What digital trends to expect in 2018?
In the past few years, we have seen an immense growth in the digital marketing sphere. With this growth comes new terms, new challenges and new trends that marketers must embrace if they expect to keep up with the times. Thus, we bring to you the five trends to watch out for in 2018 which will dominate the digital marketing around you.
1. Instagram over Snapchat and Twitter
2017 was a disappointing year for Twitter. Despite the big change of increasing the character count from 140 to 280, they didn’t see much increase in traffic and instead received backlash for letting go of their USP.
For Snapchat, it was a year when they lost badly to Instagram with Insta Stories gaining more traction and usage than Snapchat stories. Even the Live feature on Instagram provided them with an edge and they reported a record 800 million users every day.
Thus it is clear, that in the race of social media platforms, Instagram has an edge over two competing mediums and we can expect it to be the “go-to” social media platform of 2018.
2. Influencer Marketing is here to stay… and grow
For quite some time now, influencers have been gaining popularity as a marketing trend. Predominantly used on visual mediums like Instagram posts or YouTube videos, they are an efficient channel to start the conversation about brands. Studies suggest that in 2017, almost 84% brands opted for one or the other form of influencer marketing for their brands. With investments showing returns and consumers depending on feedbacks and reviews from their cherished influencer, this trend will become stronger in 2018.
3. Integrating Messaging Apps into Brand Communication
It is very commonly known that the most used messaging apps today are Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp. Consumer, the people, are increasingly becoming comfortable at platforms where they can chat and tell. We have chat messaging options in apps like Zomato, Pizza Hut, Asian Paints to name a few. This trend is here to stay with brands now even looking at chatbots to include in-built messaging platforms on their websites and/or apps.
4. We want Video
Video content catches attention, primarily because it is easy to comprehend and any form of information can be presented in this format. Swiggy has been using videos to show its collected statistics of food delivery habits, whereas social media site Buzzfeed has used video commentary to raise awareness about injustices ailing our society. With Live videos and 360-degree videos in the picture, there are literally hundreds of way in which brands are harnessing the power of on-demand video and related content.
5. AI is the Future
As per suggestions by Adobe, AI and specifically, the use of behavioral marketing is the next thing to watch out for. This means artificial intelligence will do the job of analyzing and interpreting huge scores of data and consumer habits and will accordingly churn out customized marketing messages to cater to each customer. This well help marketers to capture more customers in an efficient manner. It is also expected that the AI Chatbots will take over the app market soon.
This Article is related to:
Technology, Digital Trends, Latest technology, AI, Social Media, Buzzfeed, Integrating Messaging Apps, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Influencer Marketing, Artificial intelligence, Facebook, Whatsapp, Zomato, Pizza Hut, Asian Paints, Digital Marketing
