Social media trends 2017 for your business
People, especially marketers, should always look ahead, keep an eye out for new potential perspectives, never rest on their laurels and strive to achieving ever-better results in their sphere. But if your business is focused on the future you must first analyze the past. Let’s recollect what web design trends dominated in 2016. Conclusions about previous experiences gave us the possibility to forecast what web design trends will remain important in 2017 Now 2017 have just begun, and we are still curious about what you should expect from different aspects of web design so you can prepare for them. In today’s blog post we list our predictions for this year concerning social media.
Social media marketing trends in 2017:
Live streaming
Video content remains an effective marketing tool. However, new ways of presenting it continue to appear as people search for more effective ways to use it in advertising. Nowadays, in order to stand out among your competitors, it’s not enough to use a full-screen background video on the company’s website or recorded and downloaded videos. A current trend is live video. The most popular social media platforms for this are Periscope and Facebook Live. In November 2016, a broadcasting feature was added to Instagram, and in December one was added to Twitter.
Online broadcasts are used for presentations and conferences, gaining millions of views. You can also organize interactive showcases, demonstrating your products and giving advice on the nuances of their use through Periscope. Unlike recorded video instructions, streaming video provides a better outcome. You are able to answer consumers’ questions and respond their comments immediately. There is a live communication. You get instant feedback. In short, you can become more accessible to your customers.
360° content
In 2017, more 360-degree photos and videos will be uploaded to social media by simple users and by marketers as well. Businesses can use this technology to organize a virtual journey or excursion and to encourage viewers visit their hotels, museums, art galleries, restaurants or, for example, to showcase cars and houses for sale. 360° functionality will become the norm for Facebook Live, Twitter and YouTube. Maybe some other social media platforms will announce a 360° rollout this year.
VR and AR
Facebook Live will not only provide us with 360° features, it is also planning to incorporate VR headsets. The future of virtual reality and augmented reality marketing goes far beyond Pokemon Go or Oculus in-game advertising. Businesses should start seeking marketing opportunities outside the traditional social media to deliver a live, virtual reality experiences for their users.
Ephemeral content
Snapchat pioneered the sharing of ephemeral photos which disappear after 24 hours. Instagram Stories caught on to this trend of vanishing visual content, and now its users can share ephemeral video. Facebook has also tried to copy Snapchat’s main feature many times over the years. Recently it tested self-destructing messages in its app — but only in Ireland. FB Stories won't be shown on your profile's timeline and in the News Feed. You can reply to somebody's story directly with a message. You can also add selfie filters. Also, Android and Apple users of FB Messenger app can manually select Secret Conversations to secure their privacy. They can choose whether to add an expiration timer, ranging from five seconds to 24 hours.
Sure, you shouldn’t totally give up creating professional photography and video for marketing purpose. But live ephemeral content provides you with additional possibilities to be implemented alongside traditional media. You can post original, authentic, unpolished and unscripted content. It may be how-to videos, live event coverage, interviews, backstage, announcements, contest results and giveaways, etc. Don’t be afraid to communicate with your customers in a light-hearted and humorous manner. It’s a nice opportunity to present your brand from another angle, to show a more human side and become closer to your clients.
Social messaging apps
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn altogether have a narrower community than the four main messengers, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, QQ Chat and WeChat. In November 2016, a FB company affirmed that advertisers can pay for their brand coverage in News Feeds. When users click on this ad, they are taken directly to a chat window with the owner of the advertisement inside Facebook Messenger. So in 2017 companies will focus their efforts on social messaging applications more than on social networks. These apps offer attractive features to brands for e-commerce and client support.
Paid social ads
It’s becoming more difficult to get results from organic social media traffic only. Facebook changed its News Feed algorithm, prioritizing posts shared by users over those shared by publishers and brands. Their new programming code is able to detect items posted before to reduce the quantity of unorigional content. Also, more recent posts by people you’ve interacted with the most are put higher. This way, FB can fight fake news and fake accounts.
This means that if you want your business page to be viewed on FB, you’ll have to use paid social media advertising. With the increase in companies using paid ads, the increase in competition and in prices will also continue. Thus brands will try hard to create interesting, high-converting ads, and spend more money on Facebook Promoted Posts, Twitter Promoted Tweets or LinkedIn Ads if your target is the B2B community.
We hope the trends we have covered above will help you to build a social media marketing strategy for your business in 2017. By implementing these trends, you will not only be trendy and up-to-date, but also be able to reach new audiences and therefore increase your sales and ROI. If you have any questions concerning this, feel free to ask us.