[BizTrends 2016] Social media marketing trends

And in Africa, where mobile isn't a second screen, is the screen, and the primary means to access the internet, the importance of social media platforms cannot be emphasised enough. Here are some trends to look out for in 2016.

1. Quality over quantity. Remember the adage 'quality of quantity'? According to widely quoted data by Forrester Research, Facebook shows each brand's posts to only 16% of its fans. Organic reach is becoming increasingly hard to come by, emphasising the importance of good content that is shareable and offers value.

In conjunction with increased social media spend, 2016 will see brands focusing on quality content, proactive rather than reactive conversations and influencers to extend their reach.

2. Less words, more visuals. Less visuals, more video. Visual content has always garnered more interactions than words, so the ability to share compelling images across platforms has been a must for some time. Now, globally - even in Africa, where data costs and bandwidth remain concerns - we're seeing greater shift from visual to video.

In South Africa, engagement with YouTube videos has trebled in the past year. Half of all Facebook users watch at least one video per day on Facebook. So it's likely that you'll see more video ads in your newsfeed.

In-feed video has been shown to be slightly more successful than static ads - enough to warrant additional spend. But organically shared content will continue to show better engagement rates. As video grows as a focus area, it will be important that your videos stand out and captivate.

3. One size won't fit all. Consider that more than a quarter of South Africans are on Facebook and 7.4 million are on Twitter, and it's easy to imagine these two platforms remaining the most popular social networks among brands.

When it comes to the deluge of other social media apps - Pinterest, Snapchat, Vine, Periscope, et al - where should you be? Rather than trying to be everywhere at once, marketing managers should be asking questions about which platforms their audiences are using and how they are using them.

Analytics tools will offer improved features to gather deeper insights, enabling selective, targeted social media campaigns. This frees up social media managers to give more attention to the type of content their customers are most receptive to and allows teams to spend time producing quality, tailored content for selected platforms to ensure organic reach.

4. The rise of social commerce. In 2015 we saw how ad blockers have the potential to erode the effectiveness of display ads. We also saw buy buttons added to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and it's only a matter of time before Instagram does the same. Social media ads are less intrusive and more relevant, which should equal greater engagement rates.

But we're short on brands that have demonstrated success using these social commerce tools, and privacy and security remain concerns among users. Expect this to change. Fast. E-commerce brands have reason to be worried as social platforms work harder to ensure users never leave the app. The result? Watch out for e-commerce websites becoming increasingly social in nature as they react to this.

5. WhatsApp takes over the world. Bought by Facebook for $22 million last year, many Americans haven't even heard of WhatsApp, but in Africa it's big. In fact, when looking at the continent as a whole, no other app comes close in terms of user numbers. And it's free.

WhatsApp quietly launched a click-to-share button a little more than a year ago, and there are video calls. For content marketers in South Africa, with 22 million users literally at their fingertips, this presents a great opportunity in unchartered, unsaturated territory.

It's early days, but expect a lot more talk about WhatsApp as a content marketing tool this year.