The year 2018 is about to end. But year in year out technology continues to evolve. The landscape of social media is changing fast and it is important for keep in touch with these developments to stay ahead of the game. In this article, we shall take a look at 10 developments that will shape the future of social media in 2019.
- GDPR will change the way advertisers use data
As the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect May 25th of this year, the data protection process is going to see an overhaul. Now, users will have more control over their personal data. In compliance with GDPR, Facebook and other social media channels made changes to the way advertisers use data. One of the changes will have page visitors now being able to publicly see the adverts running in their region. With GDPR, it is likely that social media advertising rules will become tighter.
- Storytelling will stir positive social change
Studies have revealed that 92% of consumers will see companies more positively if they support a social or environmental issue. Nearly two-thirds of millennials and Gen Z will more likely buy products from brands that support a cause. This year, storytelling emerged as a core technique for customer engagement. Promoting social change does not have to be costly on your part. You can implement storytelling strategies around the causes that you support.
- Live streaming gets even bigger
2019 will see the emergence of live streaming as a social media strategy. Many people would rather watch a live video than read a blog. In 2016, live streaming was a #30 billion industry and it is forecasted that it will grow two times more by 2021 to become a $70 billion industry. So it’s time to get your corporate think tanks and capitalize on live streaming.
- Chatbots
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp introduced chatbots to cater to its users. In 2018, we could see the growth of chatbots in social media advertising. Facebook revealed that there already more than 300,000 active chatbots in the app so social media marketers should capitalize and leverage the tool. A recent survey revealed that only 19% of 5,000 people had a negative perception of chatbots.
- Augmented Reality
Augmented reality has long been in existence but many companies are still not using it for their social media marketing strategy. It is predicted that augmented and virtual reality will breach the $298 billion mark by 2023. 2019 will see the dawning of more AR tools as Facebook has collaborated with more than 700 brands to push it AR plan.
- The growth of video search
The second quarter of 2018 saw the growth of the voice search market by a whopping 187% and it looks like this trend will continue. It is projected that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be through voice. In the future, we will see voice search taking over common household appliances.
- Marketers will invest heavily on YouTube influencers
Influencer marketing has grown by leaps and bounds over the years and in 2019 more companies will tap these influencers for promoting their products. YouTube influencers has thousands or even millions of followers so imagine the reach of your products if you let them do the promotions. They could be pricey though with the fee of an influencer costing a minimum of $20,000
- User-generated Content Will Rock Your Networks
User-generated content (UGC) are created by unpaid fans that your business can use to promote your products or services. In 2019, we will see a dramatic rise in UGC. Some businesses are too busy to create content and UGC can deliver the needed content for them. UGC can deliver word of mouth advertising and conversion for your business.
- Instagram will surpass Facebook
In 2018, Instagram has reached 1 billion active users. It is expected that the network will generate $5.48 billion in revenue in the US alone by 2019. While Facebook is still king of social media with 2.27 billion users, its number of users is dwindling because of privacy issues. Could we see the emergence of Instagram as the new king of social media? So keep those free Instagram comments coming.
- Twitter finally gets an Edit button
2019 will be the year when Twitter will finally get an edit button. It is a feature that users have long been clamoring for. Currently, you cannot make changes to spelling errors so you either post the tweet with the misspelled word or delete the post and start again.
2018 has been a banner year for social media. These are some of the trends that awaits users in the coming year.