Social Media Trends That Will Shape 2018

Ready to know which social media trends are awaiting for you in 2018? Want to know which social media marketing tactics are going to challenge you and what will help you the most?

The December edition of #SocialPilotchat was run to encourage interaction between social media marketers. Each joinee had great fun sharing and gaining wonderful insights of social media trends in 2018. Some great tips, tricks & resources for top trends in social media were discussed and shared by 50 leading social media professionals and agencies.

New social media trends are what we keep looking for and here are some highlights you would love to explore that can shape your social media 2018.

Highlights of "Social Media Trends That Will Shape 2018"

We are always in a dilemma whether to follow latest social media tactics or to enhance the strategies we were using. Let’s have a look on what top trends these community fellows will be following to rock their 2018!

Q1: In your opinion which social media platform will dominate in 2018?

According to what the discussion led to,

Facebook is still whipping the list for everyone, being considered the all rounder, where they can carry out strategies that can gain maximum engagement like

• Video Marketing
• Use Facebook Stories (24-hour updates)
• Reach every generation, everybody is there on Facebook!
• Facebook meets all the content demands
• Facebook Advertisements and more use of Facebook Messenger

Twitter is also not falling far behind Facebook. Though we feel Twitter was fading out and not giving much reach, there are still some believers of Twitter here for things like,

• Reach to people the fastest.
• Constant newsworthy activities.
• Good for businesses everywhere

Instagram and Youtube are growing tremendously. More people want to focus on Instagram for

• 24-hour story Updates (Considered more than Snapchat)
• Live Updates (Better than Facebook live)
• Follow Hashtags
• Shop from link feature.
• An addictive platform
• Video dominating platform

Snapchat is still in the race to impress us by ads. It will take a longer time for Snapchat to build as a marketing platform, as Instagram has taken over the social media. LinkedIn is used by a specific audience whose target market is more focused and Pinterest believed to be the dark horse!

There’s a new entry in the market, people were going ga-ga about- Whatsapp.  There was a wave of shock as well as astonishment and confusion to hear Whatsapp as a marketing platform. A discussion was followed on this new platform entry in the marketing trends 2018 of how Whatsapp can be used in this prospective.  It has already taken place in the Asian countries. It's not just a texting app anymore. There's so much you can explore about it and make use to increase your business reach as well. 

Q2: What social media strategy will you implement to boost your engagement in 2018?

Strategies people were talking about to implement in 2018:

• • Make use of Chatbots
  • More Visual Postings on different social media platforms
  • Real-time 24-hour story updates
  • Use a scheduling tool to make social media easier
  • Live-Video Updates
  • Social Media Listening

Q3: Which social media marketing habits of 2017 will you change in 2018?

With the changing and upgrading social media trends in 2018, some habits of 2017 has to be changed. Look which habits these social media professionals want to change and focus more in 2018!

• Facebook marketing as it is not working as it seems.
• Focus on multiple platforms instead of just one.
• Make use of Youtube more for video content and not just Facebook  and Instagra.
• 2018 will be more about analytics.
• Focus on short engaging videos rather than any video content

Q4: Which influencer you want to form working relations with in 2018? Please mention them!

Influencers will dominate social media marketing as they make major contributions to social engagement. With the growing competition influencers can help you stand apart. Here are some influencers #SocialPilotchat participants would want to make working relations in 2018 and boost their social influencer marketing.

Q5: What social media metrics will you track for your client success in 2018?

Measurement is what everyone is looking at and carrying out. But marketers should not just focus on traditional social media metrics. They should step out and also focus on metrics that measures the value of their business. That turns out to be the ultimate goal for your client success.

Q6: What new social media challenges will emerge in 2018?

According to the discussion in #SocialPilotchat there were a few challenges a lot of them thought will be faced in 2018 like

• Content and Video overload with low quality
• Difficult to stand out with cut-throat competitions
• Use of chatbots
• Finding quality manpower
• Build Affiliates for decent income
• Learning about new platforms to reach the right people

2018 is just here… are you ready for it?

Seems like 2018 going to be more challenging for social media marketers. You will have more social media networks to create content for. More networks to make your brand’s presence felt for. Shorter and better content will be in high demands. All these signals your double efforts for effective social media marketing in 2018.