Every year, we watch social media evolve, changing the way brands market to consumers, how consumers interact with brands and lastly, how social media advertising affects the optimization of posting habits.
In 2016, we no longer considered social media a fad. Instead, we embraced it as the preferred communicative method in younger generations. Snapchat gave us spectacles, Facebook started live streaming, and Instagram managed a sneaky, replicative live video stream called Stories. Consumers and brands took to all these developments without hesitation.
There is more enthusiasm than ever behind social media. Assuming you’re on all the right platforms- don’t forget Twitter and Pinterest along with the aforementioned- 2017 is the year stay on top of newly surfacing social features and integrate them into your marketing strategies.
A nimbleness amongst your marketing will be key, and you’ll want to be able to react and implement creative ideas as quickly as the trends emerge. For practice, we’re cluing you in on trends that we’ll see take the stage throughout the upcoming year.
Top 2017 Social Media Trends:
Filters
The puppy dog filter might be out in the upcoming year, but the proliferation of the Snapchat facial filters has sparked an interactive trend that competitors are quickly racing to reproduce.
Brands like High Castle started testing customized lenses this year, and the similar activity will continue.
Customer service chatbots
Social media has opened itself up as a medium for customer service. Sprout Social reported that in the first quarter of 2016, the number of social messages requesting response was growing at over 18 percent a year.
Sprout Social showed 34.5% of survey respondents prefer to receive customer service via social media, followed by website live chat. Chatbots combine the two to respond to customer queries about products and services.
Social media ad spend is projected at over $41 billion in 2017, according to Adobe. While we’ve to watch paid content become more prevalent in social feeds, it is clear that the trend has only been at its beginning.
Business features and analytics
Google has long had its analytical tools, but now social media platforms like Instagram are launching a similar set of tools. Alongside Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics, Instagram’s move into the toolbox space indicates how useful social media is becoming to businesses. Using social media analytics helps brands make better decisions about their posting habits- from times of day to featured content.
No more automatic posts
In the last few years, we’ve grown accustomed to automated social posts- posts that are pre-scheduled, pre-written and delivered without any human interaction. Although that was effective, the days of automatic generation are over.
Humans want to hear from humans, and 2017 will emphasize the importance of the human quality in posts. Promotions should be replaced by listening to customers; social campaigns should be interactive with consumer interests; followers should be reciprocal relationships; messages should be personal.
Social shopping
Another trend we’ve watched slowly evolve over the years, social shopping is coming in at full force in 2017. Brands are working through social e-commerce options to making shopping easier than ever for the consumer. If you don’t already have an e-commerce layer in your social media, we suggest hopping on it!
That’s a wrap on social media trends 2017 for now, but no doubt we’ll see dozens more blossom in the coming months. Stay on top of the latest trends by following EM360’s blog, and be sure to reach out to us if you’d like a professional team of experts helping you craft and execute your social media marketing strategy.
