In this presentation I gave at Social Media Breakfast-Minneapolis/St. Paul, I take on glut of "social media trend" posts we see each year, and instead offer up more realistic social trends you can actually ACT on in 2017.
5. ACHACH
TODAY:
• Hit on 9 ”trend du jours”
• Suggest 9 more realistic trends to capitalize
on in 2017
• And WHY they’re actual trends that might impact
your work in the year ahead
SMB MSP
9. ACHACH
84 Facebook posts…in ALL of 2016
21 posts in December
6 posts in November
6 posts in October
5 posts in September
6 posts in August
2 posts in July
12 posts in June
0 posts in May
4 posts in April
9 posts in March
8 posts in February
5 posts in January
SMB MSP
10. ACHACH
44 Facebook posts…in ALL of 2016
1 post in December
2 posts in November
0 posts in October
1 post in September
4 posts in August
6 posts in July
5 posts in June
2 posts in May
5 posts in April
3 posts in March
8 posts in February
7 posts in January
SMB MSP
12. ACHACH
WHY?
• Increased and proven-effective and efficient
advertising options
• More time to focus on better creative
• Opportunity to jump off the volume-driven content
marketing bandwagon
SMB MSP
15. ACHACH
WHY?
• Audience adoption of VR/AR still not quite there
• Is the “Glasshole” effect still in play (just a little)?
• Brands still learning to embrace live and 360 video.
SMB MSP
24. ACHACH
But brand emoji over-saturation is
upon us.
• 59% of top brands tweeted using an emoji in
Q4 2015
• 40% of top brands posted on Facebook using
an emoji in Q4 2015
• 775% increase in emoji usage in marketing
messages
• Brands sent 145 million emoji messages in
June 2015
SMB MSP
33. ACHACH
WHY?
• Exec/employee gap has never been wider (in pay,
comms channels)
• Employees frequently tune out corporate
communications channels (sorry internal comms
friends!)
• Surprisingly, it may be easier to cut through clutter
on LinkedIn than employee email
SMB MSP
36. ACHACH
Why will more leaders start using
LinkedIn Publishing to close the gap?
• LinkedIn still THE professional social network.
• Little competition—especially among executive suite
• Won’t generate reach of Facebook, but will reach
the RIGHT audience.
• Appears more “human” than other corporate
communications channels.
SMB MSP
38. ACHACH
But, new Gallup poll says…
• 41% of employees don’t know what differentiates
their company’s brand
• 26% of U.S. workers feel their organization doesn’t
always deliver on the promises they make to
customers
• 71% of Millennials are not engaged or actively
disengaged at work.
SMB MSP
40. ACHACH
• Consider…
* Companies with a strong employer brand have a
3X more applicants per job post on LinkedIn
* 69% of job seekers would not take a job with a
company with a bad reputation even if they were
unemployed
* Companies with a strong employer brand have a
28% lower turnover rate than peers with weaker
employer brands
SMB MSP
43. ACHACH
WHY?
• Business need—Economy is relatively strong +
Age of the job seeker
• Millennial and Gen Z job search strategies are
changing (as are Gen X and Y)
• Many HR teams running these channels now (and
it’s not working so well—time to get involved
PR/marketing friends!)
SMB MSP
44. ACHACH
#6 Trend du jour:
Engaging influencers to extend brand reach
SMB MSP
46. ACHACH
WHY?
• Breaking news: Creative is expensive
• Who has a better feel for your target audience: An
influencer or your ad agency?
• Who has a better grasp of interactive and immersive
media: An influencer or your ad agency?
SMB MSP
51. ACHACH
But…
The slow, painful death of engagement
(and maybe an entire platform) is just as
likely--and you should be adjusting
appropriately
SMB MSP
56. ACHACH
And Twitter is slowly dying, too.
• Twitter increasingly not a safe place for users.
• It’s still not an easy place for new users.
• It’s not nearly the engagement tool it once was for
brands (now more of a media/celebrity tool).
• It’s almost a confirmed non-traffic driver at this point
for brands.
• Question #1: Are you spending time on the *right*
platforms?
• Question #2: Have you conducted an audit recently?
SMB MSP
60. ACHACH
Consider the facts:
• Pinterest = second largest social media driver of
retail e-commerce traffic
• 55% of U.S. Pinterest users shopped for products -
more than on any other social network
• Promoted Pins are driving double-digit “lift” across
the funnel
62. ACHACH
WHY?
• Pinterest is an extremely underrated traffic driver
(remember the holy trinity of social metrics?)
• More applicable for more companies in 2017: Snap
Spectacles or spending $500 to promote a Pin?
• More applicable for more companies in 2017: An
active Snapchat account, or an active Pinterest
page?
SMB MSP
64. ACHACH
“Chatbots offer flexibility in order to automate tasks,
and assist in retrieving data. They are becoming a vital
way to enhance the consumer experience for the
purpose of better customer service and growing
interaction.” – Unnamed Social Media Guru
SMB MSP
65. ACHACH
But maybe…
The pendulum is on the verge of swinging
way back from uber-automation to more
personal, authentic content
SMB MSP
66. ACHACH
The environment is ripe…
• The advent of fake news
• Trust is down across the board
(See: Edelman Trust Barometer)
• “Content shock”
SMB MSP
71. ACHACH
9 Social Media Trends
• #1: Less is the new more
• #2: More immersive video more common
• #3: Long-form content on short-form channels
• #4: LinkedIn Publishing to close employee-exec gap
• #5: Refining Employer Brand Social
• #6: Engaging influencers as freelance creatives
• #7: Prepare for the Twitter exodus (and death of
engagement)
• #8: More Pinterest—less Snapchat
• #9: Pendulum will swing back to more authentic content
SMB MSP