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8 Social MediaTrends
to Watch in 2019
Arik C. Hanson
ACH Communications
Jan. 25, 2019

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ABOUT ARIK
• 20+ years experience;
solo since 2009;
@arikhanson
• Blogger, podcaster,
e-newsletter maker, board
member, event organizer

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Everyone’s talking trends!

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Most will talk about:
• You guys, VIDEO!!!!!!
• The “rise” of AI
• Hello micro-influencers!
• Chatbots

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And, of course, now everyone’s asking
“what’s your egg strategy?”

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Instead, today we will:
• Discuss 8 pragmatic social media trends for 2019.
• Talk about how those trends might impact YOU!
• Ideas on action steps to take as a result

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Trend #1: Instagram will take over
Facebook as the new social home base
for brands

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The New York Times is even
predicting it!

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Numbers tell the story.
• Instagram just surpassed 1 billion users. The only
other platform not named Facebook to do it.
• 71% of U.S. business now use Instagram
• Instagram is THE platform for influencers–80%
prefer the platform for brand collaborations
• 59% of 18-29 year-olds use Instagram

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Meanwhile, over on Facebook…
• Facebook saw a 5.6 percent decline in
users between 12 and 17 years old.
• They also saw a 5.8 percent decline in
users between 18 and 24 years old. This is the first
time Facebook has seen a decrease in users since
its inception.
• Facebook usage dropped–for the first time ever–
from 67% to 62% among Americans 12+ years
of age.

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Numbers don’t tell the whole story:
• Facebook is an increasingly toxic place for many
users. #DeleteFacebook is real.
• Facebook took a beating in the media in 2018.
• Facebook has completely lost it’s “cool” factor
(and guess who’s gained it!).

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Facebook: 87 engagements per post
Instagram: 11,974 engagements per post

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Facebook: 215 engagement per post
Instagram: 1,408 engagements per post

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Facebook: 980 engagements per post
Instagram: 9,148 engagements per post

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That’s 10 TIMES the engagement on
Instagram from Facebook!

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For now:
• Review your Facebook and Instagram numbers—
where are you seeing the most “bang for your
buck?”
• Consider experimenting with Instagram ads
(including Stories), if you haven’t already.
• Consider shifting more time/energy to Instagram—
but remember who’s spending time there.

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Trend #1a: Instagram will increasingly
become all about Stories

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It’s already happening—with success

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Consider the numbers:
• By last count, Instagram Stories now has 400 million
daily active users. That’s more users than Reddit,
Twitter, and Pinterest.
• Stories have also reportedly increased the time
users spend on Instagram, with an average of 32
minutes per day for those users under 25 years old,
and 24 minutes for users 25 and older.

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And, Insta continues to invest:
• “Story Highlights” – create branded graphics for your
page and save your stories permanently by
category.
• “Swipe up” – for verified business accounts with
10,000 or more followers. Gives brands the ability to
drive traffic to owned web properties and sites.
• Enhanced metrics – Host of in-app metrics for
Stories including impressions, engagements, taps
forward, taps back and exits.

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Opportunity for 2019…

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The challenges for brands:
• Staffing and resource challenges.
• Brand governance processes don’t allow for fast
posting.
• “Engagement” looks different on Stories.

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You know who’s doing this REALLY well?

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For now:
• Experiment, learn, experiment some more.
• Track results: Impressions, click forwards, click
backs
• Consider involving others (i.e., takeovers with
influencers, employees)

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Trend #2: Engagement, as a key metric,
will begin to fade.

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Why?
• #1: Brands increasingly aren’t even interested.

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Case in point:

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This is what brand
“engagement”
looks like in 2019

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This doesn’t seem to line up…

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Why?
• #2: Engagement rates on the biggest social platform
are plummeting.

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Facebook engagement has declined
50% in last 18 months

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Case in point:
272 engagements
10,233,733 followers
.0000265 engagement
rate

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Case in point:
18 engagements
15,561,798 followers
.0000011 engagement
rate

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Why?
• #3: Engagements are starting to become fluffy.

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For now:
• Evaluate your social media KPIs for 2019—do they
still make sense? Is engagement a part of that mix?
• Define engagement more succinctly—is it all about
customer service? Are video view metrics inflating
your results?
• Consider what you can do to capture more lead-
focused metrics—actions on site, e-newsletter
signups from social, lead form completions.

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Trend #3: Private social networking will
start to impact 2019 plans

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The stats tell the story: Messenger
use WAY up

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WhatsApp users have doubled in just
two years

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And, messaging growth will continue

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At the same time, again, this:

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Other signals
• Instagram investing more in its direct messaging
capabilities
o Video chat
o Poll functionality
o 250,000+ active users (as of 2017)
• Facebook testing the notion of deleting the
SHARE button
• Private and secret groups seemed to gain
momentum on Facebook in 2018.

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Plenty of opportunity.

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Is one-to-one the future of social?

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For now, ask yourself these questions:
• Do I start to adjust expectations with internal
stakeholders re: engagements? Should engagements
be a key metric in 2019?
• Should I explore the possibility of using more
automation to respond to more inbound private
messages? Should I look at chatbots more closely?
• What do I do about organic social media? Do I care?
Does this impact my content strategy and
generation?

