With over 2.5 billion active social media users worldwide, this platform is one of the greatest rays of hope for the online traders. In addition, this figure is growing 9% every single year. The opportunities are huge and so is the risk. The only way to keep up with the ever-changing market scenario and the cut-throat competition is to stay informed about the market trends. While we are on the doorstep of the third quarter of the year, it is high time for all the marketers to analyze their results and make necessary changes in their marketing strategy.
The social media platform has seen most of the sparks in the recent past and will continue to surprise the marketers in the future. The blog talks about some of the social media trends that will hold the gears of eCommerce in the future. Check them out.
1. Live Streaming
While product videos have always been a USP for the online seller, this aspect is expected to take a leap in the coming year. Taking a shift from the content marketing, the social media platform is expected to see a rise in live video contents. As per a report, approximately 30 – 40% social media marketers have used the interactive video this year. This figure is expected to grow even more in the coming year. One of the statistical reports that give a green flag to this estimation is the fact that live streaming on Facebook reached record-breaking numbers around the globe on this year’s New Year eve. Some of the biggest players in the industry have already pulled up their socks for the huge opportunity, the small and medium enterprises need to gear up for the changing ecosystem.
2. Virtual Reality
Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are undoubtedly the future of eCommerce businesses. This is the talk of the town for over a decade now, but haven’t implementation till the last year. Along with Google and Microsoft, even Facebook is working on this technology for a past few years. This makes inevitable for the eCommerce businesses to make changes in their content marketing strategy. The contents should enable the consumers to compare and visualize the products without getting the touch and feel of the same. This would make it easier for them to take the purchase decision. The introduction of the virtual reality in the social platforms has reduced the dependence of the customer’s decision on the word-of-mouth. So, the online businesses should enhance their social media marketing strategy in order to tap the market while it is still hot and new.
3. Social eCommerce
Not just the marketing strategies, the entire face of the online trading has changed from eCommerce to m-commerce and now to social commerce. Trading directly through the social media platforms without driving the traffic to the website is on the rise. According to a survey from Aimia, 56% of consumers said that they follow their brands on social media in order to browse products for sale. Moreover, surprisingly 31% of online shoppers said that they use social media specifically to look for new items to purchase. Not just Pinterest, even Twitter, and Facebook are allowing for purchases. One of the most prominent platforms for tapping the social commerce market is Facebook. Most of the eCommerce stores now offer the option to sync the products of the site on the Facebook store. For instance, Prestashop FB store plugin allows the Prestashop owners to have their own shop on their Facebook pages.
4. Chatting tools
Most of the marketers may consider it a traditional and orthodox method, but SMS has a phenomenal 99% open rate. Most of the brands and the online businesses have made use of the hand held devices to market their brands and have seen exceptional results. The messaging tools, especially, Whatsapp on of the other platforms that will have a marginal effect in the eCommerce ecosystem in 2017 and years to come. It was announced last year that WhatsApp will share user data with Facebook for ad targeting with an option to opt out. Hence, sticking to the classic methods will be one of the ways stay in sync with the growing market.
5. Shift from SnapChat to Instagram
SnapChat have been a trailblazer lately, but this year has seen a change in the trends. A marginal shift in the interest of the online buyers has been observed. Instagram offers a vastly bigger audience than Snapchat. The former has 600 million users while the latter has 150 million users. While Facebook still remains the key to success, the businesses that can quest the market of Instagram will have an egde over the crowd. In fact, many small enterprises have reaped results by advertising their product on Instagram.
6. Mobile advertising
Promotional messages and mobile marketing are two different things. This year, the marketers have made a greater investment in mobile advertising. The ad revenue of Facebook is more than $7 billion out of which 80% came from mobile ads. Even the mobile ad revenue of SnapChat raised the eyebrows of the online marketers, but that of Instagram is something all the online business needs to look out for.
7. Video Storytelling
This is one of the most interesting progressions in the online sphere. Storytelling through video ads has actually succeeded in grabbing the attention of the customers in the competitive marketplace. Amazon.in has made full use of the technique. Their ad for with signature hashtag campaigns and attractive videos is a trend setter. The videos build excitement and nurture customers relationship. Every ad campaign gained millions of views, likes and shares. This has opened up new doors and opportunities for the marketers. Along with this, video testimonials and clips providing quick tips to the customers are other influential ways to stand out among your competitors.
Over to you
The options of social login and Facebook post feed on the eCommerce website are all aimed at increasing the visibility and customer engagement at the social platform. However, eCommerce is changing constantly and so is Social Media. Predicting what’s gonna work and what not is tough, but these staying abreast of these trends will definitely help you go a step ahead in the competitive scenario.
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