5 Social Media Trends For eCommerce In 2018

eCommerce is becoming increasingly popular and with the increase in smartphone users it’s no wonder why.  There are over 2 billion smartphone users globally and of that an estimated 1.66 billion people worldwide purchased goods online in 2017.
We are a quarter of the way through the ‘new’ year, at some point we stop calling it the new year.  The good news is, we don’t stop calling it the ‘new’ year just yet – with ‘new’ in mind it’s time to take a look at what social media trends are set to be big for 2018 in the eCommerce world.
If you own an eCommerce website or have anything to do with eCommerce you will want to read ahead to see what new trends to look out for or risk being left behind.

1. Social Analytics Making Life Easier
   

   We all know how frustrating it can be when scrolling through our social media feeds and random adverts pop up, especially for stuff that you’re not even interested in.  In fact it can be so annoying that you decided to play a game on your phone for a little while and put social media on a time out.
   
   With that being said the good news is that social media is finally evolving in favour of businesses and their marketing strategies.  This means that social media platforms are making marketing much simpler and easier with great new tools to help them identify how and who to distribute their content to.
   This is not only revolutionary for businesses as it saves a lot of time and effort but also great for users of social media.  How amazing will it be to scroll through social media feeds and actually come across adverts and content that you are interested in, instead of spam and irrelevant content.
   This trend is particularly picking up in 2018 and is key for content marketers and before you know it all social media platforms will be adapting their tools to fit in line with this trend.  Keep an eye out for any updates to social analytics and utilise them effectively so that you can provide an improved personalised experience for your customers.

2. Varying Social Media Platforms for Effective Marketing

   No matter how much social media evolves there is still one common question you need to ask yourself before adopting a social media strategy ‘What social media platform should i choose to use for my business?’.
   
   In reality you will research each social media platform alongside working out who your target demographic is and then make a final decision on which platforms are best suited to your needs.  However, social media is so widely used in today’s world that businesses are adopting the use of it on a daily basis which is forcing social media platforms to regularly update their features and marketing tools.  New features and marketing tools are being released on social media platforms more often than not and with the competitive competition between social media platforms and copying tactics businesses are going to have to start making more calculated decisions on which platform is best suited to their needs.  One example of this is Snapchat and Instagram battling it out with live stories.
   The competition between social media platforms is highly unlikely to slow down any time soon and with this trend likely to stick around there is the possibility of businesses having to change platforms even if they have been using the same platform for the last 10 years.  It is important to note that this is a very vital trend that should not be ignored especially if you want succeed and use marketing features to your benefit.

3. Social Listening Is On The Rise

   As far as research and marketing goes web monitoring has become a very useful social listening tool that can aid you in learning what it is exactly your target audience needs in their day to day life.  Daily online searches is at an all time high and expected to continue to rise.  With the rise of smartphone users and AI assistants becoming increasing popular it’s no wonder that people are turning to internet to ask questions.  Question phrases are the most common type of internet searches, such as how, why and where.
   
   As well as asking questions people are also answering questions and giving their own feedback which is a great opportunity for businesses to learn the likes and dislikes of their following base.  So what does this mean? It means that in today’s climate it is time to take social listening as an opportunity to develop your marketing strategy beyond words can describe.

4. Video Marketing Going Viral

   Literally videos are going viral!  Think about the last time you was on your social media feed, now think about how many videos you saw on your timeline feed? Need we say anymore?
   
   2018 is definitely the year for videos, and this is a trend that is nowhere near likely to change anytime soon.  People like to be entertained and believe it or not most people would rather watch a 2 minute video than read the same message.  Most people will be surprised by the statistics surrounding video marketing, as we’re sure they are a lot higher than you expected it.  But with social media platforms making it easier for businesses to adopt video marketing techniques it’s no surprise. So what’s stopping you from video marketing?

5. Chatbots Are the Way Forward For Customer Service

   How many times have you been on a website and wanted to find out more information but through lack of communication got fed up and decided to move onto another website.  The answer has to be thousands of times.
   With the rise of chatbots this is thankfully becoming a thing of the past, those little chat features on the bottom left of a website have become a highly valued feature.  With such a feature it means that you can make an instant connection with your audience and help out with any queries they may have, whilst also maintaining their connection with your website reducing your CTR.  Instant responses to valued queries is making customer service so much easier as far as customer service is concerned for companies.
   
   Chatbots have been around for a while but with the increase in popularity also comes the ability to customise your chatbots so that they are more humanely interactive as opposed to acting like a robot.  Businesses are given the opportunity to tailor chatbots to their specific needs thus maximising the effectiveness of them.
   Chatbots are helpful and save an immense amount of resources and money, don’t risk being left behind and start thinking about how you can utilise chatbots to your benefit.

eCommerce is an ever growing industry and is becoming increasingly popular so it is important that you stay up-to-date an in the know at all times.  Otherwise you risk being a few steps behind while the rest of the world continues to evolve.  Social media is always changing and the chances are it will continue to update to stay in line with the world of technology that we live in today.  Keep your social media strategy up-to-date and fresh and you will have a successful campaign.
Managing your social media can be tricky and often enough time consuming, if you need any help or would like a professional expert to manage your accounts for you get in touch today.