4 Social Media Trends for Brands in 2018

January 8, 2018

It’s a new year, you’re back in the office, and you’re ready to tackle your 2018 marketing goals! What’s your strategy? How do you plan on reaching your target audience? Below are four social media trends we think you’ll want to consider when planning your social media strategy for 2018.

1. Focus on Creating Quality Content

With more brands now on social media than ever before, the online audience is continually becoming more and more saturated with brand messaging. In 2018 this trend is expected to continue, which leaves brands asking one question: what can I do to make sure my voice is heard above the rest? The answer — start focusing on creating unique, quality content for your audience. Something many social media strategists are beginning to notice, especially with Facebook, is that it’s not necessarily the frequency of posting, but the quality of your content that matters. The more you can help answer a question or solve a problem your audience might have, the better chance you’ll have for people to engage with that content.

2. Get Ready to Go Live

Since the launch of Facebook Live, live stream videos have skyrocketed in popularity over recent years. From celebrities to major media outlets and large corporations to local businesses, live video has taken the social media world by storm. In fact, 2017 demonstrated that live streaming is no longer merely a new fad in the way of communicating with your online audience, but an expectation. Now that both brands and social media audiences have bought into the format, we anticipate live streaming will be even bigger in 2018.

3. Expect More Contact with Customers

This is a trend that’s all too familiar for many of major retailers — consumers are now turning to social media to engage with brands. Twitter was the longstanding social platform for customer service, but now it plays a role on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram as well. From reviews to direct messages to multiple posts on a brand’s wall, customers are doing everything they can to make sure their voice is heard when it comes to a good or service they have received from a brand. In 2018 we anticipate this trend will continue, especially with local businesses, as more brands seek feedback from consumers and more consumers press to have their voice heard.

4. Be Prepared to Pay for Ads

When social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were first introduced, their primary focus was on acquiring more users for their platform. Fast forward nearly fifteen years since the launch of Facebook, and the focus is now on revenue. As organic reach on social media continues to decrease, brands are left with one option. If you want exposure, you’re going to have to be prepared to pay for it. On the bright side, Facebook has a robust advertising platform with features that enable you to target your ads to very specific audiences to help you reach more of the people you’re interested in attracting.

Definitely Not One-Size-Fits-All

One thing we know from our experience of helping numerous brands with their social media management, it is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What’s working well for your brand might not work so well for others, and vice-versa. The key to social media is to always be testing and creating new quality driven content to see how your audience responds. If you need assistance — whether it’s managing your social media channels or helping you design and promote more creative ad campaigns, we can help! Don’t let social media be your missed opportunity in 2018.