Page 6 - AeM_Feb_2019

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Instant messaging overtakes the more traditional

social networks, Hootsuite report reveals

Last year has been a turbulent year for social media in Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends 2019 in a nutshell:
many ways. To protect their privacy, Penny Wilson,
CMO at Hootsuite explained, many social media users 1. Rebuilding trust
now use more often closed channels such as Facebook
Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat. This gives Customers are increasingly paying attention to who
companies the opportunity to build a new kind of they interact with in social media and to whom they
customer relationship, especially with many customers entrust data. Therefore, brands must adapt their
using instant messaging for interactions such as support strategy and quickly bring more relevant content to their
requests. target audience, while being authentic and in line with
the brand.
The Hootsuite report, which we briefly present in the
following, shows businesses executives, marketers,
customer experience, and social media experts and how After the Cambridge Analytica scandal and
they see their opportunities in how to succeed in 2019: congressional hearing, Facebook faced pressure from
e.g. with videos posted via Snapchat, Instagram and users and regulators to improve security, transparency,
Facebook Stories, followers can be addressed via and accuracy, meanwhile, Twitter fought controversies
"Storifying" instead of traditional "storytelling," which over the large presence of bots on its platform, purging
leads to more engagement. This allows brands to tell millions of fake accounts, To no surprise, 60% of
their own, more emotional stories that are important and people no longer trust social media companies by now
relevant and reach their audience immediately. and consumers, regulators, and media observers
questioned the privacy, accuracy, and ethics of nearly
every social network.
The fact is, that as the organic reach decreased in 2018,
brands had to invest more in Paid Social to spread their
messages. As a result, competition has intensified here For brands on social media, this shift presents new
as well, which is why brands must once again look to challenges and opportunities, Hootsuite states. “Users
new approaches in the coming year. have grown distrustful of many media and celebrity
influencers whose followings, it turns out, are often
bought or fake, so that trust has reverted back to
In addition, e-commerce is increasingly pushing directly
into the social media channels, where customers can immediate friends, family, and acquaintances on social
now even complete their purchases. Above all, this media, as well as traditional and trusted journalism
increases the convenience for users who already use outlets”
social media to network with brands or search for
articles, recommendations and support.

6 February 2019 - Strategic Social Media, Influencer Marketing & Paid Media