With only a little more than a month left until 2018, it’s time to start thinking about your social media marketing strategy for 2018. Grabbing people’s attention is becoming a bit harder, there’s more competition, and duplicated competition. Considering our attention span has decreased, there isn’t a big opportunity to grab the attention of our users. These 5 trends are what we think you need to be prepared for in 2018.
- Video
Video again will be one of the biggest trends. Instagram’s stories are becoming increasingly popular.
You will find more statistics at Statista
See how much it’s grown compared to the lack of growth with its biggest competitor, Snap Chat.
- Virtual Reality
Both of Apple’s new phones the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X have been built with chips included to allow users an augmented reality experience. Take that and Facebook’s project Spaces, a place where users can go live from VR and their friends can follow along and interact in this virtual environment as if they are in the same room!
- Chatbots
With the decreasing attention span of consumers, expect chat bots to play a big role in the upcoming year. Chatbots are easy to design, and allow brands to quickly interact with their customers. Facebook’s Messenger connects you to over 1.3 billion people monthly!
- Influencer Marketing
All you have to do is open Instagram and you see many different brands using celebrities and real influencers with many followers promoting their brands. Sponsored content is one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach consumers by helping advertisers connect to new audiences as well as engaging existing users.
- Generation Z
It’s no longer a Millennial market, it’s all about Generation Z. Generation Z has grown up using cell phones, and the internet. They’re all about speed and customer service, their attention span is 8 seconds. The oldest ones are now entering the workforce, and they’re focused on social issues and social responsibility. Currently 1 in 5 Americans belong to Generation Z with 96% owning a smart phone.
Final Thoughts
We are in an age of instant gratification. We want to buy things instantly, we want our news instantly. We don’t like to wait for anything. Advertisers will be turning to social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat to use videos and disappearing content to reach users. Social media gives so many opportunities to connect advertisers with audiences helping both their brand and their followers. How are you planning for 2018?
