Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Social Media Pros Forecast Range of 2018 Changes

B2B and B2C marketers planning to invest more in social media marketing in 2018 will want to take a look at the trends that social media experts are predicting for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest marketing in the year ahead, as recently gathered up by Social Media Examiner. Among the more than 33 predictions featured, multiple social media pros stressed the growth and impact of video, as "even simple selfie videos filmed on cell phones are propelling businesses higher than video-less businesses," to quote one forecaster. B2B marketers will be pleased to know that LinkedIn advertising is expected to roll out video ads for business pages and geofilters for videos, now in test. Facebook, which remains the social media ad leader, is positioning to become a major player in online video. In 2017, Facebook debuted Facebook Watch for select creators (a TV-like option). In 2018, it is forecast that the program will expand to all people and pages on Facebook, and also that Facebook will likely roll out new features for video creators, perhaps including preferential Facebook news feed exposure for original native video, revenue-sharing deals, or even a dedicated video app. With the video boom, metrics will need to get more sophisticated across platforms. Meanwhile, Instagram is expected to continue surging after fast growth in 2017, with 15 million businesses using Instagram by July 2017 (up from 8 million businesses in March 2017), with 80% of Instagram accounts now following at least one business, and with global advertising set to reach $4 billion by 2017 year-end. One reason is that Instagram has been improving its tools for marketers, including InstaStories promoted within the “news feed,” the Story Highlights feature that allows pages to host static collections of previously disappearing story posts on profiles, "swipe up" calls-to-action, posts that click through to online stores, and soon the ability to follow hashtags. The bad news for marketers is that the popularity of social media will translate into rising ad costs in 2018, with pricing of Facebook and Instagram ads predicted to rise over the next 12 months. However, that cost trend should actually spur businesses hesitating to invest; marketers who commit to social media ads now will generate awareness, build audience (particularly via e-mail subscribers) and gain a competitive advantage in the increasingly crowded market. Businesses also are urged to hone ad effectiveness—for example using retargeting, AI and other techniques to ensure prospects see the most relevant messaging for their point in the customer journey. And, as costs rise and organic reach declines in effectiveness, the importance of ad metrics increases. Marketers will need to track the metrics of each ad or promoted post, combining a paid acquisition model with historical data and personalized content. For more predictions, see http://www.acculistusa.com/social-media-pros-predict-wide-range-of-changes-in-2018/

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