Social Media Marketing Trends

In the never-ending era of marketing trends, one thing is crucial- stay connected with the audience. The wide range of social platforms can help you become an essential brand in this fast pacing industry. Our attention spans have decreased to 8 seconds.

Every day, the regular user of any social network scroll through 300 feet of content, giving brands a tiny window of time to grab the users attention. So, how can you stay competitive and help your ideas grow at the speed of feed?

Here are some marketing trends that made the most significant impact on social media plan in 2018.

Chatbots

Today's bots can provide a quality connection with the customer from all over the world, solving customer issues or even ordering dinner. This year many brands started using chatbots as tests, so the degree of success is varying.  According to statistics, around 20% of business content could be machine generated by 2018. They will make customer service faster. If machines can be taught to make stories that are relatable to the audience, the marketing potential is enormous. Brands can now use chatbots for interaction with their audience in a way that feels personal. Bots become more human-like so you can customize your brand voice and send personalized messages directly to users. Currently, there are 100,000 monthly active bots of FB messenger, offering a whole new platform for marketers.

The rise of augmented reality

Augmented reality on mobile devices provides a new niche that helps brands to engage with the audience. It’s quicker, comfortable and more interactive than ever. This year Apple announced the launch of iPhone 8 and iPhone x which provides users with new augmented reality experiences. Snapchat already rolls out a new AR feature, allowing users to project themselves or images into the real world through the app’s camera. As an example, even the Ikea app “Place” can help users to preview furniture in their home before buying. AR adds (if you are planning to use adds for AR) must have value for users. Also, adds must be sharable. Don’t use AR just for the sake of it.

Influencer marketing and Video

Influencer marketing will continue to take over and is not a new thing anymore. Many marketers want to tap into the influencer market,  but there are far more challenges faced by brands and agencies. The popularity of influencer marketing has made it hard who to chose and who is real and who’s not. This game is not just about numbers. Consumers want authenticity from influencers, and brands who want to work with real influencers will find a higher engagement rate.  In saturation of number, brands become more thoughtful about who they want to work with. Building meaningful relationships with influencers is the key in the future. The video format is our main consumption.  By 2020 video will make 80% of all internet consumer traffic. It’s eventually the closest face to face conversation with the audience. Ensure your video content is high quality and engaging. Research your target audience and see which content works best!