Following on from last months piece of content around technology trends, I also wanted to give my opinions and thoughts around what the important Social Media trends are going to be for 2018.
Mobile Usage Will Skyrocket
As we know, mobile usage has increased exponentially year on year, and this is going to be a huge trend in 2018. According to Facebook, 94% of it’s monthly active users access the website via their smartphone. Twitter reported 82%, LinkedIn 60% and Pinterest 80%.
Don’t forget about the likes of Instagram, Snapchat and Vero who are all specific mobile-based apps and have seen the most success of recent somewhat attributed to being mobile.
Social Messaging Vs Social Networking
In 2018, expect to see a war between the social media apps, and their messaging counterparts. According to reports, the top four social messaging apps; WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat and Viber are used more than Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Customer Experience Improved Through Chabots
Chatbots are in essence a machine learning programme that responds on your behalf as part of automation.
According to Juniper Research, chatbots will help businesses save up to $8 billion every year. Expect this to be a huge trend, considering how much money it can save businesses whilst still be effective.
Organic Reach Is On The Decline
It’s no secret that people left, right and centre are seeing their organic reach plumet across all social networks, especially Facebook.
Whilst this isn’t a trend for 2018, I did want to mention this because it means that people are having to find other ways to reach their audience online because Social Media is no longer offering a strong enough organic reach.
Video-Specific Content Will Rule Engagement
Video is still the most popular content, and this will continue throughout 2018. Research conducted by Buzzsumo found that posts with video receive the highest engagement. Expect more people to create engaging, thought-provoking video content.
User-Generated Content Will Drive Engagement And Reach
As I mentioned above, people are looking for other ways to drive engagement and reach. In 2018, user-generated content is going to be a huge trend.
We have already seen the likes of Netflix and Starbucks post content their audience have shared of their brand as part of their content marketing strategy. It not only drives reach and engagement, it actually builds trust and credibility too.
If You Want More... Pay More
It’s simple really. Social Media has always been know to be a free traffic driver, but in 2018 if you want real results, you are going to have to pay for them.
By this, I mean use social advertising. This has been growing 20% annually across all platforms, and is a great brand awareness tool.
Influencers Are Worth The Investment
As a form of driving engagement, Influencer Marketing is a relatively new term to the digital world. Influencers have been building their social audience for years, but it’s only been the last year or so that businesses have been utilising this.
Influencers have a very loyal following, and if you can build a great relationship with them, then this could be a great way to generate buzz.