1. Social Messaging
In recent years, we’ve seen companies focus their efforts on connecting with customers through social networks. This year, however, we will see them investing more in messaging applications. A Business Insider Intelligence report shows that the four largest messaging apps now surpass the four main social networks in monthly active users.
Facebook Messenger already allows advertising, Snapchat does as well, and WhatsApp changed its privacy policies to allow greater data sharing with Facebook and enable businesses to send messages to users. Meanwhile, Line has allowed companies to interact with users for years.
2. Artificial Intelligence
Messaging applications are beginning to offer artificial intelligence to provide more services to users through chatbots. These software programs, designed to perform tasks independently and even learn from users, will allow companies to have real-time conversations with customers.
However, this will not mean dehumanizing customer relationships. On the contrary, companies are increasingly required to personalize their customer service and the content they provide. For this reason, CRM tools are now essential for companies to offer personalized customer care.
3. Omnichannel Experience
Customers expect to have the same brand experience regardless of the channel they use. They want to feel recognized and understood in terms of their tastes and habits when they contact a brand through any social network — just like when they visited a store where they were regular customers.
Companies will need to make an effort to truly understand their customers and deliver a consistent experience across all channels (offline, website, social media, etc.).
4. Video
Video has been growing for several years and has become the star content format. No other type of content achieves the same engagement levels as video.
This year, live streaming and 360° video are the new tools attracting customers.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all allow live video. Brands should take advantage of live streaming opportunities to provide engaging content to their audiences.
Now that Facebook and Twitter support it — and with Facebook working on virtual reality projects — it’s only a matter of time before we begin to see brands creating 360° content. This is the moment to get ahead of the next trend and surprise your followers.
5. Sponsored Posts
All social networks are changing their algorithms to favor paid ads over organic posts. We have long maintained that using Social Media professionally is not free. This reality will become increasingly noticeable for businesses.
Of course, it’s not all about paying — the quality of ads will be crucial to convince your audience or potential customers.
