Companies use Social Media as a Digital Marketing technique in 2018.

The use of Social Media channels as a form of digital marketing technique is an innovation that businesses take part in to better promote brand awareness, connect to their audience and increase sales.

Social Media for Businesses

Social Media Marketing offers a lot of benefits for businesses especially regarding customer relationship management. Billie Nordmeyer of Chron sites Tom Funk’s work entitled Social Media Playbook for Business: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More, in saying that the real impact of social media on businesses is that companies are strengthening existing relationships and building new connections with potential customers because of how social media can reach an expandable social network.

The Psychology of Being Found

Social Media is an integral part of achieving success, and the psychology of being found is the driving force from which companies devise strategies to stand out from the rest of their competitors and be found online by their customers.

An article from Start Digital entitled The Psychology of Being ‘Liked’ on Social Media made a buzz when it struck a chord with the public for its honesty in reflecting how social media affects the lives of people. On a personal level, gaining likes makes the person who made the post or is in the post feel affirmed of what they have done. But for businesses, gaining likes is different especially if you are talking about online visibility, strengthening your brand and eventually increasing profit.

Form a Strategy to Reach Your Audience

Businesses make use of the different options social media channels provide so that they can reach their preferred audience. By knowing the different demographics each social media platform has, businesses can customise their posts or their campaigns to reach their audience and get better impressions and actions.

Getting used to the social media platform is the best way to get to know the audience and understand their behaviour. From this, businesses can derive certain plans that can make them attract their potential customers and engage with them.

In 2018, Entrepreneur.com states that Millennials are not the main market anymore for Generation Z will now enter the workforce, giving them the capability to consume products and avail of services. Through Instagram, Snapchat and new social media channels geared towards the younger market, business will now focus their attention on devising fresh, innovative and creative plans to reach this demographic.

Images and Colours Affect Marketing

In an article written by Laura Donavan, President of The Word Pro, she states that “Colours Impact Marketing”. The colours projected on an image affects audience engagement since colours evoke certain emotions when used right. Rather than all words or phrases, ads with vibrant colours and eye-catching images will impact the viewers and more-likely click on your ad to get more information or share it on their page. And the more engaging, touching or heart-warming your ad is, the more likely consumers will share them, spreading brand awareness all over the world.

With the rise of different innovations in technology as induced by visually-driven consumers, there is no doubt that photos or videos will also have to be taken to the next level through augmented or virtual reality. Entrepreneur.com reports that there will be a rise in augmented reality in social media shortly after its takeoff in the gaming scene. Through special filters that project an augmented reality, businesses can now depict what consumers want and engage them in trying out their products or services. The different colours and the images available in the new filters will attract more users while augmented or virtual reality will soon become the next norm in social media and digital advertising.

Video Marketing is the New Trend in 2018

From info graphics and photos to gifs and videos, video marketing will be the hottest trend in 2018 according to Social Media Today. All kinds of video options like hangouts or live streams will dominate the market as demand technological innovation will make virtual reality a mainstream.

Video marketing was always a thing with Youtube as the main platform. From 15 second videos to a full minute or even up to 3 minutes or more, Youtube has continuously innovated their game to lead the digital marketing world when it comes to video marketing. But the rise in video marketing was exponentially increased when Facebook and Instagram allowed video posts in their advertisements, allowing for Instagram stories and other video compilations to take over the market.

In 2018 though, Virtual Reality will play a huge role in video marketing. Entrepreneur.com reveals that Facebook Spaces will go mainstream, as virtual reality will be more in demand not only in gaming but social media channels. Rather than just live streaming an event or a conversation, Facebook Spaces will allow the users to feel like they are a part of the real event through virtual reality.

Social Media Management goes hand in hand with good Organic SEO and Google AdWords.

In 2018, there’ll be a boost in social media marketing coupled with Organic SEO and Google AdWords. Companies will use these platforms to build an audience, strengthen their presence and reach audiences from across the world at various times and in different languages.

With the increasing use of social media channels, the demand for new and creative digital marketing strategies coupled with the latest innovation in technology, social media companies will partner with other corporations to create new and exciting ways that shall make advertising more engaging to its users. In 2018, old online marketing ways will give way to new advertising methods that will allow businesses to build an audience, strengthen online visibility and reach their market.