2016 has officially arrived. With the new year also comes fresh new trends in the social media atmosphere that leave several of us lost and calling for help.

• How will I stand out from all of the other authors in the world?
• What will make readers excited about everything I’m working on in 2016?
• Why isn’t my platform growing?

Don’t fret. Here are three major social trends authors should keep an eye on in 2016.

Engagement will be your new BFF

Yes, thousands of Facebook fans and Twitter followers are amazing. But how is your content really resonating with your audience? Word of mouth is amplified by social networks, so give your audience something to relate to and tell their friends about. Learn and understand what your key audience wants and expects from your platforms. Deliver that content and encourage their engagement. A small but highly engaged network is significantly more effective than a large, disinterested network.

Visual customization will help your channels flourish

Your readers love getting personal with you. Launch a blog on your website that gives readers an inside look at your author news and updates, inspirations, future projects, and hobbies. This blog can be the home for amazing and fresh new content to share on your social platforms as an addition to your book promotion posts. Why do you need a blog AND a social network? Because you can get wordy on a blog post whereas on social media, you’ve got two seconds flat to hook someone and deliver the goods.

Once you have your blog posts underway, create anchor content for your blog and get creative. Break your content into contextual pieces to post to each of your social platforms. For example: Create a video that discusses a topic you are loving and embed it into a blog post. Then tweet the link to this blog post with eye-catching (and branded!) graphics. Then pull a quote from your blog post, design it into a graphic, and share it on Instagram and Pinterest linking to your original blog post. One blog post just became multiple social posts.

Like it or not, videos are here to stay!

GIFS and immersive videos are the driving forces of engagement on social media. In 2016, videos will become the native advertising platform of choice. According to Facebook, videos average 62% more engagement than photos and video shares increased 43% at the start of this year. Facebook just announced that it sees an average of 8 billion views per day from 500 million people. Not quite savvy enough for immersive videos, yet? Instagram saves the day, once again. Boomerang is making your cover reveals a little more exciting! Upload your Boomerang to your social platforms straight from the app, turning everyday moments into something fun and unexpected.

Which Social Media Platforms do you plan to experiment with this year? Tell us below!

---