Amidst scattered audiences, and diverse fragmented platforms, you need to reach out to your audience and be heard by them. At the outset, it does not seem to be a difficult task, but given the rising levels of competition, it is not really an easy task. When you have begun understanding the social media platform, it changes, evolves and strives to become something better.

The need to be heard is something every marketer is struggling to achieve. In the not so far past, marketers believed that social media was not an important part of their marketing strategy. In fact, they used to avoid it as far as possible. But, things changed, and today social media is definitely a major part of their strategy.

Social media is not the same as it was yesterday. It is constantly changing, and the different trends ruling this media are supporting the evolution. Numerous platforms are coming up each day to redefine your strengths and offer you better opportunities.

Improving Real-time Engagement

You have to live in the moment when you are working with social media. If you are working real-time with the social media posts, you are probably not helping your audiences much. You may argue that social media is already in the moment, and working real-time. Your argument is perfect, but then there are social media channels that build real-time conversations better than the others. There is a stiff competition for the real-time data availability between the different channels. Periscope is more real-time than Twitter; similar Instagram offers better in-the-moment updates than other channels.

Again real-time conversations help solve the problems easily and with better judgments. 7 in 8 messages in 2015 were not responded to within 72 hours, which caused major uproar in the social media world. From updates to responses, brands should consider doing everything real-time to improve engagement and loyalty. This is one trend you ought to keep up with if you want to improve engagement with social media.

Video Streaming Data

If you want to engage users with social media, you need to improve the quality of content and align with current needs. Social media is slowly leaning towards live streaming of YouTube videos. With the live videos, you can easily showcase offline events on the online landscape, which will help build your user base. A lot of apps have come up like Periscope and

, which have populated this live streaming niche. This helps build the in-the-moment strategies for your brand, which will help deliver the real-time messages to your end users.

Most live streaming channels will not be editing the videos they are showcasing, which makes them more engaging and interesting. Both Meerkat and Periscope are doing pretty well, and it is important to include both when you are strategizing social media marketing.

Social Commerce

With time businesses are going social, which will help improve your sales and profitability. Social commerce is the next thing that retail businesses specifically should move towards. Social media is where your target audience is, and it is the most convenient way to complete a purchase for consumers who prefer online to offline. If you don’t believe that social commerce is the next trend to take on social media, then here are a few statistics for you.

  • Facebook introduced about 360 Ads to offer better and dedicated user experiences
  • YouTube has included 360 Ads for better visuas
  • Twitter has come up with a Buy button, which is in the testing phase
  • Pinterest has also come out with buyable pins

It’s time to implement these in your social media strategies to improve your business online.

Alternative Mediums for Content

Content publishers will soon be gaining some interesting options to publish their content. A few months back Facebook came up with a new publishing option “Facebook Articles”, which appears similar to a blog, but appears on Facebook. This publishing option gives the user a freehand to write lengthy articles and leverage their user base on Facebook. Project Lightning from Twitter allows users to complete the publication, giving dynamic view to the users.

These are just a few trends that you cannot miss out on, as they will help you deliver value in terms of content and promoting your business online.