fundamentally change how we interact with social media, opening up new options like shopping and enabling us to share ever-more vivid, real-time experiences. But new functionality and the widening universe of social options also threaten to leave some users in the dust. Here’s a peek into the crystal ball at five trends that will change how we use social media in 2016:

Virtual reality comes to social media: “Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.” That’s what Mark Zuckerberg wrote after Facebook acquired Oculus, the virtual reality company, for $2 billion back in March 2014. Well, we won’t have to imagine much longer. Facebook has already begun incorporating Oculus technology into its 360 Video. The unique videos, which have rolled out on News Feeds, allow users to experience scenes from different angles (looking right, left, up, down, etc.), on both web and mobile devices, creating a more immersive experience.

Right now, there’s 360 Video available from the likes of Vice and The Disney Channel and a really cool clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Expect to see more immersive videos in 2016 as publishers and even brands catch up with the technology and begin creating more content. As for true, fully immersive VR, the consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset is slated for release in early 2016, opening up even more interesting possibilities for our News Feeds. Meanwhile, Oculus VR has already released a new “social” appcalled Oculus Social Alpha, for use with the Samsung Gear VR headset. The virtual movie-watching app allows you to “sit” in a theater and watch a video in real-time with other users — perhaps the first truly social application of Facebook’s new technology.

Social shopping takes off: Over the last year, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest all unveiled or upgraded in-line buy buttons, which allow users to purchase clothes, crafts, gadgets and more without ever leaving their feeds. In many respects, this development is long overdue. We’re already discovering and talking about products on social media, and four out of five people say that posts from friends directly influence buying decisions. Plus, overseas in China, Korea and elsewhere, social channels have long incorporated ecommerce functionality.

So far, the primary stumbling block in North America has been ease of use. To buy on social media, we’ve had to click out to other sites (always problematic on smartphones) or we’ve been offered limited selection (a lathe now defunct Facebook Gifts). But innovations like Pinterest’s Buyable Pins now let users browse color and style options and pay, all without leaving the platform. In 2016, expect to see networks’ role shift from being channels whose primary function in ecommerce is providing referral traffic to being platforms where users make purchases directly.

Facebook Live takes live streaming mainstream: 2015 started off with lots of excitement about the new crop of live streaming apps, which allow users to broadcast live video to their followings. By late summer, Twitter-owned Periscope already boasted 10 million active users, and just this month it was named by Apple the best iOS app of 2015.

Expect to see live streaming reach a whole new, mainstream audience in the year ahead as Facebook rolls out its own mobile streaming functionality, generally referred to as Facebook Live. Already being beta-tested among a small number of U.S. iOS users, the feature allows for instantly sharing live video using the Facebook platform. What’s key here is that you don’t have to download a special app or leave Facebook to use the new video functionality. If Facebook Live rolls out as expected, it’s likely to not only dominate other live streaming options but also to fundamentally change the way Facebook’s 1.5 billion users engage with the platform.

The social media skills gap at work widens: With the explosion of workplace social networks like Slack (which recently saw more than 1 million users logged in at the same time) and the imminent launch of Facebook at Work, using social media in the office has gone from taboo to requirement. Businesses are incorporating social tools to streamline internal communications, to help sales staff reach customers, and, of course, for marketing and advertising. The problem is that front-line employees aren’t up to the challenge. Among 2,100 companies surveyed by Harvard Business Review, just 12 percent of those using social media feel they use it effectively. Even millennials brought up on social media are falling short: “Because somebody grows up being a social media native, it doesn’t make them an expert in using social media at work,”explains William Ward, professor of social media at Syracuse University.

The consequence of this social media skills gap can be seen in mounting corporate social media gaffes, from misused hashtags (see #WhyIStayed) to scheduled posts gone awry, not to mention trillions of dollars (yes, trillions) in lost productivity and business value. In 2016, expect to see social media training finally begin to make its way into the workplace in an effort to close this gap — similar to initiatives launched when office software suites and later email and the Internet itself emerged as critical business tools. A number of online offerings now provide self-paced lessons and video modules designed for the workplace. (Hootsuite is giving our course away free.)

