Top 5 Social Media Marketing Trends That Will Shape 2018
Uma Bhat
Thu, 02/01/2018 - 11:55

What does social media marketing look like in 2018? Very different than it was a few years back isn’t it?

Social media marketing trends has evolved very rapidly over the years, and this just means a constant change to our social media marketing strategies.

Some of the things that were a trend in 2017 may no longer be relevant in 2018, and new innovations and ideas might evolve as trendsetters in the new year.

Anything that is widely accepted and that dominates a particular area or industry emerges as a trend during a particular period.

When more than 3 billion people are browsing social media content, it opens an infinite opportunity for brands and business to promote products and services using social media.

Social media is also evolving with giants such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn moving towards technological advancements that give them a huge facelift, thereby making it an exciting journey for the social media marketers in 2018.

As we step into 2018, its time to gear up to unfold the new social media marketing trends which brings distinct features that we may not have witnessed before.

Here are top 6 social media marketing trends that will shape 2018.


Augmented Reality Experiences

Augmented reality is the blending of digital information with the user's environment in real time.

Augmented Reality provides a niche and a most engaged way for social media marketers to reach out to their target audience.  Increasing introduction of augmented reality in mobile devices and social media channels will offer the users with augmented reality experiences.

“We’ll likely see more augmented reality, especially considering the new iPhones - which has enormous implications, both for the regular user and for brands and marketers”, says Lilach Bullock, Social Media Specialist.

 
 

What does it mean for you?

You should soon project your products to the social media users through special filters. The users should be offered a preview of your products before buying. This will work as a great way to increase conversions since the users get almost a live experience using augmented reality.

Look out for the new features that social platforms like Facebook and Twitter will introduce, from there find ways of tapping into this trend.


Videos Will take Centre Stage

Videos and particularly live videos have been making waves ever since 2017. And it is here to stay, with the ever increasing popularity of smart phones.

'Not doing short video is not an option' says Kat Hahn, Facebook’s Creative Strategist.

Video is the fastest growing ad format and has grown tremendously year on year.

A study reveals that by 2019, videos on social media will account for 80% of all consumer internet traffic.
 

What does it mean for you?

Start to research extensively into the likes and preferences of your audience. Test different types of video content to establish the type that works best for your target audience.

Invest in video advertising and capitalise on the low-cost yet highly targeted reach available from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin.

It’s time to take videos seriously.


Chatbots for Personal Interactions

A chatbot is a software designed to simulate a human-like conversation.

Gone are the days when chatbots were robotic. Today’s chatbots can engage with your customer and solve their problems. There is an increase in the brands that have tested chatbots and have seen different level of success.

The millennials, almost 60%, have been the quickest adaptors of chatbots and 71% have expressed their liking to try chatbots with major brands.
 

What does it mean for you?

2018 will be the right time to explore chatbots if you have not yet started it. Design easy chatbots keeping in mind both the millennials and the older generations. 

Chatbots should be designed to interact with customers, send personalised messages, solve customer queries and even write content.


Ephemeral Content for Highest Engagement

Ephemeral content is simply any such content that is short-lived and is available only for a certain period of time.

Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook are the pioneers of ephemeral content where the content is shared and displayed only up to 24 hours post which it disappears.

Ephemeral content is a way to produce more authentic content. Brands are using social media for posting high-quality content and stories for more real-time content that appears on top of their follower’s feed.
 

What does it mean for you?

Having a high-quality social content strategy is the definite need of the hour. Design your content strategy around ephemeral content. Your content strategy should have provision to reach audiences on more real time basis.

Offer more authentic and engaging content at the shortest time possible. Having stories which will be on top of your follower’s feed will ensure to keep your brand on top of their minds.


Reliance on Social Media Listening Tools

Social listening is a simply the task of tracking the conversations that revolve around your brand.  Social listening tools give brands an opportunity to analyse the behaviour of your audiences.

Brands are using social listening tools that help to check on the brand health, create targeted marketing campaigns and improve customer experiences.

A host of social media monitoring tools such as Buffer, Hootsuire, Cloohawk, TweetReach, Klout, etc. are offering social media monitoring features that help brands to interact with their customers.
 

What does it mean for you?

With an ever increasing audience on social media, it’s hard for a brand to track conversations of your audience. It will be wise for you to engage social listening tools to actively pay attention to what users say.

Customer care, marketing campaigns and engaging with customers can be further customized with the help of social media listening tools.


Rise in Micro-Influencer Partnerships

Micro-influencers are basically individuals who have a relatively small fan following on social media. Micro-influencers have proven to get more engagement from their audience which helps brands in better conversions.

Consumers these days look forward for authenticity. Hence brands are more forthcoming to have partnerships with micro-influencers since they are more authoritative within their fan following.  Micro-influencers have the expert knowledge and hence tend to influence the audience and build solid relationship with them.

"More brands will turn to influencer marketing to reach audiences they struggle reaching today” says Pam Moore, CEO  of Marketing Nutz. 
 

What does it mean for you?

Don’t run behind numbers. Micro-influencers with a small audience should not stop you from approaching them for a possible partnership. Find influencers with whom you can partner for cross-promoting your brand, creating a new product together and becoming an affiliate for them.

Set aside enough budget for influencer marketing since 71 % of the people are making purchases based on social media referrals.

Conclusion

Change is inevitable. The blessing as well as the curse of social media marketing is that it changes and evolves at a lightning speed. A lot can change in just 12 months.

As social media is preparing itself for new technological advancements, brands are trying harder to matchup to their pace.

Irrespective of whether you plan to introduce a chatbot or video marketing, ensure that you are updated on all the social media marketing trends to take advantage and to build a solid marketing strategy.