If there’s one thing you can count on for social media is that it will always be changing and evolving. And unlike fashion trends, you might want to pay attention to social media trends because trends can give you more opportunities to reach your audience with your message.
And you never know which of these trends would stay around. Many people though Instagram stories would fade away and clearly, that was wrong and now those people are trying to catch up.
Once you fall behind in social, you could be constantly trying to catch up so do yourself a favor and keep an eye on social media trends for 2019.
What social media trends should you look out for in 2019? Here are four that you should know.
Video
Now some may say that video is not really a trend anymore and they are probably right. Video is here to stay and yet, it’s still surprising how many entrepreneurs and businesses have not started using video in their social media.
It’s predicted that video will account for 80% of all internet traffic by 2020. Yes, 2020, and since we’re headed into 2019… well, that means that video already accounts for a huge percent of internet traffic!
People tend to be more visually focused and in today’s world, they are looking for the easiest way to consume content, which is video. 68% of consumers have said they would prefer watching a video to learn about a product than reading a blog post or article.
Videos also build trust between you and your audience. 57% of consumers say that videos give them more confidence to purchase online. Videos give you as the business owner a chance to stand out and get noticed in the crowded marketplace.
In 2019, we’re predicting that more social platforms will provide more opportunities for videos, especially for mobile users. This year, Instagram introduce IGTV which is specifically for vertical videos, i.e, videos that are being watched on your phone. 90% of consumers watch videos on their phone so businesses should look to create videos that consumers can watch while on their mobile or on the go.
While we’re chatting about videos, it’s a good time to mention that live video will likely continue to grow in 2019. Live video is perfect for authentic and timely content. Both Facebook and Instagram notify users when another user goes live so it’s a great way to encourage real-time engagement with your audience.
2. Micro Influencers
Influencer marketing has been a hot social media trend for a few years but lately, we have been seeing the rise of micro-influencers.
What are micro-influencers? Micro-influencers have a defined, niche audience that is usually between 1,000 and 10,000 people. Micro-influencers are becoming more valuable because consumers see them as real people. They are usually viewed as more relatable and authentic because they can engage with their audience.
As opposed to influencers with millions of followers, micro-influencers often have higher engagement rates because they have the ability to connect and communicate with their followers. This increases trust among their audience.
The rise of micro-influencers is particularly great for small businesses and solopreneurs because micro-influencers are more affordable and easier to access than celebrities or major influencers. So you don’t need to worry about having a Kardashian-sized budget to work with a micro-influencer on Instagram or YouTube!
If you want to make use of micro-influencers in 2019, then the best way to get started is by honing in and understanding your audience. The power of micro-influencers is that they have niche audiences and if you understand your audience and are able to identify a micro-influencer with the same audience, then you could have a major marketing opportunity on your hands!
3. Stories/Ephemeral content
There are 300 million daily users on Instagram stories every day and we’re predicting that even more people and businesses will start using stories and we’ll begin to see more ephemeral content opportunities as we move into 2019.
Stories work for many reasons
- They are short and easy to consume
- They are time-bound as most disappear after 24 hours, which creates a sense of urgency in your users. The FOMO is real these days and social media users hate missing out!
- With new features like Q&As, polls and resharing, stories are extremely engaging
In 2019, we expect to see more story features and more users preferring stories to feed-based posts. In fact, Facebook chief product officer, Chris Cox shared that Stories are predicted to surpass content in the feed as the primary way people share with their friends within the next year!
So if you don’t have a story strategy yet, it may be time to create one! Oh and, if you want to be really cutting edge, you can share vertical videos in Instagram stories and combine two social media trends in one!
4. Chatbots
Automation and AI, including chatbots, are interesting topics for social media marketers. Some people love it while others hate it but everyone seems to agree that we are going to see more chatbots and AI in the future.
Like many of these trends, chatbots are already here but in 2019, more people will start to see chatbots as normal and more importantly, people will start to expect chatbots.
Which means… fewer people will want to wait for responses from a customer service team on social media.
Most brands fear poor customer experience from chatbots but only 19% of people in a recent survey reported a poor experience with chatbots and 48% were indifferent to chatbots as long as they solve the problem.
Since chatbots are still a fairly new technology, it’s safe to say that their functionality will only improve.
So, as functionality improves and consumer adoption and comfort level with chatbots increases, more brands will start using them in their social media.
As always, you can never predict what will happen in social media. After all, no one saw this change coming at this time last year! But it never hurts to keep an eye on certain social media trends especially the ones that have been growing in popularity over the last few years!
What trends are you most excited about in 2019?
