5 social media marketing trends to keep an eye out for in 2018

Social media has an enormous influence on societies around the globe. It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not, it’s getting stronger all the time.

In 2017, it had a new lease of life: video was crowned king, virtual reality came knocking on heaven’s door, and shopping took over the strip. And with a recent study from analytics company Aimia showed that 56% of us follow our favourite brands on social media, meaning it’s vital for even the smallest brands to have a presence.

And now that 2018 has arrived, there are new social media trends on the block that you need to prepare for. Take a look!

1. 1. 1. Live stream will come to life – The boxing’s on tonight and you don’t know how you’re going to watch it, what do you do? You rely on social media to give you what you what you want. Happy days. You found it. But it’s not just the consumer who benefits. The expectation is that 2018 will be the catalyst for live streaming. With that in mind, you might want to figure out how you’re going to do so!View some tips and tricks on how to create effective live streaming content at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285810
      2. Augmented Reality will take over – With the introduction of virtual reality and various other tech devices, is it any wonder that we will all soon be able to use filters like those provided by the likes of Snapchat and Instagram. The new iPhone X has recently hit the headlines with the introduction of its new AR features, providing the user with some unprecedented experiences. No wonder they sold out less than 10 minutes after being released!
      3. The rise of messaging platforms – People are becoming more connected to their favourite brands than ever before. And with over 2.5 billion people using messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, the need for a tailored experience is higher than ever before.
      4. The decline of Twitter – Twitter has been within reaching distance of the top spot for some time now, providing people all around the world with snippets of information almost  instantaneously for years. Unfortunately, in terms of business, Twitter has become a victim of its own success, and is too ‘noisy’ for many. In other words, the sheer volume of people tweeting about their favourite shows, such as #ImACeleb or #PeakyBlinders has clouded the overall focus on businesses. There’s simply too much ‘noise’. So unless you’re making as big a racket than they are, you might find it hard to get your message heard!
      5. Influencer marketing – Celebrities from all over the world are having their fair share of success in recent years, accumulating six figure incomes for sharing social media posts about products. And there are good reasons why. Millennials and Generation Z are uniquely swayed by this method of marketing. According to the analytical company RetailDive, Gen Z are two to three times more likely to be influenced by social media!

There’s one thing for certain, social media is going to steal some thunder in the upcoming months, so it would be a good idea to jump on the bandwagon. Fast! So contact us now to find out how you can use social media marketing to boost your business.