Social media customer service gets a lot better: Customer service on social media has always seemed like a great idea. Why wait on the phone when you can Tweet and get an answer immediately? But the reality has been quite different. A new study of 500 top retailers shows that only 20 percent answer questions sent via Twitter and 54 percent respond via Facebook. And the average response time ranges from 27–31 hours! Not to mention that not all customer service problems lend themselves to being handled out in the open in a public forum.

Fortunately, change is on the horizon. In the latter part of 2015, both Twitter and Facebook significantly upped their customer service functionality. Twitter ditched the “mutual follow” requirement for its DM (Direct Messages) feature, meaning companies and customers can now contact each other directly and privately. At the same time, it lifted the standard 140-character limit for Direct Messages, so DM now makes a great one-on-one channel for tackling customer issues. Facebook, not to be outdone, has launched a beta version of Messenger Business, offering a new chat-based avenue for companies to have real-time, personal conversations with customers. Considering that Messenger has more than 800 million users, it’s not hard to see it evolving into a ubiquitous, mobile-friendly channel for customer service in the years ahead.

Perhaps the biggest change in social media is the accelerated evolution of networks into “everything platforms.” Twitter isn’t just for blasting out 140-character updates anymore: It’s for one-on-one messaging, video-sharing, customer service and more. Facebook isn’t just about connecting with friends: It’s now (or soon to be) a workplace productivity tool, a video sharing and streaming platform, a place to shop, etc. Similar transformations can be seen across LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat, among other networks. Social media has become less a discrete thing that people do than a natural component of everything they do. And that trend shows no signs of slowing.

Source : http://bit.ly/1PkKSKb

10 Stupid Mistakes Small Businesses Make With Social Media

It’s hard to find a person or a company that doesn’t have a Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn account—but small companies beware! Just because everybody uses social media doesn’t make it a useful marketing tool. In fact, without a smart strategy, committing human and financial resources to a social media campaign could cost you big, draining resources and generating negative ROI.

Here are 10 mistakes to avoid:

1. Spreading Yourself Too Thin

Building a social media presence takes a lot of time and effort. You have to engage with people continually, and communicate highly informative and/or provocative messages to stand out from the crowd. It’s hard enough to do this on one social platform, let alone two, three, or twenty. Smart small businesses, knowing their internal resources are limited, take on one platform at a time.

2. Having an Undifferentiated Strategy

When companies make mistake No. 1, they begin taking shortcuts, usually in the form of mechanically sharing the same content on each of their platforms. Big mistake. Social media users use multiple platforms; once they read your company’s same message everywhere, they will lose interest. Have a unique strategy for each platform. For instance, use Twitter to announce sales promotions and Facebook to share action shots of your products in use. This gives users a clear reason to follow you on the applicable platform(s).

3. Not Responding to Comments

It’s amazing how many companies forget social media is social. When someone reaches out to your company with a comment, you must respond—quickly and thoughtfully. Once the perception takes hold that your company is above engaging with the audience, you are dead. You will be labeled as a company that is interested only in self-promotion, a cardinal sin of social media marketing.

4. Controlling the Message

Similar to No. 3, companies err by viewing their social media accounts as advertising platforms. On social media, authenticity is valued highly. It’s OK to admit a mistake, ask for help, and respond frankly to criticism. Many small companies are unwilling to do this, and if you are one of them, either change your attitude or look for another method of Internet marketing.

5. Not Giving to Get

“Giving to get” is the path to success in social media. This strategy requires a generous spirit. Small companies succeed in social media when they go out of their way to help people by providing useful content, sharing other people’s content, jumping into conversations where they can lend a hand, and making it easy for people to try their products and services.

6. Selling Too Much

Social media users don’t like the hard sell. As a matter of fact, many use social media to escape commercialism. Don’t try too hard to sell your products and services; there will be a backlash. Again, social media is social. The best path to generating sales is to build relationships with your social media community, and then introduce the idea of doing business together.

