Wondering what’s in store for social media in 2016? Check out these predictions from the experts at SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Social Media Goes Private
Whether it’s on Facebook or LinkedIn, usage of private groups is taking hold and there’s a surge in people creating them. It’s no secret that if you ask power users on Facebook where they’re seeing the most value from the platform, it’s coming from the private groups that they’re part of. Snapchat started this, but the shift to messaging apps (think Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, etc.) is going to force brands to get a lot more private and personal with their social media expenditure.

This usage and growth is fundamentally a mobile experience. This will be brands’ biggest struggle in 2016, as they’re still ramping up to provide responsive web experiences that aren’t mobile-first by design.

Get ready to pay for more traffic.
More social networks will start charging for traffic. As social media networks adjust their algorithms, the only way brands can ensure they generate a decent amount of traffic is through advertising. For example, Facebook was once easy to leverage; all you had to do was post a status update with a link on your fan page or personal page. Within minutes, all of your fans and friends would see your links and the traffic would flow in. Now you’re encouraged to boost your post if you want to get the maximum amount of traffic. Even if you have 100,000 fans on Facebook, the only way to get the majority of them to see your content is to pay for visibility.

Companies Will Adapt Social Strategies Around People
2016 will be the year where more companies implement adaptive social. The more we engage and collaborate with external and internal social media users for business, the more we need to adapt to their communities and needs for ultimate success.

This should become more the norm at forward-looking companies in 2016 with examples like these:

• Influencer Marketing: Instead of creating campaigns around marketing initiatives, brands will realize these are long-term relationships and adapt to the needs of the influencers.
• Employee Advocacy: Instead of pushing marketing content on employees for them to share, brands will realize that employees are their biggest advocates and adapt to employee behaviors. This will result in more participation and ultimately a greater reach and more authentic trust for your brand.
• Social Selling: Instead of pushing content on their networks, brands will start from scratch and completely customize the content they share based on their customer’s needs, whether that content comes from within the company or not.