A clever social media team will horizon scan for new social media trends and technology, they’ll know about the vital changes, whether it’s the rise of chatbots to interact with your customers, or the slow decline of organic reach. They will make recommendations for which channels and new techniques could work for you and your business to help you create a stronger brand positioning and reach new customers.

We’ve hit the halfway point through 2018; you still have time to tap into the potential of new opportunities that are infiltrating the wonderful world of social media.

Chat, chat, chatbots - Integrating chatbot technology onto your social media channels will make customer service a whole lot easier and faster. According to Gartner, 20% of business content could be machine-generated by 2018. If machines can be taught to create stories that are genuine and relatable, there’s potential in investigating how businesses can use bots to interact with customers, not just as a customer services means. According to Facebook, 63% of people are messaging more than they were two years ago, with 80% of adults and 91% of teenagers using messenger services such as Facebook messenger and Whatsapp daily. Consumers are sadept and confident in using this technology: its quick, its convenient, it uses natural, intuitive language that consumers understand and it saves time not having to wait on hold for minutes, possibly hours for a customer services agent to respond.

As bots become smarter you will be able to personalise your brand voice and messaging. Facebook reported that they now see 100,000 monthly active bots on Facebook Messenger, offering a whole new platform for marketers to connect with audiences

Ephemeral content...the stuff that’s there, then gone!

We don’t want to miss out and neither do consumers, which is why the use of ephemeral content such as Snapchat posts, Instagram and Facebook stories that last 24 hours is increasing. Creating a sense of scarcity and offering a deal for a limited period of time pushes consumers to engage with your brand. Brands are now will creating a seperate strategy for ephemeral content as they jostle to keep their stories at the top of their consumers social feeds. Ideas such as providing behind the scenes footage, sneak-peaks of new products in development, snippets of customers engaging with you and your brand, also weekly promotions and competitions could all provide benefit; we can help you further by developing an ephemeral content strategy.

The rise of augmented reality iPhone 8 and iPhone X provide users with new augmented reality experiences, brands will start to integrate AR content into strategies. Snapchat have an AR feature that allows users to project themselves or images into the real world through the app’s camera.

Whether you’re an independent restaurant launching a new menu or you provide high-end hair accessories and eco-friendly makeup products, you can offer consumers a full, 360 degree view of your new product using special filters, providing a more immersive experience.

Mobile video is the number one fastest growing advertising formats; by 2020 80% of online internet traffic will be video. Facebook Live and Instagram Live are great tools to post high quality, engaging and exciting content.

Nearly half of businesses are already implementing social videos, with more money being invested into social and digital ads than on TV advertising.

Soc-Med can recommend ideas and create video content to help you achieve your business objectives - these can range from customer testimonials, product demonstrations, ‘how-to’ videos and a whole lot more.

Business tools are increasingly integrating social media into their interfaces; Microsoft bought LinkedIn this year meaning they will integrate LinkedIn’s professional listings into Outlook and Dynamics 365, so your businesses can instantly tap into social data about prospective sales leads and new talent. People can personalise emails and messages, too.

Aim for the target... Free ad targeting will decline on Facebook and to reach your consumers via the News Feed will cost you. Advertising targeting technology is getting more sophisticated and precise; Soc-Med can recommend how, when and where your advertising is best placed. We are ahead of the curve with this and we’ve led successful Facebook advertising strategies for ‘Positive About MS’, for instance, spending £96 to boost their advert helped reach over 507,000 people, resulting in 122,000 video views with over 10,000 reactions, comments and shares.

Social media moves fast. As a business owner, keeping up with the trends and changes can be a challenge and time that you just can’t dedicate to. But the team at Soc-Med the expertise and passion to keep on top of these trends; we know how brands have tapped into social media features to generate sales, expand their brand presence and reach new contacts.

If you want to find out more about how our team can help you boost your online presence across social media and reach new customers, give us a call on 0161 410 4455 or email our Director Kaz.