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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

2. Storifying Social commerce hasn’t kept pace in North America despite
the long-hyped promise of buy buttons.” New and
According to consulting firm Block Party, Stories—the evolving technologies are changing that—especially for
vertical, disappearing videos invented by Snapchat—are young buyers: e.g. Instagram’s shoppable posts now
now growing 15 times faster than feed-based sharing. allow users to go from discovery to checkout without
So, since the format is playing an increasingly important ever leaving the app and the platform has even added
role in sharing and even buying, brands need to include a Shopping tab to its Explore page; Facebook’s
stories in their repertoire in 2019. Marketplace is now used in 70 countries by more than
800 million people; on Pinterest,55% of customers
Hootsuite explains: “Social media is pivoting from text- using the site to find and shop for products, and beyond
based platforms originally designed for desktop use the familiar YouTube, new formats—from in-stream
(think early Facebook) to truly mobile-only networks that buying plugins for Instagram to livestream shopping on
enable users to capture in-the-moment experiences— WeChat—have emerged for integrating social video
and Stories embody that pivot. Stories are deeper into the buyer’s journey.
overwhelmingly visual and meant to be created and
consumed on the fly with nothing more than a A key issue in 2019 will be that brands will make
smartphone and a creative eye. Because they’re shopping on social media live, interactive and seamless
ephemeral—often disappearing after a day—there’s - especially on mobile devices. The most successful
more room for fun and experimentation. Stories feel real, brands will invest a lot of energy in 2019 to show their
immediate, and intensely personal.” That’s why brands customers how their products and services fit into their
increasingly embracing the intimate, multimedia look and everyday lives.
feel of Stories.
5. Messaging eats the world
3. Closing the ad gap
The four largest messaging apps together have nearly
The growing competition at Paid Social is forcing five billion users who are active at least once a month.
marketers to come up with more than just spending As a result, instant messaging is quickly overtaking
more and more money. Instead, they need to take more traditional social networks. Sixty-nine percent of
customers seriously and engage them with personally consumers surveyed by Hootsuite say they trust a
relevant content to add value. brand more when they can contact them through a
messaging service. What’s clear, however, is that
But rising costs and fleeting attention are limiting ROI for consumers don’t want more advertising channels but a
advertisers. To counter this, paid social teams are better 1:1 social experience, hence, smart brands are
pairing ad money with equal time investment, creativity, using messaging apps for more high-value
and targeting savvy. Their goal is to generate user conversations.
discussion and engagement, rather than to simply
“broadcast” an ad at an audience. Combined, these trends can provide great new
opportunities for brands to build a deeper, more
4. Cracking the commerce code authentic and sustainable relationship with their
customers in 2019 and beyond. ◊
According to Hootsuite’s report social commerce By Daniela La Marca
adoption has been swift in Asia, with 70% of the Gen Z
in China now buying direct from social, but social

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