As a small business owner, it’s imperative you keep your ear to the floor for several of the current and upcoming trends in online marketing. Social networking, in particular, evolves at an astounding rate. Once you believe you’ve developed a successful social marketing plan, the entire game changes. That’s why it’s so important to stay on top of the latest social networking trends — until they occur.
Here are the top 7 interpersonal media trends to watch out for in 2018 and beyond. Get a head start on implementing alternatives to boost the achievement of your long-term social networking marketing strategy.
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1. Platforms Combination Together
Most social platforms begin serving a small niche. In 2017, we’ve seen several of these once-niche platforms begin integrating more mainstream capabilities. Instagram is a good case in point. The social networking service began as a platform designed to keep your favorite photos and videos. In summer of 2016, they found Instagram stories. The new feature motivates Instagram users to share in-the-moment content which disappears after 24 hours, á la Snapchat. Much more recently, they published Instagram decals , yet another feature that is heavily motivated by Snapchat. At the exact same time, Snapchat is integrating new features which are extremely like Instagram’s hottest. Snapchat memories, which allows you to permanently save videos and photos, is a principal case. This blending of features and standardization of programs is sure to continue throughout 2018. Facebook is already set to integrate trending stories (á la Twitter) and YouTube’s already set to permit users to discuss text/image articles (á la Facebook).
Also Read: How To Grow Your Facebook Business Page Audience By 257% In 2018
2. Significance of Social Messaging
It may come as a small surprise, but societal messaging apps have a lot more users than many social networking platforms. For example, WhatsApp attained one billion users in early 2016. The prevalence of the social messaging programs means a lot more focus is being placed on advertising towards their audiences. In 2018, you’ll see more companies hoping to integrate these apps in their general social media marketing plan. Brands of sizes will likely begin utilizing these messaging programs for customer support and e-commerce applications.
3. Growth of Live Streaming Video
After the first success of this now-defunct live-streaming leader Meerkat, both Facebook and YouTube have adopted live video streaming features. And the increase in live streaming features on social platforms makes incorporating video into your overall marketing strategy all the easier and more powerful. It is guaranteed to be fascinating to observe the result of manufacturers experimenting with live streaming video promotion in 2018.
4. Chatbots Become a Staple
Chatbots have been around for decades. The automated tools are made to mimic an intelligent conversation with a human user. No human operator needs to be present for the chatbot to operate efficiently. Most chatbots currently can accomplish only comparatively basic tasks. They can answer common questions, retrieve certain information, and create simple bookings. Yet even these simple applications open up intriguing new possibilities for businesses in 2018. Along with providing 24/7 customer support, chatbots free up individual customer care agents to desk with comprehensive questions and requests without worrying about straightforward queries.
5. New Programs of Virtual/Augmented Truth
A lot of their popularity is due to the unbelievable achievement of Pokémon Go, one of the first apps to attract AR to mainstream audiences. Tech giants including Facebook, HTC, and Google are all investing heavily in the technology, so that there are sure to be major advances in VR and AR for societal networking in 2018. Obviously, VR and AR probably aren’t technologies small business owners may invest in, but you need to still keep a close watch on how the top brands embrace them within their social media marketing efforts.
6. Optimize for Mobile
It should go without saying, but mobile optimization is a 100% must in 2018. Mobile traffic has been growing extremely quickly over the past several decades. In 2016, mobile traffic overtook desktop traffic for the first time .
What this means is that you need a mobile-friendly website. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, a huge portion of your prospective audience will look for comparable services elsewhere. My post on the benefits of responsive website design additional drills in the reasons you need to optimize for cellular.
7. Promoting on Social
Social media currently drives 31% of visitors to sites. And that figure is only set to rise during 2018. It follows that learning how to market, and convert users, on social media is of utmost importance. Much of this boils down to figuring out what works for you personally as a brand and what does not. Spend more time reviewing your social media analytics to find out exactly what your customers actually want. Hint, hint — more people than ever before want to buy products/services through social networking platforms. It’s a smart idea to check into this for your small business. Facebook is currently offering new features that enable brands to sell straight through their social networking. Other social programs are certain to follow.
Closing Thoughts
Social networking is always changing. And you change with it if you would like your small company to stay relevant in the internet world. Though the top social networking trends for 2018 discussed above are just the tip of the iceberg as far as changes go, they are among the most significant for small business owners to keep a watch out for. Adhere to the latest changes to societal platforms closely, monitor what the top brands in your industry are doing, experimentation with new methods yourself, and then review your analytics carefully to create the best possible social networking marketing campaign for your business in 2018.
