6 Tech Trends Impacting the Social Media Landscape
Technology and social media go hand in hand. Many platforms are enabled (or eventually disabled) by the advancements of tech. While some trends improve and enhance interfaces and usage, others like virtual reality can pose more dramatic shifts in the way social media is used and consumed, particularly by digital marketers. Here are 6 tech trends that are impacting the social media landscape.
Live Everything
With Periscope rapidly changing the marketplace into making everything live, 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. Is it time to bid a slow farewell to scheduling?
Virtual Reality
With the virtual reality head-mounted display headset launching, several VR devices will 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.
Wearables and Content Consumption
With the Apple Watch growing in demand with consumers, several followers are catching up quickly. The uptake is growing by over 30%, and the impact on marketing is magnified; or rather, minimized (pun intended). Articles become listicles, and information becomes even more mobile and ‘on-the-go’ in the way that it can be searched, used and consumed. Voice commands will thus take precedence over punching, swiping and tapping. And brands will have an even more in depth view of consumer and buyer behavior, making custom advertising even more granular.
(Even More) Video
YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18-34 than any cable network, validated. For advertisers, this means that video is increasingly becoming a contender in the content creation and consumption space, previously occupied by articles and images. While video ads are not new, Facebook and Bing now offer video options to advertisers, and Google includes video content in search results. Besides accurately tagging and describing videos to enable this, the creation of video for a variety of digital marketing purposes will continue.
Video and Visual as Agencies
Every heard of the models that got hired on Instagram instead of flesh and blood? With influencers being competent and capable on Vine, Youtube and other visual platforms, the business implication is that the world of middlemen agencies will begin to languish. Or at least the human touch in them will be replaced by the clever post-millennial generation that knows how to accurately geotag, hashtag and swipe their way to the top. It’s no wonder that influencer measurement tools and technologies are on the rise.
Social Sharing Economy
Mobile payments are skyrocketing owing to their trust, convenience, and the fact that it’s tempting to not have to lug a wallet around all the time. Apple’s introduction of Apple Pay will escalate how payments can be made to stores, as well as between friends and via a simple text, already mastered by several startups. Starbucks already gives benefits to smartphone users, and find that an increasing number easily pay via phone, too. Mobile and geo platforms can bring every day businesses and enterprises in better connection with their users, facilitating the sharing economy to a seamless level.
