In today’s technologically-driven world, social media marketing has become the corner stone for the success of any online business. However, the realities of social media marketing keep evolving with time and if you want to succeed in this vast world, you need to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest trends.
So if you are set to make your next social media marketing strategy, you need to keep yourself abreast of the following trends:
1) Video Marketing Will Keep Rising
Let me start this point with this eye-opening fact:
In 2017, video content constituted the 90% of all the content that was shared through social media platforms. The phenomenon of live streaming has changed the dynamics of social sharing as more people like to engage in a real-time conversation than a recorded one.
Facebook further corroborates this fact on its newsfeed. According to Facebook, live videos are going to get six times more engagement than recorded ones. The phenomenal popularity of videos is partly associated with the fact that it helps create a community.
As Social Media Examiner reveals, sixty one percent of marketers want to increase their live video content, while sixty nine percent of marketers want to know more about it. The number of live videos grew by fourteen percent.
All the aforementioned statistics lend credibility to the fact that video content will continue to become bigger in the current year as well.
2) The Trend Of Storytelling Will Grow
People love content that has a story to tell. Majority of this content comes in visuals form on photo-sharing websites like Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr. National Geographic is a good example of how you can use storytelling to engage more viewers on your social media profile.
The channel uses high-resolution images with an attention-grabbing caption on its social media profiles. The pictures show encounters of the people with nature. These crispy pictures captivate the audience and entice them to know more about the story behind the picture.
The curiosity to know more about the story compel them to click on the photo and share them with their followers on social media. In 2018, you can too use the power of storytelling to increase the engage more leads to your brand.
3) Social Media Influencer Will Take The Lead
The presence of social media influencer as “brand endorsers” has led many online businesses to get their service. According to Twitter, forty percent of people say that they bought a product after a tweet by a social media influencer.
With big brands like Amazon, Nike, and Adidas engaging with influencer marketing to promote their brand, the role of social media influencer will certainly have a say in the consumer choice in the coming years.
4) Messaging Applications Will Factor In Your Social Media Marketing
The immense popularity of Whatsapp, Facebook, Messanger, and Viber have attracted a big pool of audience that number in millions. According to Hub Spot, both Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger have approximately 1.2 billion of users followed by WeChat that stands at 889 million.
The phenomenal audience on these messaging applications has convinced many big brands to make these tools the part of their social media marketing strategy. Brands like Rear Pink, Clarks, and TacoBell are leveraging the power of messaging applications to pitch their products as well as facilitate the clients with their customer support service.
Taking into consideration the growing role of messaging application in business, it will likely to contribute more to brand promotion in 2018.
5) Chatbots Will Grow In Number
As more people are using social media to share their experiences with a service or product, the online businesses are using chatbots as their customer support representatives to interact with their clients. So rather than complaining to others, the clients will be able to express their grievances and complaints directly to the manufacturer of a product.
With chatbots, online businesses now have a voice to respond to queries, complaints, and feedback of their clients. Therefore, if you want to give an instant reply to a query of your client or want to get a rapid feedback on your newly-launched product, then a chatbot can make things easier for you. So make sure that you use them on your social media channel in 2018.
6) Virtual Reality (VR) Will Make An Impact
Videos give a more realistic and humane experience to the viewers and virtual reality is making to even more impactful. With VR, the brands can give a real-life experience to their clients about their products or services.
In 2016, Mercedes posted a 360° video of its upcoming SL model. The video featured the car on the Pacific Coast Highway. The viewers were able to get a virtual experience of driving the car. It also provided them with a look into the interior of the car.
Watching something through a VR-enabled lens gives a realistic experience to a viewer and he wants to share it with his acquaintances on social media. For online businesses, this provides a faster way to get downstream engagements.
Wrap-Up…
Social media marketing is pivotal to the success of any online brand. Therefore, you should get yourself prepared for the aforementioned trends and count on them while you make your social media marketing strategy for the current year.