7. Not Selling Enough

The flip side of No. 6 is also a big mistake—not attempting to sell through your social media campaign. This amounts to not having a strategy at all. If you view social media as a way to build credibility and brand awareness, that’s fine, but at some point you have to turn that credibility and brand awareness into sales. Smart small businesses gradually ramp up lead and revenue generation activities on their social media accounts; not doing it prematurely, but when the time is right to convert the “soft” asset of brand affinity into hard dollars.

8. Failing to Leverage Your Knowledge

Small companies know a lot about their products, services, markets and audiences. This knowledge, when communicated on social media, attracts the interest of potential customers. When a small business delegates its social media campaigning to a junior staffer with limited business knowledge, these potential customers will not be attracted, and may additionally conclude your entire firm is inexperienced and incompetent. By overdelegating, such companies turn their biggest potential advantage into a crippling disadvantage.

9. Failing to Establish Metrics

Many small businesses that have been on social media for a few years have absolutely no idea how well their campaign is working. Obviously, not having a way to evaluate a social media campaign leads to wasted investment and an inability to improve campaign effectiveness. Popular and useful metrics include tracking brand mentions; social shares of your company’s content; referred traffic from social media sites to your company website; and the number of engaged community members as measured by comments, direct messages. and other measurable actions. These metrics are not perfect, but provide a reliable sense of whether your campaign is stagnant, improving, or worsening.

10. Putting Too Many Eggs in the Social Basket

Social media marketing is really, really tempting for small companies because the financial barriers to entry are basically zero—signing up is free and the main investment is time. However, for revenue generation, brand awareness, and credibility building, other Internet marketing options may produce far better and quicker results—pay-per-click advertising and email marketing, to name two of the more obvious. Companies are smart to test various options. Social media could be the path of most resistance, but you won’t know unless you test. Budget accordingly and prosper!

Source : http://bit.ly/1QatO8u

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5 Secrets to Monetizing Your LinkedIn Experience

Follow five simple rules using this reliable platform to share your expertise in the marketplace. Here they are:

1. Know Your Brand

No one is going to buy from you if you don't have a brand. You've got to ask yourself, "What do I want to be known for?" If you do 10 different things, no one is going to know what you do best. You have to let people know what you're really good at if you want them to buy from you. 

Here's what I do: I write, speak, and coach. That's all I do. If someone wants something else from me, I just recommend them to someone else who can use the business. This is what makes my brand reliable. That is why I get one thousand profile views every week. This is why I get leads every day. 

2. Develop Your Story

If you have a story, why not share it on your LinkedIn profile? Most people don't enjoy running through bullet points as you enumerate your experience in a resume-like format. You've got to keep it interesting. Look at my profile. Does it tell you who I am? It should.

Your story must be captivating. People should be asking, "I wonder what this guy/gal is all about?" If people aren't wondering about who you are and what you do, your profile needs a story. You also need a great headline and professional head shot. I have several recommendations for profile makeovers if you need one. Just reach out to me. 

3. Use the Phone

If you're a salesperson, you better be using your phone. Iregularly use the phone to call  LinkedIn connections. 

Your phone can help you earn millions. If you're sending messages back and forth, you're wasting your time. You won't get that many opportunities that way. You've got to reach out and transact business. If people say that they're just "trying to get to know you" or "want to have coffee," don't even bother with them.

4. Write Articles

For every 100 views that you get, you must making a sale. That means that if  articles are reaching 1,000 people per week, you have 10 sales. Readers reach out to you regularly and you're able to have meaningful conversations with them. Because people love your articles, they find value in paying for your services. 

If you don't know how to write, go ahead and share other peoples' articles. Comment and like as many good articles as possible. When people view your profiles, follow up with them. If you aren't doing this, you aren't serious about conducting business and creating opportunities for yourself and others.

5. Contribute Daily

You have to connect with people by making a contribution. Send out endorsements and recommendations. Get serious about following up with people. Be as resourceful as possible. Add value like you never did before. Join groups and share information.

You should be investing one hour per day on LinkedIn. People want to deal with people. When you meet people in person, tell them to add you on LinkedIn. Reach out as much as possible and ask for help. Don't just view other's profiles, say something nice and do something. People need you. Get activated!

