We Predict 6 New Social Media Trends that Will Shape 2018

2017 is about to come to an end so, let’s drop the ball and get right into what new social media trends 2018 has in store for us.

If you haven’t already noticed then it’s about time you see that social media has come to competitive terms. Brands are driving most of their marketing and advertising to social media. Everything that happens on social media is on your mobile device or desktop. There is no denying that social media has become the source of all information.

2017 has been a year of great social media trends such as videos, the shift of mobile friendly content and video sharing including Instagram Stories leaving big platform Snapchat behind.

So, let’s look at some of our social media trend predictions that we have for 2018.

1] Video Isn't Going Anywhere

If you haven’t already started then now is the time. Engaging video content was a huge hit in 2017. According to Social Media Today, a total of 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube everyday. Following right behind, Facebook comes next, where in videos garner more engagement than photos. Not to mention the impressive stats on other platforms such as Twitter and Snap Chat seen below from Media Shift.

2] Instagram Stories Will Top Snap Chat

Instagram has climbed its way up to smartphones everywhere. And with the introduction to Instagram stories, it has left Snap Chat scrambling, which was once king of live video. With 250 million daily active users, Instagram tops the live stories and will continue to grow.

2018 will be the year of innovations in Instagram Stories. They recently introduced a new ‘Follow Hashtags’ feature where users can follow any hashtag they'd like and see the desired content on the top of their feed.

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3] Influencer Marketing Will Only Grow

91% of U.S. consumers have admitted to relying on blogs for their purchases. When a popular social media influencer promotes a product they love, it is bound to result in brand awareness, and thus sales.

A number of companies have admitted to shifting their marketing initiatives to influencer marketing from traditional marketing. 2018 will see a rise in individual influencers promoting various products. See more influencer marketing statistics below.

4] Organic Reach is Passé

Not that we haven't seen much of organic content in 2017, but 2018 will see a large increase in paid ads. It’s the era where you have to pay to play! In 2018, ads will speak for themselves. Facebook plans to introduce new features and outline a better ad experience for its users. In 2017 they added a beta version for store visits feature and we hope to see a better version of the same.

5] Pixel Will Excel

With the birth of features like Facebook Pixel, where you can re-target users who have shown an interest in your product, ad targeting gets easy and fruitful. If you haven’t already started using this incredible social media tool, then 2018 is the year to start it. Targeting and re-targeting is quick, easy and beneficial with Facebook Pixel. It is the perfect tool to target the kind of customers your business is looking for, who are likely to engage in your business and make a purchase.

6] Twitter is Not Dead Quite Yet

Yes, you may have read that the platform is not as popular and trendy as it was a decade ago but it still has an average of 330 million active users monthly. And that makes it one of the top social media platforms. Brands are still investing in advertising on Twitter as they receive the value in terms of customers and engagement. So, evaluate your platforms and ask yourself if your target audience is an avid Twitter user, then the platform may just be your go-to.