Video became even more essential, particularly live video, social content publishing platforms were on the rise, forms of social interaction have become even more diversified, among other trends. Social media is where the people are, so marketers should be, too. I predict that in 2017, more social networks will compete in the live video space, including Twitter and LinkedIn. I think that we will also start to see a decline in the number of social networks that companies use, while marketers focus their attention on testing live video on the various networks. After all, live video is where it’s at! Live video on social media allows business owners, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, to reach customers directly and create an interactive experience. Facebook have already been making it easier for users to live-stream video and others are sure to follow. In 2017, expect to see more brands and retailers look to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for opportunities to showcase and even sell products directly to consumers. Already a trend, video will continue to dominate social media, particularly live video. There will be more focus on VR and live videos.
In 2016, the world of social media saw many changes. Video became even more essential, particularly live video, social content publishing platforms were on the rise, forms of social interaction have become even more diversified, among other trends. Moreover, Facebook continued to dominate as the leading social network with more than 1.5 billion users, with messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger coming in close behind.
According to Contently, one hour and 43 minutes “is the average daily use of social media on any device among people in the U.S.” How will people spend that time in the upcoming year? Some trends that are expected to take over in 2017 include brands exploring live streaming and virtual/augmented reality, ephemeral forms of content like those found on Snapchat and Instagram Stories increasing, and adding a greater push for personalization. Take a look at what some industry experts predict for the future of social media in 2017.
What Are Your 2017 Predictions for Social Media?
1. Joe Goldstein, Operations Manager and Lead SEO at Navolutions
Live broadcasts over social media began in earnest in 2016, but have yet to be fully embraced by big brands. Expect that to change drastically in 2017.
The Snapchat Spectacles will be a huge success and will pave the way for additional social networks to produce and market hardware. Given the recent acquisition of Oculus by Facebook, and Facebook’s immense amount of capital, they look to be the next logical player in this space, with a focus on virtual reality. If the success of PlayStation VR is any indicator, Facebook and Oculus could be on the verge of something huge.
3. Lindsay Kent, Social Media Strategist at ONTRAPORT
In the next year, I think we’re going to see a lot more of companies’ marketing budgets going towards social media boosting. Not just on Facebook, but also on Twitter and Pinterest. Social media is where the people are, so marketers should be, too.
4. Lara White, Principal of Lara White Marketing Group – @LaraWhite
- Automation – As marketers plates get even more loaded into 2017, many will look to automation as a way to manage and grow their social media presence. Tools such as Hootsuite, Oktopost, Buffer, and Crowdfire are all tried and true automation tools that will allow your social media efforts to go farther, faster. Buffer is one of my favorite social media tools; by putting content you want to share into a queue, you can batch process your content curation efforts. This is a huge time saver. Oktopost allows you to schedule content to post to multiple platforms, another huge timesaver.
- Client Support – More and more customers are reaching out to brands through social media channels. Companies are realizing that clients are moving away from phone and email support and going directly to a company’s facebook page or Twitter for support, and complaints. According to a recent study by Convince and Convert, 42% of customers expect a response within 60 minutes. This will percentage will continue to grow in 2017.
- Live Streaming – Facebook Live was introduced in April 2016 and the trend is growing, especially outside North America. I believe we will see forward-thinking brands begin using live streaming as a way to engage audiences and deliver new experiences.
5. Katy Keim, CMO at Lithium
- As the election polls raised questions around datasets, we expect social analytics will become more integrated across departments as brands look to keep in tune with/gather feedback on products, services, and campaigns.
- More brands will investigate and invest in AI capabilities. But many will struggle with when to deploy a bot vs. human, and customers will still be left dissatisfied with their automated experiences.
- Growth in the Amazonification of social commerce. More brands will be looking to successfully integrate social + commerce, with customer reviews and product information all sitting directly alongside the shopping cart.
6. Kallen Diggs, Author & Radio Show Host at Reaching The Finish Line
- Twitter will be bought out through a joint acquisition. One of the parent companies will be Google or Verizon.
