Table of Contents
Social Media Marketing:
Will social media marketing ever rule the internet? By 2025, social media marketing will become the king of marketing with the implementation of mind-blowing technologies.
Read on to know how social media marketing can become the powerhouse of online marketing.
Key points:
- Number of social media users to double in 5 years
- Is social media going to dominate the e-commerce sector?
- Will new technologies redefine social media and change the ways of digital marketing?
How Can Social Media be the Next Big Thing in Online Marketing?
According to research in the UK, Facebook overtook Google search in the 2010s. With the rise in the number of users and the implementation of new features in the apps, social media could likely challenge Google search in terms of marketing and advertising.
If marketers could tap into the full potential of social media marketing based on intent, it could do wonders for the brands in terms of reach and lead generation. Igniting interest in potential customers before focusing entirely on marketing campaigns is the key to intent-based marketing.
Dove’s real beauty ad campaign on Facebook and Youtube is an excellent example, where they gave importance to igniting interest in customers and developing a positive relationship with them before leaping into marketing campaigns.
Social media advertisements are quite instrumental in the success of a company’s lead generation.
Expansion of users:
The attention span of people who browse through online content is shriveling up like a raisin and shifting towards the content on social media. With the population rising and expansion of Gen Z, more kids are getting their hands on smartphones. Hence, the demography is shifting towards social media. It seems impossible to live without it.
There are 3.96 billion users worldwide and 2.6 billion active users are on Facebook, in 2020 and it’s rapidly growing. The number of social media users is estimated to cross 5 billion in 2025*. As a result, customer reach could multiply and brand awareness could intensify.
Businesses that will flourish with social media marketing are cosmetics, clothing, home decor, skin & hair care, food & beverages, pharmacy, and others. Reaching potential customers and interacting with them would become less challenging than it is today.
Number of social media users has been rising steadily and is expected to cross 5 billion by 2025.
*The Number is Based on Prediction and may not be 100% Accurate:
The large audience on Facebook has enabled many businesses to take marketing forward and reach millions of customers. The number of Facebook users is expected to double within 5 years.
With the implementation of new technologies like AI, virtual and augmented reality, Zuckerberg plans to bring the population that is not connected, onboard to Facebook. This could positively impact reach and interaction for thousands of businesses.
New features on Facebook:
- Sponsored messages that will target only a specific audience who earlier engaged with your brand, will roll out soon. These messages can be about updates or offers on products or services.
- Facebook is bound to give YouTube some competition with its new feature “watch”, where live videos and live event coverages are streamed. Marketers can utilize this to add ads in mid-roll of videos or use the feature itself to interact with the customers.
- Speech recognition program where users will be able to search and send a message by speaking. The acquisition of ai by Facebook helped it roll out this new feature where it transcribes what you say into text.
Instagram, one of the best platforms for visual content networking, with over 1 billion active users, has contributed to the increase in marketing profit for many businesses.
An average person spends about 45 minutes on Instagram daily and will come across a business account at least once.
“Over 70% of teens say the best way for a brand to reach them is through Instagram, making it an ideal platform for marketing to Gen-Z.”
An increase in the number of users could mean good news for marketing. There is a possibility of new features added to Instagram business, maybe even a separate portal within the app to carry out all the marketing and advertising activities. Just a prediction though. The AR features on Instagram are already rolling out and will soon be used by brands as a marketing strategy.
Influencer marketing is on the rise. Small businesses can pay micro-influencers to promote their products. Micro-influencers are growing and soon they will be the top marketing strategy. The engagement level with micro-influencers is a little higher than normal influencers.
While Instagram helps with reach and brand awareness, Twitter can be used to maintain a brand image. It’s the best social network to interact with the customers and stay updated about the latest trends and news happening around the world.
People spend 26% more time viewing ads on Twitter than any other social media.
The future of eCommerce:
Is social media going to dominate the e-commerce sector?
With the growing number of users on social media, marketing of products and services will also increase. The advantage for the marketers is the insights that are provided by the networks which help improve the marketing strategy. Having every activity carried on in one place makes it all easier for both consumers and marketers.
Embedding social media in e-commerce can boost the sales of small businesses that have extremely low budgets for ads. Facebook has recently launched shops within its network where brands can advertise to people active on the platform. The implementation of this feature allows people to buy directly from the brands.
When the age of augmented reality commences in e-commerce, it will provide the highest level of user experience that is unmatched with any other technology. It provides an almost real experience for consumers who cannot buy products that are available in distant stores or unavailable in physical stores. And social media added to it only makes it better.
Read: E-commerce or online shopping: when and how it was introduced.
Wouldn’t it be easier if you could find what you want in one place where all of us hang out?
New technologies in social media:
The future of social media marketing lies in three key points: AI, Virtual reality and augmented reality.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a computer-generated system that enables machines to learn and respond like a human. It is used by Gmail to predict and write parts of your email; Netflix to recommend movies and shows based on your interest.
In social media, AI can
- Improve the performance of your page or account
- Curate content that works best for your audience
- Respond to messages (chatbots)
- And interact with customers.
According to Markets and Markets, the spend for ads using AI for social media is estimated to grow by $2.1 billion by 2023.
How will social media benefit from AI in the future?
