Take a look at the biggest social media trends that will be impacting brands in 2017.

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10 Social Media
Trends That Will
Impact Brands in
2017

2. What does the next phase of social media
evolution have in store? Here are 10 trends we
think will impact brands most in 2017.

3. 1. Facebook’s Feed to Be
Predominantly Video–
Including Vertical–by
2021.
Despite recent reports of Facebook’s
exaggerated video metrics, the social media
giant has seen wild success thus far with
Facebook Live and the launch of vertical
videos. Executives maintain that users’
news feeds will primarily consist of video
within five years.

4. Implication: Brands will need to embrace a
variety of video styles as a crucial part of their
outgoing social content mix to sustain visibility in
the Facebook feed.

5. 2. Instagram Brand
Engagement
Continues to Reign
Supreme
Engagement with brands is 10X higher
than Facebook, 54X higher than
Pinterest, and 84X higher than Twitter.
Additionally, 50% of Instagrammers follow
brands, making them the social
networkers who are most likely to do so.*
*Source: Brandwatch, 2016

6. Implication: Brands striving for engagement
should make Instagram a social focus, using
visual storytelling to connect with brand-savvy
users.

7. 3. The Rise of the
Personalized GIF
Within the last year or two, users have
become keen on using GIFs and emojis to
express emotion in conversations.
The evolution of these text alternatives has
driven more customization, with users
creating their own personal GIFs and
bitmojis. iOS 10 has enabled this
functionality, with Facebook moving beyond
static images and text-based profiles with
the introduction of Mobile Profiles.

8. Implication: Brands should consider ways to
enable consumers to express themselves and
embrace the notion of personality in a visual
sense. Brands should also keep GIFs in their
social media arsenal for easy content
consumption.

9. 4. The Rise of Informal
Storytelling
Brand adaptation of Snapchat,
Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, and
other less-formal mediums means
brands can tell their stories in a way that
feels more genuine and less edited.
GE on Snapchat

10. Implication: As social storytelling becomes more
informal, brands need to rethink their guidelines
to allow for more flexibility.

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5. Social Meets AI to Make More Customized
Experiences
AI’s integration into social means that more data will be analyzed to better serve
up content into users’ feeds and provide better customer service. AI is also fueling
chatbots that are programmed to understand and field users’ questions, and are
expected to feel even more human in the near future. An example is Taco Bell’s
Taco Bot that allows you to place an order for pickup via Slack, or American
Express sending customers related content based on his or her purchases.
Additionally, Facebook is testing an AI that identifies context from your phone’s
photos to deliver content that feels relevant.

12. Taco Bell’s Tacobot in Slack Facebook’s AI to identity items
in users’ photos to help deliver
relevant content

13. Implication: As consumers become more tuned
into the capabilities of chatbots, they will have
higher customer service expectations.
Additionally, brands have an opportunity to
integrate chatbots into Facebook Messenger and
other platforms to serve as a scalable, virtual
concierge.

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6. Users Crafting the
Social UX
Supplementing AI integration, social
platforms will give users more control
over how their feeds display content,
while factoring in your routine and
interests. These platforms apply
actions such as “unfollow this person”,
“hide”, and “see first” to continually
refine users’ feeds.

15. Implication: Brands should engage in usability
testing to ensure they’re delivering a user
experience that maps to customers’ behaviors.

16. 7. The Rise of the Little Guys
While behemoths like Facebook will continue to host the majority of social media
activity, smaller interest-based groups will begin to thrive. Especially those with
some kind of chat or forum-like functions that provide real-time interactions and
genuine engagement with like-minded individuals.
Current examples include Tastebuds, Ravelry, and Fishbrain.

18. Implication: Brands have an opportunity to tap
into these communities to conduct
ethnographic research.

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8. Sharing is Becoming Private
With the rise of Snapchat & Messaging apps, almost 70% of online shares
happen within ”dark social”. Dark social refers to one-to-one social sharing
occurring within sources that analytics tools are not able to track. That includes
native apps, email, messaging apps, and secure browsing.

20. Source: Econsultancy

21. Implication: With the rise of one-to-one
communication, brands should consider the role
social messaging could play to deliver
customized customer service or support
experiences.
Within these platforms, maintaining a casual and
conversational tone is crucial in building
relationships with customers.

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9. From Screens to
Scenes
Facebook’s introduction of 360º
video sets the stage for even more
interactive experiences in the years
to come, with AR and VR likely
reaching a mainstream audience in
2017 or 2018.

23. Implication: Brands who can’t immediately
partake in VR should focus on creating
memorable experiences – which can be
achieved both digitally and in-person.

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10. Social Zen and
the “Mindfulness”
Trend
The anxiety-inducing ripple effects of
our “always on” digital world are
driving users to use social media to
de-stress and find inner zen. Many
are turning to
the YouTube world of ASMR, videos
and apps for white noise, and
binaural audio streaming for
relaxation and sensory experiences.

25. Implication: Brands have an opportunity to stand
out by reducing incessant noise (figuratively
speaking) and focusing on fewer, higher-quality
experiences.

26. N o w i t ’ s y o u r t u r n t o s h a r e w h a t y o u k n o w .
L e a v e y o u r c o m m e n t s b e l o w !