Staying On Top of Social Media Trends in 2018

The social media landscape is one that is constantly evolving. Just weeks ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ushered in arguably the most dramatic change to Facebook since its inception by announcing that that the news feed will be overhauled to favour ‘meaningful social interactions,’ leaving a diminished role for advertisers and publishers in the process. With such drastic changes to social media platforms being enacted so rapidly, it is more important than ever to stay completely up to date. Each and every development can have a knock-on effect on your own social media strategy, and you need to constantly re-assess and re-evaluate it. To help you stay ahead of the curve, here a number of ways to update your strategy for 2018.

Ephemeral content

The meteoric rise of Snapchat over the last few years has had a transformative impact on the way brands are choosing to deliver their message to customers on social media. The popularity of Snapchat hasn’t gone unnoticed, Facebook and Instagram have responded by making 24 hour ephemeral content an integral part of their own platforms. Facebook and Instagram ‘stories’ occupy prominent positions at the head of their respective feeds, making it a more and more significant form of content to consider dipping your toe in.

Augmented Reality

Technological developments have constantly redefined the manner in which brands articulate their message to customers, and the same remains true today. The latest advancement set to shape social media is augmented reality. By superimposing a computer-generated image onto the user’s image of the real world, augmented reality allows users to picture how a piece of furniture might look in their living room. Whether AR ends up fulfilling its potential as a genuinely practical and useful tool remains to be seen, but as a burgeoning component of social media, its progress is definitely something worth keeping an eye on.

Influencer marketing

The customer journey on social media is far more complicated than simply ‘point A to point B,’ which often makes it difficult to identify whether your social media strategy is translating into tangible, quantifiable results. Because identifying the impact of social can be so tricky, any time that a proven pattern of success in social media marketing emerges; it should be seized with both hands. In 2018, this story of success is influencer marketing. More and more businesses are enlisting the services of what we would call ‘influencers,’ social media users with thousands of followers and the ability to sway their buying habits. Nearly 40% of all Twitter users have made a purchase as a direct result of a tweet from an influencer, making it easy to understand why influencer marketing is on the rise. Ephemeral content, augmented reality and influencer marketing are all becoming increasingly important players in the world of social media, and they are slowly but surely changing the archetypal social media strategy. By collaborating with a forward-thinking digital marketing agency like Yoma, you can ensure that your business’ social media strategy is always up to date.