A new year will soon be upon us and that typically means making resolutions and setting goals for the next 365 days that follow. Part of that goal-setting should be centered around your social media marketing, looking at trends for the new year and how to implement them as part of your strategy.
Here’s what will be trending in the world of social media for 2018 and tips on how to maximize on these trends for your business:
Video Content and Marketing
Statistics have shown that video content is quickly becoming the main means of content and information sharing and any business not making use of short videos for advertising and content sharing are doing themselves a disservice.
Creating video content and using videos as a marketing tool has proven to be advantageous but only when adopted correctly there it is important to strategize around its use. Don’t make videos just for the sake of making them but set objectives and clear goals for video use in your strategy.
Video marketing is the way of the future with more and more brands utilizing it to provide a greater user experience for customers by being more engaged and more transparent, particularly when utilizing live streaming features that allow people get a “behind-the-scenes” look at a company or brand.
When making use of the video tools on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram its important to capture the audience’s attention within the first 3 seconds and ensure that the content you are sharing is high-quality and engaging.
And We’re Live
More and more companies and brands are going live via Facebook and Instagram to tell their stories. This real-time approach is quickly becoming a norm in social media marketing allowing for direct and real conversation and interaction with customers.
To move forward with this trend, it is important to create high-quality and relevant video content as you would with written content. The stories must be of value to those tuning in.
Let your Customers do the Talking
Many companies and brands are investing in user-generated content (UGC), a marketing strategy whereby the customer becomes the brand ambassador. Customers are creating relevant content by sharing positive experiences and feedback on social media. This type of user-generated content creates a positive company perception as well as a level of trust with the audience as people are more apt to follow the choices or actions of other people.
This type of content increases user engagement and visibility on social media which in turn increases brand awareness.
Chatting it Up with Chatbots
If you are familiar with chatbots, they are computer programs that have been designed to simulate conversation with human users. They are increasingly becoming a useful customer service tool as they can provide an instant connection and can resolve customer issues in a shorter amount of time.
Chatbot technology is continuously evolving and improving meaning it is becoming smarter and more human-like allowing for things like customized brand voices and personalized user messages.
Augmented reality
If you are unfamiliar with this concept, it’s time to familiarize yourself with it. Augmented reality is defined as a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are “augmented” by computer-generated or extracted real-world sensory input such as sound, video, graphics, haptics or GPS data; it is used to enhance an experienced environment or situation and to offer enriched experiences.
It is a quick, easy and interactive way to conduct marketing and reach a target market. For example, a company or brand can project their product(s) into the homes of social media users through a filter or an app which would allow customers to get a preview of those products in their homes before buying.
Again, as with any other social media tool that is trending, don’t make use of it just for the sake of using it, but rather consider its relevance to your company or brand and to your customers.
These are a few of the trends to not only look out for in the upcoming year but to incorporate into a social media marketing strategy for your company or brand. If you are looking to introduce and any of these tactics into your plan in the new year the team at Social Know How is here to help. Our experts will assist with the implementation of any, or all of these tactics to best suit the needs of your company or brand.
