- Live video content is even more important
Live video content is on the rise: according to the Social Media Examiner, 14% of all marketers have experimented with it in 2016 and, according to Wyzowl's latest survey data, 43% of them plan to use interactive videos this year.
Although there are thousands of streaming sites and platforms, Periscope and Facebook Live are among the most popular - and the numbers speak for themselves.
At the 2016 annual retrospective, Periscope noted that its users are looking at 110 years of live video material about the app every day. And on New Year's Eve, the live streaming on Facebook reached world record numbers:
- Brands will be more focused on messaging apps than ever before
Messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat are not just an alternative to traditional SMS, they are much more: these apps are used by 4 billion users around the world, and are a huge opportunity for brands to present themselves effectively.
More specifically, many brands use such messaging apps to interact directly with their customers. This changes the customer service, as we know it so far, from the ground up. With these apps, customers can quickly and easily request individual help rather than ending in a queue or waiting for a response e-mail. The use of messaging in customer service is more flexible and cost-effective for companies. Thanks to this improved communication, brands can solve problems quickly and tie their customers better.
The Hyatt hotel chain offers a 24-hour customer service via Facebook Messenger, which allows guests to make reservations, ask questions, and get tips for their travels around the clock:
Meghan Keaney Anderson, Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot, believes that messaging apps could become an indispensable part of any online interaction. "Perhaps we should not think about apps at messaging," Anderson says, "rather than looking at it as an evolving infrastructure."
So far, the statistics support this theory: One quarter of all downloaded apps are left on the left after one usage - except for messaging apps. For 2017 and beyond, marketers should focus less on social networking, but rather focus on messaging and contact with target groups in real-time.
- E-commerce on social media offers new opportunities for sales
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest offer their users the opportunity to buy products directly in the app. Snapchat has started testing and implementing ecommerce in spring 2016.
- Virtual reality will conquer marketing more and more
Virtual Reality is still quite a newcomer in the marketing scene, but we think that the market in this area will grow properly in 2017. The unique feature of Virtual Reality is that it stimulates interaction by providing a more intense and memorable experience than other media. Marketers have, of course, quickly recognized this added value.
- Short-lived content will grow in importance
Marissa Emanuele, Social Media Marketing Manager at HubSpot, has created the refined term "Frankenfeatures". These hybrid functions are created when a social media platform brings their own version of a successful feature of another platform onto the market.
Need an example? Snapchat has started the trend of sharing short-lived content. Now, Instagram has recently introduced a similar feature for videos - but with the added option of sharing short-lived live videos.
We do not want to say that you should not produce professional photos and marketing videos. However, with short-lived content on Snapchat and Instagram, you can present the "other side" of your brand personalities: authentic, spontaneous and unsophisticated. The following content is good for short-lived stories:
How To videos
Look behind the scenes
Profit and raffles
recipes
interviews
"Takeovers", so when other users choose the shared content
Live Events
Daily or weekly video series
vacations
Announcements or product presentations
- Many brands will switch to "Stories" from Snapchat to Instagram
In August 2016 Instagram introduced its Stories function. After just two months, BuzzFeed News reported that Instagram Stories has 100 million active users a day. This is equivalent to two thirds of Snapchat's total assets. It is also for this reason that Emanuele assumes that brands for sharing stories (photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours) will soon change from Snapchat to Instagram.
With 600 million users, Instagram offers a much larger audience than Snapchat with 150 million. And since Instagram is part of Facebook, advertisers on Instagram can use the statistics of Facebook and Instagram. This means that Instagram offers a larger target group than Twitter.
- Advertising on mobile devices will be more competitive
In 2017, marketers should prepare for major investment in mobile advertising. Here you can see how this will affect some of the largest social networks:
In terms of advertising in the social media, Facebook is the undisputed leader. Last year it brought the platform to over 7 billion USD, of which 80% came from advertising on mobile devices. The news feed algorithm on Facebook has been modified to give higher priority to friends and family content. Now, those 75% of the brands on Facebook who pay for promoting their advertising must become creative and create visually appealing ads to be adequately considered.
Steemit:
At the moment it looks like, steemit and reddit would stand out strongly and do not go in the direction of advertising revenues.
However a live video transmission would be desireable in my opinion.