By Willona Sloan
Social media continues to evolve as both the technology and the ways people use the tools also continue to change. For your business, here are five important social media trends to watch.
Instagram Stories & Instagram Shopping
The popularity of Instagram Stories keeps growing. In June, the company announced that it would now provide functionality for e-commerce within the Stories platform, designated by a sticker with a shopping bag icon.
Instagram Stories itself has reached more than 200 million users per month. According to Entrepreneur magazine, this is 50 million more than those who use Snapchat. “At this rate, nearly half of all Instagram users will be using Stories by the end of 2018. This means that brands interested in connecting with Instagram users must take the time to master Instagram Stories,” says Entrepreneur.
Direct and Personalized Interaction with Customers
Increasingly, consumers value direct and personalized communication with brands on social media. An interesting development in customer/brand engagement is that consumers tend to like linking their own personal accomplishments to the brands they prefer. In fact, one in three consumers would mention a brand while sharing personal accomplishment on social media, according to the recent Sprout Social Index report on social media trends. In sharing their accomplishments, consumers often tag these brands, and, in return, they hope for some type of acknowledgement or response from the brand.
Conversely, when they have a bad experience, consumers have been increasingly using social media to get the attention of brands to offer critiques and bad reviews and to seek refunds as well. More brands are making the investment in time, staff and resources to engage directly with their customers on social media (rather than ignoring them). Also, companies have been utilizing more sophisticated chat bots to reply to messages, answer simple customer requests and engage with customers on social media.
Augmented Reality
As video games, Apple and Samsung continue to develop ways to use augmented reality, social media platforms are starting to figure out how to capitalize on the technology for their platforms as well. Slate reported in July that Facebook has been working with brands interested in using augmented reality for their Facebook ads.
“Facebook began testing news feed ads with companies such as Michael Kors. In your feed, you might see an ad where a model is wearing a pair of sunglasses: Tap the ad, and you can open up your phone’s camera and try on those shades yourself via AR,” the article states.
Live Video
The live video trend is here to stay. A recent Brandlive report shows that video is projected to make up as much as 82 percent of all Internet traffic by 2020. For brands, live video has become a clear fan favorite.
According to Quick Sprout: “Research shows that 80 percent of audiences prefer watching live video from brands as opposed to reading a blog. And 82 percent of consumers say they would rather watch live videos than read social media posts.”
Focusing on Generation Z
There is a new consumer in town. Social media offers a direct way to engage with Generation Z. These young people don’t follow in the footsteps of older youth. They have their own social media preferences and styles of engagement. According to research from Pew Center on teens’ social media use, teens, prefer YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat over Facebook. While it is not a surprise, “45% of teens say they use the internet ‘almost constantly,’” the report states. This statistic has nearly doubled since the 2014-2015 survey.
According to Entrepreneur, Generation Z wants to make an impact and to shop with brands that demonstrate that they are making an impact as well.
Overall, engagement, authenticity and an always-on policy appear to be the keys to winning the Internet.
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Get more research on social media trends from the Hootsuite Social Media Trends 2018 Report.
