Five trends that will change how you use social media in 2015

Ryan Holmes founded Hootsuite in 2008, growing the company from a lean startup to a global leader in social media with over 10 million users, including 79 of the Fortune 100 companies. Today, Holmes is an authority in technology and business. He writes regularly for publications like Fast Company, Inc, Fortune, and has a column in the Wall Street Journal. He’s also one of LinkedIn’s top 20 most followed Influencers and presents at the world’s top tech conferences.

Earlier this year on Singles’ Day, China’s largest day of online sales, Alibaba posted record-breaking numbers. More than US$9.3 billion of business was conducted through its marketplaces with sales surpassing US$2 billion in the first hour. Nearly 50 percent of sales volume was via mobile, up from just 15 percent in 2013.

As impressive as these numbers are, mobile commerce is poised to be supercharged even further in 2015, thanks in large part to social media innovations. Alibaba is already discussing potential partnerships with other tech giants, including teaming up with Apple on a mobile payments system and working with social messaging operators Line of Japan and KakaoTalk of Korea.

As the world of mobile payments integrates with social media, the lines between communication and commerce will continue to blur. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five ways social media will (likely) evolve in 2015.

Social media and messaging apps become your wallet

Hacks released in October show a hidden payment feature deep inside Facebook’s popular Messenger app, which – if activated – would allow users to transfer money to one another using just debit card information, free of charge. Meanwhile, Twitter is introducing a new tool that allows coupons from retailers to be loaded directly onto your credit card via Tweet, then applied automatically at checkout.

For Asia-based social media and messaging platforms, mobile payment is already on the rise and becoming one of the biggest battle zones in tech. WeChat, KakaoTalk, and Line have already started offering mobile payment services in selected countries. For instance, WeChat and Line users are now able to order takeout food and shop for clothes through the messaging app. This is part of a broader move by social messaging platforms to turn their communication tools into “lifestyle platforms”: one-stop shops for socializing, shopping, and even transportation.

Smart devices integrate social media

Cheap sensors have led to an explosion of smart devices. Everything from home appliances like smart chopsticks to wearables like fitness bracelets are now collecting data and zapping it off wirelessly to the internet. For instance, Tupelo’s Mymo, a new activity tracker that was launched in India in September, lets users cash in steps for rewards like mobile talk time, groceries, airline miles, and vacations.

The challenge in 2015 becomes how to more intelligently integrate the fast-growing “internet of things” (IoT) with social media. It’s not enough for these devices to simply auto-post updates on users’ social streams – when you get down to it, not many people really care how many steps you took today. Instead, smart devices need to start tapping users’ social graph – their unique network of friends and followers – in better ways. A very simple example: a smart fridge that tracks your Facebook events, sees you’re planning a party and how many people have RSVP’d, and instructs you to make last-minute buys at your nearby supermarket.

By listening to social media in more sophisticated ways – tracking users’ activities and interactions with friends and followers, then responding accordingly – smart devices stand to get even smarter in the year ahead.

E-tailers turning to social media

Social media is fast changing the face of ecommerce, providing traditional online retailers with a new way to reach audiences and make sales. Lazada, one of the most successful ecommerce startups in Southeast Asia, is now actively engaging its customers on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Meanwhile, Qoo10, one of the ecommerce pioneers in Singapore, got its start on Facebook and saw great success leveraging the network as an advertising platform.