Evolution of social media – What changes to expect?
Recent development with Facebook has ignited more discussions about the role of social media and its future development. Two things are causing major concerns:
- Privacy and security of customer’s data;
- Necessity to implement global regulations regardingthe use of private data.
To understand the importance of the above, we need to know what developments are taking place in the social media industry. I have studied several reports related to the latest trends in social media and my findings are presented below:
- Social media platforms have 2.5 billion users.
- Social Media gone mobile.
- Social messaging (WhatsApp, Messenger, etc) is growing faster than traditional social media platforms. Apparently, social messaging is beneficial to businesses by helping to connect with customers. Customers prefer to deal with businesses which can be contacted via social messaging.
- Chatbots are commonly used for business needs: marketing, payments, and customer service. Reports show that 80% of business executives are using already or planning to use chatbots by 2020.
- Video content is the most popular type of content, video posts are showing the highest level of engagement.
- User-generated content and reviews drive the customer reach, trust, and engagement. Organic reach and referral traffic is falling, and the companies are looking for user-generated contend as an alternative way to reach the audience.
- Companies are spending more money on social media advertising. This is an indication of the effectiveness and the necessity of social media ads for businesses. The growth will continue till 2020 (according to experts)
Many marketing companies are reporting shortage of skills – not enough marketers with digital skills. So, it seems that there are massive opportunities for new generation of marketing professionals who can handle:
- Data and analytics;
- Digital advertising;
- An ability to quickly adopt changes, adjust professional skills, learn new techniques and tactics (more changes are coming in the marketing world).
I believe new trends will also affect the area of affiliate marketing and it seems that at the moment the perspectives look quite bright.
Let’s welcome the changes – we can’t avoid them.
Recent Comments
18
We must embrace the changes, I agree Nadja.
I know for certain that customers now prefer to deal with businesses which can be contacted via social messaging.
Excellent data you have gathered, we will need to make the necessary adaptations.
Thank you for stopping by... We are living in a very dynamic environment and we have to accept the changes.
Changes require adaptation which is not coming naturally easy... but it is a necessity and we need to learn how to adjust ourselves and our businesses.
Well said. The most important part of all this is to concentrate on great content that is evergreen and helpful. Even when all is said and done, content is king now and always will be.
Agree... The environment may change but the content must be provided. So, the focus is on content... Thank you for the comment.
Thanks for this informative post. We'll all just have to wait and see how the evolution affects us here at WA. Carol
Great post and we also have to see what the restrictions are going to be along with the new laws if any are going to be implemented. Because I think that they are going to make FB an example and that could possibly cause us some problems too. We will just wait and see.
Mary
Thank you for the comment. Yes, I agree... Regulations are bringing some constraints. We have to wait what will the outcome...
You are welcome there are so many changes at once it is hard to keep up with them all.
Mary
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Thank you Nadja for sharing what you have learned by studying the social media reports.
Very good to be informed about what is happening in the online and social media world.
:-)
I appreciate your comment. Things are changing very rapidly. It is quite interesting to follow the trends.