The social media landscape is constantly changing, and it’s now more important than ever to pay attention when new features and trends are emerging.
Speaking with Mumbrella, We Are Social’s Suzie Shaw outlined what 2018’s social media big hitters will be, and how they could mean big business for you.
Here they are summarised below:
Social search
Gone are the days of only searching Google for content, as social media channels are beginning to take the reigns. As Shaw explains: “…Social platforms are continuing to amass a wealth of data from geo-tags, behavioural insight and interest insights. So with the continued evolution of image search, social platforms are becoming more and more popular places to search.”
Social commerce
As all the major social platforms have introduced shoppable features, and it’s proving to be profitable for all involved.
Messenger marketing
As Shaw notes, “Today, four out of the top five platforms globally are messaging apps, surpassing traditional social platforms in terms of DAU (Daily Average Users). With increased usage comes increased opportunities to engage audiences.”
Should a brand chose to use messenger marketing, consumers can sign up for alerts and interact with a brand – without having to commit to a branded app on their phone.
Influencer
Influencer marketing is now considered a crucial tool for all brands; and while Shaw notes that influencer marketing is not new, there is still “a huge opportunity for brands to reach and engage new audiences through influencers, rather than via mainstream media.”
Social listening
Brands should be listening to social media consumers feedback across social channels (brand directed or indirect) in order to better ‘understand the consumer’. As Shaw says, “Despite the many hundreds of sophisticated social listening tools available, few brands and organisations are using social listening as strategically as they should.”
