4 Rapidly Rising Tech Trends that Influence Social Media Marketing
Social media and technology go hand in hand, but is also at the disposal of its users. With the boomer generation, being the biggest in terms of population, adopting Facebook whole heartedly, and much being said about the millennial segment, the biggest rise of focus is in Gen Z. The oldest of this group are 22, entering the work force, and will have an escalating purchasing power. Which means that their likes, dislikes, their frivolous behaviors and their almost retro mentality of returning to touch-and-feel purchasing, albeit with a technology as a given, will affect businesses and markets alike. Here are a 4 trends that need to be adopted by digital marketers that consequently impact the social media landscape.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
When the virtual reality head-mounted display headset launched, several VR devices hit the consumer market, mushrooming from predecessors. Varying in use from general to specific (think video games at the onset), they offer a new form of online advertising and connecting users to social platforms. Then Apple announced the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, both equipped with augmented reality experiences for everyday users. While the obvious foray is into gaming and potentially the beauty industry, social media will surely embrace augmented reality into its features, already made popular with facial distortions on Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
Messaging to the Forefront
Every since Facebook announced beta for messenger, most businesses have opted to using messaging for communication, be it hotel concierges, travel apps, or customer service. Over 2.5 billion people use messaging platforms, making them a better use of communication than social media. With the rise of chatbots, artificial intelligence and adoption of global messaging platforms like messenger and whats-app, it is expected that brands will use messaging as the prime way of communicating, even more so than social media. Gartner has predicted that by 2018, 30% of conversations will be by such bots and machines.
Live and Ephemeral Content
Facebook has the live broadcasting feature to compete with the live broadcasting. Started off by the ‘instant’ based roots of competitors Instagram and Snapchat, which in turn also offer on-the-go video updates, it seems that customers and brands are more interested in keeping things relevant in the moment. Snapchat coined ephemeral content, what with its 10 billion daily video views, and while it short lived to 24 hours, the popularity and engagement is at a peak that marketers cannot ignore it, and by now create separate content for the likes of Instagram Stories. It is short term, authentic, and unlike push-marketing posts and influencer marketing that may be reaching a peak eventually. Plus, it capitalizes on the FOMO (fear of missing out) mentality that is intrinsic to Gen Z psychology, since once the content is gone, it is lost forever.
Amplified Influencer Marketing
Much has been said about the validity of influencer marketing and how it can be used. With the likes of Instagram introducing official paid campaign callouts and the FTC placing laws on paid and sponsored campaigns, conversion from influencer marketing can only be bound to grow, especially since traditional strategies are failing to connect with the social media generation. Penultimately, the goals of pushing product, boosting awareness or simply engaging followers via social media. These can be done with the disposal of tech: stories, takeovers, posts, or even live sponsored content.
