Social media has made quite a few advancements this year. Twitter has upgraded to 280 characters, video and live streaming has grown in popularity and visual platforms such as Instagram continue to expand.

With 2017 coming to a close, businesses will look forward to revamping their social media strategy. Due to various platforms and variables to consider, we’ve gathered the top three social media trends to consider in 2018.

Video and Live Streaming Will Continue to Grow

There are various social media platforms for integrating video into your social media strategy. Businesses who have incorporated video marketing saw a 49 percent increase in revenue compared to non-video users. Videos have been shown to elicit higher reach and engagement.

Live streaming has exploded in popularity. It is easily accessible via mobile and desktop and doesn’t need a fancy set up to get started. Businesses can use live streaming to introduce new products, host Q&As, show their business culture and much more.

Since Instagram Stories launched in August 2016, it has surpassed Snapchat by accumulating over 200 million users each month. Instagram Stories is only a year old and will continue to grow in 2018. If businesses want to engage with Instagram users, they need to take the time to learn how to utilize Instagram Stories effectively.

Ephemeral Content

Ephemeral content will disappear after a person views it or after a 24 hour period. Businesses may not want their content to disappear, but this is a trend they must consider.

The short visibility may seem like a weakness, but it is actually a benefit. According to a recent study, people lose concentration after eight seconds and attention spans will continue to decrease with more technological distractions.

With younger millennials and generation Z consuming more content, FOMO (fear of missing out) has become prevalent. This may result in consumers responding faster to ephemeral content which will make businesses happier.

Personalized Content

Businesses are getting more creative on the visual look of their content, but cookie cutter copy is no longer trusted.

Businesses will have to begin stepping into the consumer’s shoes. Instead of promoting a product with general advertising, businesses will have to advertise the specific problem their product can solve. This personalized content should be based on gender, age, location, income and other variables to connect with their target buyer. Integrating a storytelling approach to connect on a personal level can often lead to better engagement and sales.

We expect a lot of changes in the social media in 2018, which means the role of social media marketers and businesses will continue to expand.

Follow BusySeed to stay updated on social media changes and how to utilize them in your marketing strategy.