Social media imperatives to be alert for in 2018

Posted on November 6, 2017 in Company Internet Marketing, Facebook Marketing Services, internet marketing, Internet Marketing Blog, Internet Marketing Company, Local Internet Marketing, Marketing, Mobile SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing Services

To say that the social media landscape is fluid and can change with lightning quickness is, of course, a severe understatement. Sometimes it can seem like both a blessing and a curse all at the same time. Much has changed on the social media front during 2017 and now there are certain imperatives and priorities that need to take center stage during your strategic planning for 2018.

  • What should not come as to great a surprise will be the rising costs for social media advertising and marketing campaigns in the coming year. Businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses, have come to realize that they must have a marketing budget and that they need qualified and experienced professionals on their teams to help formulate and carry out their social media marketing strategies. While costs have risen around 12% on a year to year basis, companies are realizing that social media remains the ROI champion for them despite the fact that Facebook ad costs have risen almost 75% over the last year. Social media marketers continue to craft strategies for the platforms because they work and are a cost effective way to reach the demographic they are looking to attract.
  • As mobile continues to grow and dominate search, as well as browsing, video has finally emerged as the traffic driving force it was long ago predicted to be. Video must come to dominate your content strategy at the social media platforms for the coming year. Research continues to reveal that video is 1,200% times more effective at driving traffic than written and image content put together. Much of this success has to do with how the human brain processes information. While most humans can only retain and remember about 10% of what they read and see in an image, they retain nearly 95% of what they absorb through video. Video production must begin to play a dominant role in your social media marketing. Research and experts have estimated that, by the end of next year and well into 2019, video will likely account for just over 80% of all traffic on the world wide web.
  • Finally, if you haven’t been pursuing the influencer marketing end of things, it is time to do so. While this can be a rather hit or miss proposition, finding and developing strong alliances with these influencers will greatly increase your traffic as well as your conversions. Recent data point to nearly 75% of social media users being influenced by their networks with regard to buying decisions so perhaps it is soon time to develop a handful of influencers in your industry.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer