Hottest Trends in Social Media Marketing Technology 2018  

In 2017, we witnessed various trends in social media marketing like the introduction of live feed, integrated video, and story features, and the growth of mobile ads. Lately, the B2B sector has become more involved in catering to the ideas of social media marketing techniques, since they deliver efficiently and have a wide reach.

Also Read:Eight Ways AI Will Be Used In Marketing In 2018

Chatbots have now being programmed to think, feel and act according to a customer’s requirements. Many food delivery apps such as GrubHub and Uber Eats use bots to take orders.

In 2018, a large number of Chatbots would be made available for business proposals and enterprises. A lot of careful thinking and implementation goes into making a Chatbot as approachable, sensible and fully functioning as possible. They can also be customized depending on the user’s requirements.

Chatbots run on algorithms that use ‘Deep Learning’ where data is channelled into queries and solutions are delivered. According to a report, 50% of mobile phone users are aggressive social media users. Chatbots divert traffic to the right screens, helping marketers filter audiences and enabling target segmentation.

In the current scenario of visual stimulation, social media applications like Facebook and Instagram have developed their own mediums of transient content which is minimalistic and eye-catching. The content is then lost within a few hours, leading to the users developing FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), acting quickly and helping the marketer achieve the desired result.

Social Media Marketing has advanced with the advent of social listening. With the use of hashtags, trending topics, and search engines, companies can understand what makes their audience tick. This is done by researching specific brands, tags or product names which help companies create more engaging content.

Social listening tools include brand monitoring and marketing insights, help address indirect complaints and target location-specific keywords. Social listening tools are not only about monitoring insights; they also actively engage in conversations about products and services. Some examples include Spotify, Hootsuite, Buzzsumo, SproutSocial, Brandwatch, Conversocial, and Sprinklr.

Influencers don’t always need to be very famous or have a million followers to be considered dependable. The concept of micro-influencers comes from apps like Instagram and Facebook where brands choose people to advocate their products while showcasing their experiences. In 2018, influencers shall continue being a large part of social media marketing trends.

Marketers can calculate the ROI delivered by these influencers using certain software and digital metrics. The data is instrumental in working two ways; both for the micro influencer as well as the marketing enterprise.

The depth of knowledge and programming along with intensive analytics is what AI is all about. We often underestimate the power of a machine. The AI software along with an automated vision software can be combined to create Image Recognition. Baidu, HubSpot, IBM, and SalesForce are some examples of AI with Image Recognition. Image Recognition on Facebook is one such example. Other examples include Google Image Recognition, Amazon Rekognition, Clarifai, Ditto Labs, GumGum, LogoGrab amongst others.

Recommended Read: Tweet Your Way to Success: A Guide to Social Media Marketing & Strategic Thinking