4 Social Media Features You Should Be Utilizing in 2018 2018 is less than 2 weeks away - and though it’s a time crunch - you still have time to take full advantage of the opportunities social media will bring you in the new year. If you want to grow and increase your audience, social media is a great marketing tool to use in today’s market. With many ways to connect with people, showcase your content and much more, it’s made easy and convenient for brands to grow their business. Plus most of the time, social media costs nothing and is very easy to quickly grasp if you are just starting out. Social media trends are constantly growing and changing by the minute - sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Today, we will be sharing with you some helpful insights and new social media features you should be utilizing for your upcoming marketing plans in 2018. 1) Direct Messaging As we all know, social media is an excellent tool for communication, and lately direct messaging has shown an increase in the past years. With many apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram Direct Message, etc. it gives you more of a reason to always be utilizing it. Direct messaging is an opportunity to better your customer service in real-time or within a 24 hour period. Instead of having to spend hours on hold on the phone or patiently waiting for a response via email - brands are able to quickly respond to customer questions or concerns. 2) Live Streaming or Video Marketing This is huge and should be one of your top priority features to use as a business. It all started with Snapchat, then Facebook decided to integrate video on Instagram and Facebook - which happens to be one of the most used feature currently trending. If you’re not on video, you’re competitors are most likely are - so get with it! With video marketing or live streaming, it allows you as a brand to get more personable while may increase your credibility or trust with your audience. 3) Hashtag Follows This is a very recent feature on Instagram - not only can you follow people but you can now follow the brand’s hashtags. As a brand, you should be using specific hashtags that relate to you and your brand. For example, Banana Republic encourages users to use #ItsBanana when they decide to post on their social media platforms. The hashtags allow you to be organized and have all the photos or videos in one place. In 2018, easily plan ways using your social media to encourage your already following to also follow your hashtags for new updates, etc. 4) Advertising Do you want to increase your sales and leads, drive traffic to your site or posts? The best way to achieve this is to start utilizing social media advertising such as Facebook and Instagram ads.
Sit down, strategize and plan out your 2018 marketing plans - start off with these top 4 social media features.