media update’s Christine Beukes uncovers seven SPOOKtacular social media trends to look out for in 2019.
The future can be
terrifying, and with the year 2019 looming, it’s important for brands to start thinking about which social media trends to include in their strategies. Augmented reality, chatbots, live streaming, influencer marketing – they’re all coming for us … and there’s nowhere to run.
Here are seven social media trends to
keep an eye out for in 2019:
Image sourced from Vecteezy
1. Augmented reality
Although augmented reality (AR) has been around for a while already, the trend will only continue to grow as more social media marketers include this technology in their content strategies.
Why? Because consumers want to be
immersed in the stories that your brand tells.
Take Snapchat, for example. The platform recently announced
the launch of ‘Snap Originals’ – a new feature that uses AR to allow you to interact and watch original television programming created by Snapchat.
The feature includes various genres, and allows you to step right into the programme you’re watching – think Pokemon Go, except instead of finding a pokemon by your front door, you discover what’s about to happen next (could there be zombies?) in your new favourite Snap Original show.
Think about the possibilities for brands! Consumers love storytelling – because it’s so personal – and brands have already started on
that trend.
Now you can combine your consumers’ love of storytelling with a personalised, immersive AR experience. And what’s more personal than being able to be a part of the commercial you’re watching?
Think product placement, retailers. A consumer will be more likely to purchase a new sofa if they can personally see how well it’s placed in their home.
Image sourced from Vecteezy
2. Chatbots
Chatbots are here to stay, which means that there’s only room for expansion for this AI-powered technology in 2019.
Not only are they an alternative way – in opposition to the more traditional methods – to reach out to consumers, they’re also the quickest way to promote a product or service offering by providing a friendly and informative platform.
Another great thing about chatbots? Well, most consumers are on social media platforms
anyway, so this is definitely the best place to reach out and start a conversation, increase your engagement and expand your customer’s journey.
The best part is, you don’t have to be there to provide your customers with service. While you’re sleeping, your consumers overseas are going onto your website to see what you have to offer. If they have any questions, they can always count on your chatbot for answers.
Image sourced from Freepik
3. Live streaming
This trend provides consumers with the opportunity to experience a behind-the-scenes look at your brand and what it is that you do. The best place to stream, of course, is on social media.
The golden rule for brands as of late has been to personalise their customer experiences – something that can most certainly be done with live streaming. Is your brand hosting a company event? Live stream it. Attending an event? Live stream it. Promoting a new product? Live stream it. Creating a new marketing campaign?
Live stream it!
Not only does it allow you to encourage an immediate call-to-action, it also gives you the opportunity to engage with your audience. You can live stream an event and respond to comments, giving your brand the ultimate platform for personalised customer experience.
Image sourced from Vecteezy
4. Video
Visuals, visuals, visuals – you can’t escape them. And your future consumers certainly don’t want to. More and more consumers are taking preference of visuals over text, and videos over images – and this will still be the case in 2019.
Not only are videos a good way to tell your brand’s story, but consumers also find them easier to consume in comparison to text. And most shoppers access social platforms on their mobile, which is why more content and ads are being constructed to fit these devices.
With over a billion users and
500 million hours of videos being watched each day, YouTube is a great platform to place your ads.
If your brand isn’t currently on a social platform, the easiest way to start is by making a name for yourself on YouTube, or even Instagram and Facebook. Try sharing your next marketing campaign on video via social media and see how well it does.
Image sourced from Vecteezy
5. Visual search tools
Visual search is allowing consumers to explore and discover new products at a highly advanced technological level. Instead of having to look for products by typing them into Google, all they have to do is snap a photo and leave the rest up to technology.
For example, if they see a particular pair of shoes that they’re interested in, all they have to do is take a photo and the visual search tool will find shoes that are either the same, or similar, and will tell them where to buy it.
This is a great way to find
exactly what you’re looking for, instead of trying to think of search terms that will match what you want to find.
Think of how you might try to search for the pair of shoes below.
Image sourced from Poshmark
Your first instinct might be to type in ‘cat shoes’, which results in anything from ‘caterpillar shoes’ to cats wearing shoes. Not what you were trying to find, was it?
Pinterest, Google and Microsoft have already jumped on the visual search bandwagon, with Snapchat hot on their heels.
Snapchat launched its latest visual search tool for Amazon earlier this year, which lets users find products with its image recognition technology.
Basically, you can take a photo of the product you would like, and the visual search tool will then find that product on Amazon for you to purchase.
Visual search provides a good opportunity for your brand to get involved – possibly by sponsoring particular products or by partnering with these platforms in order to promote your own products.
Expect to see more of this tool in 2019.
Image sourced from Vecteezy
6. User-generated content
User-generated content will continue to increase in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a simple way for your brand to develop close relationships with consumers as it builds trust and makes your brand’s content seem more relatable.
For those of you who are still unfamiliar with this trend, user-generated content is publicly available content that has been posted by a social media platform user and then reposted by a brand. It can either be in the form of an image, video, or audio file and is generally used to promote news, products, events and so on.
Many social platforms have been utilising this trend, such as Twitter and its ‘Moments’ feature, and now Snapchat. Snapchat recently announced the launch of ‘Curated Our Stories’, which enables publishers access to users’ posts, allowing them to create live stories from them.
Image sourced from Vecteezy
7. Influencer marketing
If you haven’t implemented influencer marketing into your strategy, 2019 might be the year to do so. This trend has been spotted on many platforms and is most prominent on Instagram and, of course, YouTube.
What’s so great about influencers? Sponsoring influencers’ content offers your consumers a personalised experience and, again, builds trust (similarly to user-generated content).
These influencers know how to promote your products in a way that makes viewers feel as if it’s been suggested by a friend or someone they’re able to relate to – this brings us back to your brand bringing consumers a
personalised experience, which seems to be an ongoing trend for the upcoming year.
These influential marketers come in many shapes and sizes, with the two most well-known types of influencers being micro-influencers and macro-influencers.
Micro-influencers have a small following and are targeted at a more ‘niche’ audience.
Macro-influencers are made up of celebrities and big personalities and generally have a larger following.
Image sourced from Freepik
*Image courtesy of Vecteezy