- With the continuous growth of Facebook and LinkedIn, Google Plus will suffer and be discontinued sometime next year.
- Disney will buy out Vimeo or DailyMotion to reach viewers online as cable TV suffers a gradual decline.
7. Sandra Nomoto, President of Conscious Public Relations Inc.
I predict that in 2017, more social networks will compete in the live video space, including Twitter and LinkedIn. The competition for attention using live, real-time video – which Periscope, Snapchat, Facebook Live and Instagram offered – will extend to these other networks. I think that we will also start to see a decline in the number of social networks that companies use, while marketers focus their attention on testing live video on the various networks. It is difficult to put in 100% effort across the board; it will take trial and measurement to see where efforts are reaping engagement rewards.
B2B brands will ramp up their authority marketing game in a big way in 2017. They will increase efforts to find new authority marketing techniques to drive their content forward. The B2C market has lead the way in 2016 paving the way for B2B brands. These companies are beginning to understand how having recognizable names associated with their content can help extend their reach and credibility. Those that leverage authority marketing in the following year will benefit without limits, while the rest that eventually come around to the idea will be playing catch-up.
9. Jason Parks, President of The Media Captain
Video is going to explode in 2017. Brands are going to be investing more money into content creation and bringing in people with production skill-sets. Smaller companies are going to purchase DSLR cameras and produce their own content while becoming savvy with Final Cut.
All of the major social networks are giving more organic love to video content. Don’t miss the train on this trend as it is going to be a game changer in 2017.
As a big user of Instagram, I believe they will continue to become more video and moment (like Snapchat) focused in the coming year. After all, live video is where it’s at! They are one of the fastest platforms out there and do not want to lose steam.
I predict they will also continue to push advertising and focus more on business, which has already begun in 2016 with the roll-out business profiles and easier ways to use ads. This is especially important now that Facebook’s ad growth is slowing!
11. Asif Ismail, Principal and Chief Marketing Officer at Inspired Global Marketing – @inspiredgm
Instagram’s Algorithm Will Change Significantly (and marketers will need to focus on advertising to get their message out).
Instagram has already changed their feed, and done away with the old chronological model and adopted a new algorithm that prioritizes content based on its relevance to the user’s interests. In 2017, we would expect an immense push from brands and marketers as they begin to identify ways to crack the code on this photo feed for organic traction. Brands will begin to also realize Instagram’s enormous advertising capabilities, and will begin to shift some resources to it because of its growing audience. eMarketer expects the percentage of companies investing in Instagram Ads to grow from 32% to 48%.
12. Val Popescu, Owner of InternetMarketingProfitsCenter
We often forgot that the most important thing about social media marketing is always related to people. That’s why in 2016 live video become so popular across various social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook Live, Periscope, and YouTube. Live video on social media allows business owners, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, to reach customers directly and create an interactive experience. All over the world companies that use live platforms to market their products and services have reported a great marketing success – over 76% of B2Bs use video with positive effects. Expect this strategy to boom in 2017!
13. Tom Brown, Marketing Assistant at Shiply – @shiply
Personally, I think video will be everything next year. Companies such as Snapchat have revolutionised the way we communicate with each other. Written content is being left behind for video content, with an increasing demand for live-stream.
I expect all social media platforms to force a big push towards video updates and statuses in 2017. Facebook have already been making it easier for users to live-stream video and others are sure to follow.
14. Vernon Vasu, CMO of ReFUEL4
- Marketers will begin testing Facebook ads to a greater degree before scaling – if media is going to cost more, marketers will need to test and test and test again to get the creative right.
- Ad Agencies will hone in on targeting and use it as an important lever – narrowing the focus too tightly could inadvertently raise media costs. Advertisers should test using a broader Facebook audience and then when confident about the creative, take the risk to narrow the focus.
- We’ll see ads that try different formats – mixing videos with statics, using carousels can make a difference.
- Social media advertisers…
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