2018 is here and with it brings new trends and opportunities to engage with our customers in the digital realm. So what does this year hold for us?
Here are 4 trends that we think would be big role players this year and should form part of your digital strategies for 2018
1.
Video is king
Video is still and will always be a big deal in the digital space. We live in a world that runs at the speed of light and where change is the only constant thing. With time being so valuable, creating more video content for your brand makes it that much easier for you to get your message across, saving your followers time. There are various ways that you can explore and use video content for your brand such as, live videos, GIFs, 360 videos, timelapses etc. Videos have exploded onto social media platforms and will continue to remain the most effective way in which to engage with your audience.
Take time to research the various video formats available and test them to see which ones your audience best engages with. With Facebook’s recent announcement of how they will be ranking posts in newsfeeds based on engagement, this is critical to grow your reach and social presence.
2.
It’s all about mobile
We currently have a total of 20.3 million mobile users in South Africa, who spend on average 3 hours a day on their mobile devices. Majority of South Africans access the internet via their mobile device which means marketing for mobile use is a must! This little device allows millions of South Africans access to brands and information all from the palm of their hand. It is imperative that your website is mobile responsive and has quick loading time, allowing for an easy and efficient user journey. Google has recently introduced a tool that will allow you to test how responsive your website it. This brings us to another important point regarding mobile and that is the use of mobile influencers. Influencers are increasingly becoming a popular way in which to indirectly engage with your audience. The rise of micro influencers is seen as the way to go when wanting to punt your brand across social.
3.
Voice search
Although voice search doesn’t seem like a major driver at the moment, we think otherwise. Voice search allows users to give speech commands to a phone or desktop. There are many voice search platforms such as Google Now, Siri, Genie to name but a few. Brands should definitely think about researching and possibly adding this to your digital strategies for 2018. Whilst researching for this blog we found that voice search will soon affect SEO strategies, so best you start working on how you can incorporate it and use it to your advantage, for starters ensure that your website content is adapted to how people speak, because the way people speak is way more diverse than the way they’ve learnt to type phrases when searching for something.
4.
Create a community for your brand on social
Creating a feeling of community is becoming increasingly important especially on Facebook. Brands are encouraged to create a sense of community through Facebook Groups. These groups are a great way to connect more directly with your audience and allow them to interact with each other positively impacting on your reach and engagement. There are always pros and cons to exploring new platforms on social and much like how you manage the content on your Facebook page, your Facebook Group should be closely managed as well, to ensure that feedback is provided at an appropriate time to your followers and you constantly engaging with them so as to avoid any negative engagement with your brand.
The digital space has a lot in store for us in 2018 and these are our top digital trends to watch out for. If you want to stay ahead of your competition this year, feel free to drop us a line and let us help you put a digital strategy in place that will make you stand out from the rest!