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Trend #4: More focus on overlooked and
niche social media sites

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The “Big Four” still dominate, but…
• Quora
o 190M users
o 400,000 topics now exist on Quora
• Pinterest
o 250M active users
o 175B+ pins
o 1 in 2 millennials use Pinterest every day
• Reddit “Front page of the internet”
o 300M users
o Average visit: 15 minutes, 47 seconds

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Reddit is a different animal

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And, of course…
• 200,000 active
neighborhoods
• More than 17M
recommendations
• 90% of U.S.
neighborhoods are active
on Nextdoor

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City of Minneapolis actively (sort of)
engaging residents

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For now:
• Don’t over-rely on the major social networks—
constantly explore new networks where your
audiences may be spending time.
• If you’re not already, start using these niche
networks yourself (yes, I’m talking about lip-syncing
on Tik Tok!)

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Trend #5: 2019 May (Finally) Be The Year
of the Social CEO

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Survey says:
• A BRANDFog survey found that 78% of people
prefer to work for a company whose leadership is
active on social media.
• The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer found that
business is more trusted than government and 64%
of people believe CEOs should take the lead on
change rather than waiting for government to
impose it.

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Survey also says:
• Further, 56% have no respect for CEOs who remain
silent on important issues.
• According to TheSocialCEO.org, only 20% of CEOs
have a social network account today.

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THE case study

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These companies also have CEOs
active on social media

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It’s not just CEOs, either.

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What are the benefits for execs
& companies?

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Better-than-expected employee
communications channel

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Table stakes in the new recruitment
marketing world

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Opportunity to humanize stiff
corporate marketing messages

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For now:
• Start with the basics—make sure executive LinkedIn
profiles are updated.
• Don’t boil the executive ocean—start with one
person and build out from there.
• Make sure your plan is airtight and buttoned up
before approaching execs—you can’t afford to
position this as an “experiment”

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Trend #6: Employees will drive more social
engagements than brand channels

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In fact, it’s already happening…
79 engagements
4,497 engagements

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Call it an (educated) hunch
• Brand messages are re-shared 24 times more
frequently when distributed by employees’ vs the
brand (MSLGroup)
• Content shared by employees receives 8X more
engagement than content shared by brand
channels (Social Media Today)
• CEOs, board of directors and government officials
saw biggest jumps in trust levels (2018 Edelman
Trust Barometer)
• Engagement levels nosediving—as much as 50%
drop in some cases

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205 engagements
1.2 million
engagements

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Averaged: 53 engagements (last 10 tweets)

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Averaged: 22
engagements (last 10
tweets)

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Averaged: 15
engagements
(last 10 tweets)

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Most logical platforms:
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

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Consider:
• Do your research: Do you have a Cameron Potts in
your organization? Work with these people to make
sure they have social content opportunities for your
brand.
• Take it to the next level: What about a more formal
employee advocacy program? Start by
experimenting with a small group of employees.

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Trend #7: Influencer marketing grows up

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Current state

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The pushback has already started…

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Influencer marketing NEEDS to grow up
77% aren’t happy

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Growing up in three stages

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#1: From Insta/YouTube to a more
holistic approach
• Existing primary channels: Instagram, YouTube
• Future state: Brands will consider using influencers
more holistically:
o As speakers on webinars and at trade shows
o As guest authors on your corporate blog
o As featured speakers at employee events
o As an author making posts on LinkedIn (think B2B)
o As a spokesperson with media and in TV spots

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#2: From celebrity and macro-influencers
to more credible influencers
• Existing focus: Celebrities, macro-influencers
• Future state: Brands will start using more credible
influencers across the board:
o People who comment regularly on your Facebook
or Instagram posts
o Employees who see above-average engagement
on their Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn posts
o People in specific geographic areas with smaller to
mid-level follower counts, but with big engagement
numbers (think: Erin Good).

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#3: From episodic use to a long-term
approach
• Current state: Campaign focus, short duration
• Future state: Brands will more broadly engage
influencers in long-term contracts and work as key
partners (and employ tiered approaches):
o Annual contracts will become the norm.
o Influencers will become more like brand advocates
vs. assets to be used and quickly discarded.
o Influencers will start to take on different roles—
spokesperson, speaker at employee meetings,
interviewee for media placements.

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But, we still have MAJOR issues
#fakesponcon

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For now:
• Are you doing all you can to leverage your
influencer partnerships beyond just social?
• Are you looking at all types of influencers? As trust
wanes, working with those outside the “celebrity
influencer” bucket may make the MOST sense.
• Are you thinking about influencers as key partners—
or merely tactics—in your 2019 plans?

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Trend #8: Organic reach is dead (or, IS it?)

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OK, yep, it’s dead.
• Facebook organic reach rates now right around 1%
• Facebook engagement rates down by as much as
50% in 2018

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Wait, maybe it’s not…

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Less is more. WAY more.

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LinkedIn—not Facebook or IGTV—
is the place for video
LinkedIn videos shared
20X than other content

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Instagram (and Facebook) Stories

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Curate user-generated content across
social platforms

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For now:
• Are you posting too much? 8-12 times a month is
more than enough for most organizations.
• Could you identify your employee content producers
and curate content for social platforms?
• Native video on LinkedIn—have you experimented
yet?
• Could you supplement coverage of live events more
with Instagram Stories?

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8 (and a half) Social Media Trends
• #1: Instagram will take over as brands’ social home base
• #1.5: Instagram will become all about stories
• #2: Engagement, as a metric, begins to fade
• #3: Private social media will start to impact 2019 plans
• #4: More focus on overlooked & niche social media sites
• #5: 2019 may (finally) be the year of the Social CEO
• #6: Employees will drive more engagement than brand
channels
• #7: Influencer marketing grows up
• #8: Organic reach is dead (or IS it?)

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arik@arikhanson.com
Blog: arikhanson.com
Podcast: TheTalkingPointsPodcast.com
E-news: http://www.arikhanson.com/subscribe/