Though we can’t predict the future, looking back at 2017’s trends makes it simple to see where social media is heading in 2018. No, we do not mean we knew the Tide-pod challenge would ever be a fad. What we mean to say is we can track growth in popularity of different tools businesses use to gain audience members.
Below we’ve outlined a few of our favorites!
Chat Bots
Human vs bots for customer questions has been a debate for quite sometime now, but this year is the year a winner is declared: balance. While bots are great for quick questions and problem solving, customers desire human interaction when their requests are deeper. Because of the need for smarter artificial intelligence, we will soon begin to see more intelligent responses from programs.
Micro-Influencers
As mentioned in our Micro-Influencers blog, small and large businesses alike are taking advantage of the locality of these online stars. Because of their lower numbers compared to larger influencers, they have more engagement and ROI.
The struggle a lot of brands will face is choosing micro-influencers who fit their product and brand vision. For example, you may not want to pick the instagram-veterinarian to promote your new soda. But, if done right, micro-influencers could lead to long-term partnerships and audience member growth!
Video
Video is more important for brands now than ever before! With audience’s attention spans growing shorter and shorter with each brand’s attempt to capture it, many businesses are now focusing on short (less than 30 seconds) form videos because it is quickly consumable, focused, and easy to share.
Many are also beginning to “go live.” Meaning they will host live video during store-hours or have an after-hours tour/questionnaire. As long as those have a story or purpose, many are very popular with consumers.
If you are a business in the Southeast looking for assistance with your social media efforts, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We would love to help you with your social media, public relations and creative services needs!
