2018 marketing trends on social networks
For any marketing and communication professional, social networks are a must in terms of marketing trends. Flexible and dynamic work tools, they allow them to share information instantly, as well as increase their brand visibility and their proximity to customers. As for individuals, they enjoy using the new social media features – and commenting on them. What are the leading social media marketing practices in 2018?
Stories, which are highly appreciated on social networks
Generally speaking, stories are the most popular in 2018. This excellent means of communication favors ephemeral content: visuals, photos from shootings, videos, everything is possible thanks to this multi-media format. Very fashionable on social networks, stories offer the advantage of spontaneity and reactivity. Indeed, publications can change as many times as you want. That’s why they are one of the major marketing trends of 2018. That’s why it’s worth considering them as part of your digital strategy.
Chronologically speaking, Snapchat is the first to jump into the story world. The operation is a great success: the time spent watching videos on the application increases by 80%. Encouraged and challenged by this new practice, Facebook and Instagram followed suit and then created their own story features.
Sculptures and artificial intelligence are all the rage
According to research published by Oracle, 38% of French companies now use a Chatbot to optimize their marketing strategy. By 2020, this figure will rise to 79% for French brands. The interest of this tool lies above all in the customer relationship, it is the guarantee to create a link upstream of the service and thus to increase its conversion rate.
As a reminder, chatbot is a program that uses artificial intelligence to communicate with visitors and offer them solutions that best meet their needs and expectations. To install a chatbot, all you need is an instant messaging application. Accessible without code and at a very low cost, it offers an almost unbeatable cost-benefit ratio. It is largely in line with the most popular marketing trends of 2018. Many of the giants have already outsourced some of their business activity to such platforms through Twitter, Messenger, Skype and WhatsApp or others. This gives your business a real presence on social networks.
Videos at the center of marketing trends
Sharing videos on social networks is always a great way to increase engagement with your community. This is a method that is used extensively by community managers, as video continues to be a strategic windfall for growing businesses. Aimed at individuals and businesses, they continue to effectively support their brand visibility while following their editorial line. Video sharing is driving this phenomenon: the more interesting the videos are, the more they are shared by the community and increase the company’s influence. Hence the interest in investing in quality multimedia content.
Free ads are becoming rare
Free advertising or organic reach refers to the audience that a brand or company is entitled to communicate with its followers on a social network. This audience can be built up without the company in question having to spend money to set up an advertising format. But on Facebook and Instagram, the brands are now paying to put an ad online. Faced with the data overload that drowns out users, brands have to pay in order to maintain their notoriety and carry out impactful marketing actions. Snapchat is the next application on the list for this change in operation, and micro-influencers are making the difference.
Micro-influencers make the difference
Micro-influencers reach the heart of marketing trends through their role in influence marketing. Followed by a community of 1,000 to 100,000 followers, they know how to build audience loyalty and are a key asset for all types of businesses, especially SMEs. The micro-influencer has a human and accessible side that promotes proximity marketing and facilitates customer loyalty.
2018 marketing trends on social networks remain closely linked to technological advances. They are evolving at an ever-increasing pace and for now, even security holes such as Facebook and Google are not enough to slow their expansion. Social media marketing therefore has a bright future ahead of it, especially in companies’ digital communication strategies.