Bonus Tip: Use Email Marketing: If you're familiar with email marketing, you can import your contacts from LinkedIn and send out newsletters to reach potential clients.

The people who you are looking for you are the same people who are looking for you. LinkedIn gives us the ability to leverage ourselves by meeting new people every day from all over the world. If you want to monetize your LinkedIn experience, find a way to give people value in the most reliable way and you'll gain more influence than ever before.

Source : http://entm.ag/1Hcw4K3

5 Ways to Use Social Media for Increased Business Success

If you're about to grow your social media campaigns, you should be aware of the many different ways that social media can be used to grow your business. Social media can be leveraged in a variety of ways, some that are obvious and some that are a little more obscure. To truly get the most out of your social media marketing efforts, you may want to coordinate multiple aspects of the campaign at once.

Here are the five ways to use social media for increased business success.

1. Customer Acquisition

A social media platform will give you unprecedented access to prospective customers. Not only will customers be able to find you and engage with your products, but they will also be able to learn more about you as a business. By creating compelling content and showcasing your products and services, you will build trust and a relationship with potential clients. Social media marketing is an extremely affordable method of customer acquisition and growth.

A single post or marketing video can reach hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of individuals—without any increased cost associated with these growing numbers. Over time, your social media outreach will grow and you will be able to reach even more potential customers. Social media accounts also help with customer retention. Your existing customers will follow your brand and be reminded of your brand, encouraging them to continue their purchasing.

2. Reputation Management

What are people saying about your business? Do you know? There are reviews for every company out there today, on a variety of websites—and not all of them are true. There could even be negative information available about you through a competitor. Sometimes there are even mistakes: a customer could damage your business unknowingly simply because they confused you with another company. All of this can hurt unless you appropriately manage your reputation.

Social media is an excellent platform on which you can address any customer complaints. As a first line of contact, social media inspires individuals to contact you through a channel that you can control, rather than potentially voicing complaints through a third-party service. In addition to managing negative reviews and commentary, you can also promote positive reviews and information. Make sure that the customer always knows your side of the story when disputes arise.

3. Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is critical to growth. An individual may not engage with your brand the first time they see it, and they may not make a purchase even throughout many dozens of interactions. But that individual could still share your information. Individuals that follow you and interact with your brand will eventually become brand ambassadors, introducing others to your company even if they themselves are not a customer. 

Brand awareness increases the amount of trust that individuals have in your brand, in addition to making them far more likely to think of you the next time they need a related product and service. Brand awareness can be very difficult to quantify, but it can be seen increasing in the form of brand mentions across social media sites. Brand awareness is also very closely tied to customer acquisition, as you should see your customer acquisitions rise with the popularity of your branding.

In addition to making customers knowledgeable about your brand, you can also establish your brand voice and your company identity. Social media makes it very easy to reach your customers on this personal level. Creating a coherent and consistent brand identity will tell your customers what they should expect from your business and will encourage the demographics that you're focusing on.

4. Customer Service

Modern brands have to be "always on" in terms of responding to customer concerns and complaints. Customer service issues can arise at any time, and a responsive customer service team is necessary to address these problems before they become more serious. Many individuals today will reach out to a company through social media channels before they'll use anything else, and this means that the dispute becomes public regardless of what the company wishes to do. Consequently, companies today can experience "runaway" customer service issues, whereby problems snowball through a lack of attention.

Appropriately managed social media accounts allow a business to control these types of issues. Through social media, you are able to provide better customer service through a direct connection with the customer. Even when mistakes occur, customers are more likely to think favorably of a business if they are responded to professionally and with care. Merely by responding in a timely and polite fashion, companies can build their customer trust and make sure that their customers are satisfied every time.

Of course, customer service can also go wrong. There are many businesses that have learned a harsh lesson regarding their public relations. When dealing with customers online, you need to make sure that you're always focused on addressing and resolving their needs—not getting defensive or potentially aggravating them more. On social media, the entire world watches, and mistakes are very rarely forgotten.

