Social Media trends to look out for this year!

Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, once said that the only constant thing is change. And technology is o-so- ever-changing. Being a social media manager, you need to stay abreast with these changes, even if you are handling just a small social media platform. Here are a few trends that we might be seeing in social media this year and which you need to know about.

Social media is going mobile. Apart from leaving the house with your clothes on (I hope!), you will never leave the house with your phone. It has become such a necessity in our life that your whole life is in it. It is a way of life (cliché), and it connects us with people around the globe, we can order things online via our mobile from a company 1000 of miles away from us. Brands need to become more mobile-friendly. Think websites, messaging-apps, images, etc.

The message is in Messaging! Social messaging overtook social media. According to Business Insider, there are more people using the top four social messaging apps (WhatsApp, direct message, etc.) than the top four social media apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn). Consumers wants a more interactive approach as to a whole communicating group. They want to be recognised and immediate feedback. However, there are a fine line to between messaging and spamming- read my previous blog posts about spamming.

Social Media has changed customer service entirely. Customer service used to be private conversations between a customer and a customer service representative. Social media has changed the game completely. You as a brand need to realise that if you have a social media page, consumers will make use of it. They will ask you questions as to phone you, they will want a conversation and you need to respond to that. They will review your product online and share it. Your customer service will become more important than the product or service itself. Make it good.

Stories, and live streaming. Online stories is important and they’re not going away. Daily viewers of Instagram Stories surpassed daily SnapChat viewers just one year after launch, and the growth isn’t stopping. People want to see the “a day in the live of”. Stories are a way to connect people and reading it is just not the same anymore. They want a virtual tour. So give it to them.

Influencer Marketing is still the way to go. Influencers, and celebrities make major contributions to Social Media engagement and it is still going to be a huge trend in 2018. As Millennials advance their careers, and Generation Z starts theirs, an enormous population’s purchasing power is increasing, combined, they literally comprise most of the world’s population and they are uniquely influenced by this marketing method.

I hope this blog post have given you some insight to what you can expect this year in social media, and I hope you will follow it so that you won’t get left behind!

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