As another year comes to a close, marketers are beginning to scratch their heads and ask themselves questions on upcoming trends for 2018. What are they going to do differently? What trends are evolving that they need to be aware of?What content are their consumers looking for? Are there new techniques to advertise and promote their brand/products on social media platforms?
Businesses and companies should be looking at current trends and technologies to get a feel for what is popular and what could potentially be integrated in their social media marketing strategy. For example, analysing the key takeaways from Mary Meeker (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner) Internet Trends Report 2017. She delivered her annual report in May 2017 at the Code Conference in California which complies the most informative research on what’s getting funded, how Internet adoption is progressing, which interfaces are resonating, and what will be big next. These are just some of the key things that marketers need to consider and prepare for as they come into another year.
The key takeaways were:
- Internet ad spend will surpass TV spend within six months
- There’s still more time spent on mobile than ad spend, indicating forthcoming windfalls for mobile ad platforms
- Google and Facebook control 85% of online ad growth
- Healthcare: Wearables are gaining adoption with about 25 percent of Americans owning one, up 12 percent from 2016.
- Global interactive gaming is becoming mainstream, with 2.6 billion gamers in 2017 versus 100 million in 1995. Global gaming revenue is estimated to be around $100 billion in 2016, and China is now the top market for interactive gaming.
Once marketers are aware of this type of information they can use it to make informed decisions.
1) Augmented Reality
As mentioned in one of the points above, gaming is becoming increasingly popular. Snapchat was the first social media site to introduce augmented reality with their animated filters in 2016 , followed by Instagram and Facebook. Snapchat also rolled out a new AR feature in 2017, allowing users to their Bitmoji and project themselves or images into the real world through the app’s camera. With the rise of AR, it gives marketers the opportunity to take advantage of it in the gaming world.
Alti Mar, Co-founder of directive games states: “We can experience games in an entirely new way,” Mar said. “AR allows us to use our position in the real world to gain a tactical advantage. … It’s like you’re not just controlling the game — you’re in the game.”
Read more about the rise of AR in the Los Angeles Times article.
From AR in social media to gaming, consumers want to be involved. They long for an interactive user experience and personalised experience and that is essentially what AR offers.
This year Apple announced the launch of iPhone 8 and iPhone X which provides users with new augmented reality experiences. Therefore its likely more social channels will plan on introducing new ways of integrating AR into their platforms in the future and marketers need to capitalize on this trend.
2) Video Content
Instagram was one of the first totally visually focused social networks. At first it was almost all pictures and its massive success served as a spark for the rest of the industry. Other social networks started leaning away from text into images, and that trend continued to evolve towards video. Video marketing is already taking the world by storm and if marketers haven’t already figured this out then they need to get started!
People want video. You may have noticed more videos than images or text as you scroll through your social media’s news-feeds. For younger audiences like millennials or the generation Z, social has replaced TV. According to Social Media Today, videos on social generate 1,200% more shares than text and images combined. In a mobile- first culture, video is our main consumption.
According to Sean O’Neal from Adaptly mobile, video is the number one fastest growing ad format in the world and has been doubling YoY. By 2020 video will make up 80% of all online consumer internet traffic and will eventually be the closest you get to a face to face conversation with your audience.
Read more about the power of video content and recommendations to marketers for video content on this article from smartinsights.com.
3) Influencers
Using social media influencers to promote products and brands was extremely popular in 2017 and it’s no surprise that this trend will continue for 2018. Why use social media influencers you may ask?
- According to Forbes, Influencers are the new celebrity endorsements. In fact, data from influencer marketing platform MuseFind shows that 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement.
- Studies from social media today, show that 74% of people look to their networks on social media for advice on buying decisions, and 40% of people have bought something based on seeing it being promoted by an influencer on Instagram or Twitter.
Influencers (Bloggers and Vloggers) really have the power to persuade consumers as generally they have large followings on all social media platforms, meaning through them you can reach a wider audience. They can sway the sentiments of their online audience in a particular direction of products and brands and can essentially make or break your businesses reputation.Therefore, it’s important for marketers to realise how significant influencers are and how much of an impact they have on our buying behaviour.
It is likely that more brands will embrace influencer marketing in 2018 as a way to connect with audiences who tend to ignore traditional strategies.
Check out this blog post by Germin8 on the reasons why social media influencers are so important!
4) Live Streaming
Today, brands have used live streaming as a means of capturing the attention of their followers. An article from Entrepreneur, stated that: GORUCK, a backpack manufacturer and the organizer of extreme endurance events, is an example of a medium-sized brand that has grown its reach by live streaming compelling content on Facebook. Thousands of followers tuned in to watch 48-hour coverage of a recent endurance race.
With this ephemeral content (content that doesn’t last forever) it encourages consumers to tune in and watch because if they don’t there is almost a FOMO effect (Fear of missing out). It is a great technique to alert consumers to something new and to keep them engaged. Live streaming is something that all marketers need to integrate in their social media marketing plans for 2018.
Conclusion
To conclude, marketers need to be on their toes for 2018. If they aren’t already aware of the above trends then they are doing it wrong!
Rachel's Social Media Blog 