What's New In Social Media

You’ve heard about the importance of social media a thousand times. Tools like Facebook, Twitter and others are the new way to help establish your company in the market. And even if you’ve already carved out a niche, you can’t rest on your laurels. In a constantly changing market, yesterday’s successful media strategy may become tomorrow’s albatross.

So what are the new social media trends that are popping up in 2017?

Chatbots. They might not be R2-D2, but they’re coming to an app near you. Chatbots are a form of artificial intelligence, or AI. They can answer questions, direct inquiries, help you with a purchase or find the content you want quickly. Facebook Messenger is one of the early adapters, but other companies aren’t far behind.

Changing Customer Service. When it comes to customer support, Neilson research indicates 1 in 3 people already prefer social media to the traditional phone call, and that number is likely to climb. Some believe that, in time, social media will replace the website as the primary means of customer interaction.

Social Messaging. Social media used to mean large networks like Facebook and Twitter. It still does, but there is more to social media than networks. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber and others, already have more users than the big networks like Twitter and Instagram. Social messaging is more personal, and a great way to create brand loyalty. The user base is huge (an estimated 2 billion users by 2018) and only going to grow.

Live Video. If a picture tells a thousand words, imagine what a video can do. Users can share video content in real time on nearly every social platform, which has led to vlogging, Q&As or sharing life moments. If you want to share the story of you and your company to a large audience, this is a medium to do it.

Employees. If you have a staff, you have an audience, whether you know it or not. You won’t be the first to deploy social media and video narratives online, the airwaves are already cluttered. The challenge isn’t getting your message out, it’s getting it heard. Employee advocacy—encouraging and incentivizing team members to share brand messages on their own social media accounts—can make a big difference in 2017. Messages from employee accounts are more trusted and can help cut through the noise.

King Mobile. More and more users rely on their cell phone, not their PC or Mac.  80% of internet users own a smartphone and by 2019, it is estimated that mobile advertising will represent 72% of all digital ad spending. If you haven’t optimized your website and other social media platforms for mobile, now is the time to start. If you don’t know what this means or how to do it, we can help.

What goes around comes around, in a sense. Many of the emerging trends reflect traditional customer service needs. Customers want convenience, efficiency and a personal touch all at the same time. With the new technological tools at your disposal, you’re poised to provide it to them like never before.