5. Market Research

Are you wondering which of your next products will be the most successful? Do you want some guidance on your current marketing campaigns? Social media sites are one of the best places on which to conduct market research. You can see all of your engagement and activity and you know exactly which demographics you're reaching. You can poll your own clientele for information about what they truly want from your business and you can see how they react to your ideas before you attempt to launch them.

The value of social media marketing is that it's instantaneous: you get feedback almost the moment that you produce any content. This makes you remarkably agile; you will be able to identify "winners" and "losers" very quickly and be able to improve your products and services with this information at hand. Even better, the market research done on social media is free. Your customers will freely respond to your inquiries and all you will need to expend is some time.

There are an incredible amount of benefits to a cohesive and inclusive social media campaign. A social media campaign can do many things at once, and the more that you do with it, the more value you will receive from it. Of course, not all social media campaigns are created equal: different platforms may lend themselves better to certain strategies. Either way, however, having a positive, useful, and consistent social media presence will always draw customers to you and encourage them to stay.

Source : http://bit.ly/1PC3RgJ

Facebook says no to 'dislike' button but tests 'sad' and 'angry' ones

Facebook will begin testing a new feature allowing users in Ireland and Spain to express a range of emotions on posts starting on Friday (Oct 9) - but there will be no "dislike" button, the social network said

DUBLIN: Facebook will begin testing a new feature allowing users in Ireland and Spain to express a range of emotions on posts starting on Friday (Oct 9) - but there will be no "dislike" button, the social network said.

Facebook described the new "Reactions" options as an extension of the "like" button, to give people more ways to easily signal how they feel.

Users have for years pressed the world's leading online social network for a "dislike" button to complement the existing thumbs up one, which allows users to express they "like" a post.

"Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy," postedFacebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. "These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a 'Like' might not be the best way to express yourself."

During the trial, users in Ireland and Spain will be able to select six emotions, as well as the like button, as they consider how they feel about posts. The options for the trial are: "love," "yay," "wow," "haha," "sad," and "angry," and are similar to emojis used in text messaging. Each expression comes with a correspondingly themed emoji.

"Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humour and sadness," Zuckerberg said. "It's not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy - in addition to delight and warmth."

Chris Toss, Facebook product manager, said Reactions would give users greater ways of engaging with stories and content. "It's a much broader range of human emotions you can express," he told Irish national broadcaster RTE, speaking from California.

A spokesman had no information on the length of the trial or when it might be extended to Facebook users outside Ireland and Spain.

Toss also said the social network decided a "dislike" button would not add value to the site. "Liking" something on Facebook also plays a key role in the social network's algorithm, allowing users to see content they regularly engage with and enabling targeted advertising.

The new range of empathy buttons could eventually be used for similar purposes, but not during the trial, according to Toss. "If you're coming for humorous content and you're saying 'ha ha' to lots of funny cat videos, down the road we might use that to show you more cat videos, but as of the initial test you won't see any of that," Toss said.

Source : http://bit.ly/1Lpltef

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The ‘Dislike’ Button: What Does this Mean for Businesses and Brands?

Following the news that Facebook will start rolling out the dislike button option for its users, it is no surprise that marketers, businesses and brands alike may start to fear the possibility of targeted disapproval online.

However, founder Mark Zuckerberg has not yet mentioned what the dislike button will mean for business pages on Facebook. Will the button only exist as an option for individual posts or for pages as a whole? If the latter in fact becomes a reality then brands, businesses and even ‘community pages’ may be in for a shock. This seems unlikely for the time being, but as the finer details of this feature have not yet been explained, it seems to be up to the imagination of the general Facebook public.

What is more likely would be sponsored posts and general Facebook marketing posts to come equipped with a pesky ‘dislike button’. More dislikes than likes wouldn’t be detrimental to a brand’s Facebook presence, but over time it could be.  A post with an overwhelmingly negative response, and visibly so will have a lower click through rate, and inevitably could lower the conversion rate of an entire campaign. With that kind of negative advertising, Facebook as a marketing channel could be tainted for a considerable amount of time.

