Businesses have used many different ways to advertise their products and services. Social media has become one of the most effective ways and companies are taking notice. 2017 saw a significant boost in the use of social media advertising. This is partly due to the overall rise in mobile device usage this year. Social media marketing is only going to increase moving into 2018 and there are some new and exciting capabilities that brands can add to their marketing arsenal.
Trends to look for in 2018:
Augmented reality should increase next year.
This technology has seen a sizable growth in the usage in 2017. Snapchat has already rolled out a new AR feature that allows for users to project their bitmoji characters into the real world. Brands will be able to do the same with products such as furniture and décor to give the user a real view of the product for which they’re interested.
Instagram stories increasing in popularity
Over 200 million people use Instagram stories each month and Instagram has developed ad capabilities available for stories. Similar to Snapchat, ads will begin to appear in between stories of the people you follow. These ads will lead directly to the landing page of the product or service.
Facebook messenger will see a boost in ad spend.
Facebook has updated the messenger capabilities allowing for companies to use AI technology to message users automatically if the ad is clicked. The AI can also respond to user’s questions or connect them directly to the brand. Many companies have started placing ads for apps in the messenger feed as well.
Twitter may see a decrease in brand advertising in 2018.
Since becoming public, Twitter has not seen the rise in ad spend that the platform anticipated. The stock prices for Twitter has also decreased as a result of the drop in spend. Twitter is seeing heavy competition from Instagram and Snapchat as those two platforms have increased in popularity and ad spend over the last year. Look for the drop in Twitter ad spend to continue moving forward.
At Catalyst, we have a growing strategic team that is ready to help you use social media to reach your target marketing. Give us a shout!
