Since the rise of Friendster in the 90s, social media has continued its spread in the Philippines. There are no indications of a slowdown as Filipino internet users continue to grow in number. However, the landscape has changed. 2017 offers new trends that your strategy needs to consider in order to succeed.
Video Expansion
2016 has proven the effectiveness of video in engaging customers but as video adoption rises, it will take different types of videos to grab attention. 360° videos, live streams, and augmented reality will be catching people’s hearts – and wallets.
Falling Organic Social Traffic
Paradoxically, as the sheer number of social media content increases, people see less of it. In order to help users grasp the continuous flow of information, social media networks have removed chronological timeline updates in favor of algorithms. Before posting any content to a person’s newsfeed, the algorithms calculate if he will find it interesting first. Unfortunately for businesses, many people don’t act interested in marketing posts. Because of this trend, social media marketing needs to evolve: either up your game, prepare a budget to boost posts, or involve other digital marketing techniques, such as email marketing.
Increasing Personalization
Due to the tools available, a great way to up your game is through personalization. Targeted marketing has proven effective and even cost-efficient because your posts only have to reach a smaller audience. In 2017, expect social campaigns to increase their focus on the ideal buyer persona to raise their sales effectiveness.
Social Influencers
While companies don’t often attract attention in social media, the accounts of social influencers almost always do. Social media has cultivated a burgeoning crop of celebrities with niche talents and expertise that a lot of people follow and like. By opening relations with these influencers and convincing them to support your brand, you can market to a large audience that you originally couldn’t access.
Chatbots
Social influencers are gaining ground because they offer a friendly face and intelligent conversations. While companies may not have a face, they can have intelligent conversations through marketing representatives and, increasingly, chatbots. Chatbots are apps with artificial intelligence, such as Siri, who help individuals connect with brands 24/7. Last April 2016, Facebook introduced Bots for Messenger Platform and already about 12 thousand have been created.
Social media is constantly evolving and keeping on top of it has been crucial to a successful campaign. Subscribe to learn more digital trends for 2017.