The solution to this is simple however. Tighten your Facebook strategy. Treat it with as much importance as any other marketing campaign, rather than just isolating it as ‘social media’. Aim to construct a brand which is impossible to hate. A strong brand and with an online presence which your users cannot fault will limit your intentional dislikes.

Being creative can help you stand out in the sea of other businesses advertising on Facebook. A unique brand, no matter how wacky it is will help get users on your side, not to mention the fact they will remember you when it comes down to making those all important decisions.

For example, popular franchise estate-agents, Ewemove have made their mark online by adopting the friendly female sheep, ‘Ewenice’. This personalises the brand in a way that a simple text ad could not do.

 What is more, their simple yet effective colour scheme and theme goes a long way. They certainly stand out and are memorable, which is imperative in an age where internet users are bombarded with information on an hourly basis.

Obviously you cannot control the random accidental or malicious dislikes you are likely to receive. This is where the dislike button’s existence could cause you some grief. It is all well and good when your direct competitor is receiving dislikes in the 100’s but when these competitors have it in their sights to bombard you with dislikes this is when marketing starts to get dirty.

Hopefully the clever people over at Facebook will concoct a motion that will apply the dislike functionality to Facebook business. With a structure in place, the like and dislike option could actually enhance your Facebook marketing efforts.

Source : http://bit.ly/1KXzn3E

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook working on a 'Dislike' button

Facebook  finally going to make a "Dislike" button.

The format of the button is still unclear, but the company has been working on the concept for a while and expects to roll it out soon.

"We have an idea that we're going to be ready to test soon, and depending on how that does, we'll roll it out more broadly," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a townhall Q&A at Facebook's headquarters on Tuesday.

He said making something so "simple" is surprisingly complicated, but after years of people asking for the option to "dislike" a Facebook post, the company is finally ready.

Facebook had hesitated to launch a dislike button. But it has come to realize that people want "the ability to express empathy" on posts about unpleasant news.

"If you're sharing something that is sad, whether it's something in current events, like the refugee crisis, or if a family member passed away, then it may not feel comfortable to 'like' that post," Zuckerberg explained.

"But your friends want to be able to express that they understand and relate to you, so I do think it's important to give people more options than just 'like' as a quick way to emote and share what they're feeling on a post," he added.

Facebook has been cautious in how it launched the new sentiment option because it was concerned about how it would be used.

"We didn't want to just build a dislike button because we don't want to turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people's posts," he said

.Mark Zuckerberg answers questions from an audience member during a live Q&A at Facebook's headquarters.

Zuckerberg, who was recently named the most powerful person in business and media by Vanity Fair, has been holding town halls like these regularly. He says it's an opportunity for him to updateFacebook (FB, Tech30) users on how the company is working to make new services.

Later this month, Zuckerberg will host another townhall-style Q&A with a guest -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two will discuss "how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges."

Source : http://cnnmon.ie/1Kq2rnN

Facebook Is Working With Germany to Fight Anti-Refugee Content

Facebook has vowed to help the German government clamp down on hate speech and xenophobia relating to refugees.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is to work with the country’s ministry of justice and internet providers in order to remove content deemed to be hateful from the social network. The move follows recent criticism of Facebook by Heiko Maas, Germany’s justice minister. “Facebook users are, in particular, complaining increasingly that your company is not effectively stopping racist ‘posts’ and comments despite their pointing out concrete examples,” wrote Maas in a letter to the social network.

Facebook has, however, pointed out that it has non intention of changing its policy about the types of content that are considered to be offensive. In fact, the Wall Street Journal cites a source who’s familiar with the discussions, pointing out that refugees don’t seem to be protected by Facebook’s hate speech policy — as Verge points out, the site allows criticism of people based on actions, but not their identities.

Germany is currently experiencing a large influx of asylum seekers, many from Syria and Afghanistan, and expects to welcome a record number during the year. The arrival of large numbers of immigrants has given rise to protests across Germany.

The new initiative to help remove hateful content from social networks was settled on yesterday during talks held in Berlin between Maas and Facebook.

Source : http://on.wsj.com/1NBkTMF