In social media, AI recommends people you might like to connect with, identifies visuals, recommends relevant jobs (on LinkedIn), and whatnot. For advertisers, AI can write ads on Facebook and Instagram specifically for the brand they are working for, and optimize the ads for clicks and conversions.
It can also manage and distribute social media content in a short time, making the job of social media marketers easier.
Artificial intelligence selects images that have high engagement, making it easier for marketers to market visual content. Furthermore, image recognition with AI can be used to learn the behavior of customers and strategise accordingly.
AI can also process large data from the internet and help marketers find target audiences faster. Soon, it becomes imperative for marketers to use AI in social media.
Read: How AI impacts Digital Marketing
Talking about virtual reality in social media, Zuckerberg has big plans for Facebook and aims to upgrade it to provide the best virtual user experience. Imagine meeting your friends in a cafe or a carnival without leaving your home! That imagination can become reality right in front of your eyes with the help of virtual reality glasses or goggles.
Yet to become mainstream, VR opens many doors for businesses to create a virtual experience of their products or services for the customers. A virtual store, if you will.
There are many upcoming VR filters on Instagram that have improved customer engagement on a new level. Brands can use the filters or make their own, to make customers interact with them.
Virtual reality advertisements can replace the ads we know today and provide an insight into the products with much clarity and fun incorporated. Modern ads can not compete with that! Examples: Adidas’s ad for VR adventure “Delicatessen”, partnered with Somewhere else; Lowe’sHoloroom How to- shows users what and how to re-do their home.
Facebook bought Oculus for 2 billion dollars in 2014 as it saw its potential in not only virtual video games, but also in improving engagement on social media. So using virtual reality in advertisements can change the way customers interact with your products and give you a higher rate of ROI.
Coming to Augmented reality, probably the most awaited feature to pop up on social media, can alter the mode of advertising once it’s implemented for marketing.
According to Tractica, the AR-based ad spend is estimated to be $13 billion by 2022:
With AR features, people can “try on” products that will help make their decision easier in purchasing. They can try on products like glasses, clothes, lipsticks, etc. Instagram now lets you shop with AR features and many brands will soon follow the trend.
80% of people buy impulsively online, according to a poll by CreditCard.com. AR features will nudge towards more impulsive online shopping.
If you see a sofa or a piece of furniture online, you’re less likely to buy them immediately because you are not sure if they would fit right in the space you are going to put them in. An augmented version of that sofa can help you actually see how it would fit in the space and help you make a decision faster. The same goes for clothes too. It might challenge brick-and-mortar stores and they may have to resort to e-commerce if they haven’t already.
Are you excited about the future and want to start social media marketing? You’ve come to the right place! We provide one of the best social media marketing services in Bangalore.
Why is social media marketing effective?
Can social media marketing really help your business?
Regardless of any businesses’ size and type, social media marketing is not just a need, but a staple in the marketing strategy that will take them to new heights. Especially in the future.
Many Digital Marketing Companies are getting busy helping a lot of clients run their social media business accounts.
Pretty soon, people are going to search for brands on social media networks more than on Google because –
- Social media has more room for transparency and information that are accessible easily to everyone, through stories and posts. They can see all the activities you do, and all the products you sell better than the websites.
- With new VR and AR futures predicted to dominate social media, they will want their favourite brands to advertise or display their products that can be viewed in VR or AR mode. They will want to “try” the products, which may result in more impulse buys. Companies can bag more leads than before and even get higher ROI.
- It offers more space to interact with your brand than on the websites, as social media is much more relaxed and informal. A website is very monotonous and formal, where customers may not connect with brands immediately.
- It helps them relate to brands and form a bond. If they wanted to share their experience with your brand, they would talk about it on social media and even share your posts or page with the people, rather than sharing website links.
- It keeps them updated about the latest products, events or activities easily through stories, ads, posts, and they might make a purchase immediately, provided there is a link attached to the products page.
- Not only can they see the products, but also the number of followers, reviews in the comments, testimonial posts and more. It is a common notion that the more followers a brand has, the higher their reliability and effectiveness their products or services are. The customers who are not familiar with brands having over ten thousand followers can feel like they are missing out on something. So they are more likely to look into the page and become possible prospects.
In other news:
Not just in marketing, but social media can help business organisations come together to make the world a better place by spreading awareness of the issues in the environment, society and economy.
The challenge is to make people engage with these issues and act on them. Augmented reality can help them experience the seriousness of the issues, and bring about their involvement in making the world a better place.
Examples: With Facebook’s Spark AR platform, NatGeo designed its first-ever AR-enabled video on Earth Day to show people how 12 key cities would look like in the next 50 years under climate change;
Teaming with WWF, Facebook spread awareness on near-extinction of species like white rhinos by providing Augmented costumes that people could “try on”.
In conclusion:
Will new technologies redefine social media marketing? The possibilities are endless. Digital marketing as it exists today will not be the same in the next 10 years. Social media will keep on changing and constantly thriving, though it could be completely different in the future. It is here to stay in any form and it is here to connect us all to everyone. Over the last 10 years, social media and digital marketing have undergone rigorous changes.
Now the technology is changing at a much faster pace, that in the next 5 years, it could change the way we perceive digital marketing.
For any queries related to this blog, please feel to contact us. Webi7 is one of the Best Digital Marketing Companies in Bangalore.
