Three unexpected trends in social media marketing

The world of social media marketing is an unpredictable place. Who would have guessed that ephemeral content – visual materials that are only available for a short period of time – would take the world by storm, becoming the next big market for businesses to break into? Who could have predicted the ever-changing Facebook algorithm that marketers are constantly trying to outsmart?

In the name of the unpredictable, here are three myth-busting facts that could change the game for social media marketers.

Augmented reality isn’t just about finding Pokémon characters in your neighbor’s backyard

While the rise of Pokémon Go was, for many people, the first glimpse into the world of AR, it was only the beginning. According to a Deloitte survey, “nearly 90 percent of respondents use some form of virtual or augmented reality in their business.”

From Sephora Virtual Artist, an app that lets customers try on makeup virtually, to Ikea Place, which allows users to envision the company’s furniture in their own homes via 3D renderings, AR has completely changed the way we interact with brands.

Seventy-two percent of Pinners say Pinterest inspires them to shop even when they aren’t actually looking for something specific

The goal of most B2C brands is to sell a product, right? So why aren’t more companies focusing on Pinterest if, according to a Pinterest survey, 72% of Pinners say the site gets them to buy something even when that wasn’t their intention and 90% say Pinterest helps them decide what to purchase? Think about that at your next social media marketing team meeting.

Sixty percent of Gen Zers said it’s important that brands value their opinions and 54 percent want to decide how brands contact them, according to a report by IBM Institute for Business Value

That’s a problem since almost half of Gen Zers surveyed in the IBM report said they either didn’t get a response from a brand or they weren’t satisfied with or felt neutral about the response they did get. An easy way to have an edge on your competition is simply to interact with Gen Zers – whose buying power is estimated at $143 billion – on social media.

As you’ve most likely witnessed firsthand, social media marketing trends can change in an instant. That’s why it’s so important to stay on top of what consumers want, how they react, and what you can do as a digital marketer to get ahead.

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