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Strategy

Report: Top Trends in Social Media 2016

Social Media Examiner recently released its annual social media study, and 5,000-plus marketers revealed insights into their social media efforts. We take a look inside.

The biggest trends in social media marketing usage have been uncovered in the new 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, compiled by Social Media Examiner. The study polled some 5,000 marketers that use social media to get their latest insights and usage behavior about:

  • Most-used social media platforms
  • Benefits of social media
  • Time spent on social media
  • How content marketing plays a role in social media
  • Growth of video in social media
  • How B2B social media differs from B2C social media

It’s the group’s 8th annual study in the area of social media marketing, and it’s a landslide of information for brands. Here are some of the top conclusions we found in the study.

Most Important Social Networks for Marketers

Facebook dominates social media networks for the marketers in the survey. More than half (55%) said they regularly use Facebook and it’s the most important for their business. LinkedIn followed at 18%, Twitter at 12%, and YouTube and Instagram ranked at 4%.

(via 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report)

Benefits of Social Media

Most marketers surveyed agreed that increased traffic, exposure and followers were the three top benefits of using social media marketing. Surprisingly, generating leads ranked at 66% in benefits. Other benefits of social media included improving rankings in search, growing business partnerships and establishing thought leadership.


(via 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report)

Time Spent on Social Media

Among the marketers surveyed, 63% said they did social media for 6 hours or more, and nearly 40% reported working on social media for 11 hours or more a week. A smaller percentage (19%) replied that they were on social media for 20 or more hours in an average week.
Weekly time commitment varied for social media marketing with a significant 63% of marketers using social media for 6 hours or more, and 39% for 11 or more hours weekly. It’s interesting to note that nearly 19% of marketers spend more than 20 hours each week on social media.

(via 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report)

Which Content is Expected to Grow in 2016

Content marketers are expected to use more content visuals and video in their social media marketing in 2016. The study affirms those hunches, as nearly 75% of those surveyed said they are planning to use more video in social media marketing efforts. A nearly comparable number (71%) plans to increase their use of visuals this year.

(via 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report)

Other Key Points

Live video is quickly increasing in usage by marketers. Half of those surveyed responded that live video usage will pick up this year on Facebook, and the other 50% are eager to learn more about using live video. This would include marketing with live video on networks like Snapchat, which has at recent count, 150 million daily active users on its network.

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