The document discusses 8 social media trends to watch in 2018 according to Arik Hanson. The trends are: 1) Corporate blogging will become more important for storytelling. 2) Metrics for video on social media will be scrutinized more closely. 3) Podcasting will gain more traction for organizations. 4) Organic social media may see a small comeback. 5) Brands will engage more with social and political issues activism. 6) Executives will utilize LinkedIn Publishing and video more. 7) Twitter will be less relevant for brand engagement. 8) "Bad bots" have proliferated social media platforms. The document provides analysis and recommendations for each trend.

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8 Social MediaTrends
to Watch in 2018
Arik C. Hanson
ACH Communications
May 10, 2018

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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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10 years ago…
* More people were using Blogger than Facebook
* MySpace was the second largest social network
* Yahoo Geocities, Friendster and Bebo were all “things”

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5 years ago…
* Facebook only had 750,000 users
* Instagram had just 90 million users
* Brands were actually using Google+

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1 year ago…
* Few people were using “Stories” on Instagram
* Twitter was still confined to 140 characters
* Few people were talking about Facebook or data privacy

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This stuff changes QUICKLY!

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TODAY:
• Video, video, video!
• Stories are everything on Instagram
• #DeleteFacebook
• The Twitter rebound?
• Content > Jobs on LinkedIn

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Let’s talk about:
• 8 social media trends I’ve observed over first five
months of the year
• Ideas on action steps to take as a result
• Questions

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Trend #1: Corporate blogging is
primed to re-stake its claim at the
heart of social storytelling

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Consider:

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And:

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Corporate blogging = storytelling +
media opportunities

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For now:
• Think holistically about your corporate blog.
Storytelling + Brand + Promotion + Media.
o Repurpose blog posts as media pitches/bylines.
• Remember: It’s OK to talk about your company,
what you do and why you do it. Storytelling can and
should focus on YOU!
o Think about your blog like a newspaper—hold
editorial board meetings, assign “beat reporters.”
• Also remember: There’s no excuse for your blog
NOT to look great (visually) in 2018!

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Trend #2: The scrutiny around video metrics
on social media channels will explode.

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Why?
• First: Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake.
• Second: Current view metrics on Facebook are very
soft
o Like, 3 seconds soft (on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram)
o Auto-play is in play
• The pressure for social ROI will increase

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Case in point:
12,000
views =
.001
engagement
rate

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For now:
• Consider: Is the cost to produce more video in 2018
worth it? Are short view metrics enough?
• Focus on more meaningful video metrics:
o 10-second views
o Average watch time
o Post engagements (likes+comments+shares)

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Trend #3: Corporate and organizational
podcasting finally gains real traction

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Consider the facts:
• 40% of Americans have listened to a podcast
• 24% of Americans listen to a podcast monthly
(up from 21% last year)
• 15% of Americans have listened to a podcast in
the last week
• 58% of those weekly listeners spent up to FIVE
HOURS listening to podcasts
• 41% of those weekly listeners listen to up to 11
podcasts each week

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What’s more:

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Case in point:

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Case in point:

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For now:
• Do you/your organization have the tech know-how
to pull a podcast off (or, budget)?
• Could a podcast help further your thought
leadership or awareness goals?
• Could a podcast build off existing content like a
corporate/organization blog or LinkedIn published
posts?

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Trend #4: Organic social makes
a (little) comeback

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Organic reach is dead!

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And, the numbers certainly back that up.
• U.S. social network ad spending will surpass $21
billion, accounting for 25.5% of all digital ad
spending
• Currently, a brand’s organic social content is getting
2-4% reach on Facebook on a good day.

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WHY?
• Instagram stories
o No algorithm yet. Brands are seeing big
engagement numbers here.
o “Stories” has 300 million daily active users
(1/3 of all users)

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WHY?
• Facebook Live video
o With video getting more placement in the
Facebook newsfeed (especially LIVE video),
you’re starting to see more of this show up.
o STAT: People spend three times
longer watching live video as opposed to
prerecorded

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Why?
• Facebook “Stories”
o No cost
o Seriously low competition (right now)
o More potential viewers!

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Why?
• LinkedIn Published posts
o STAT: 36 percent of LinkedIn members now
read interesting articles they find in their feed, an
increase of 20 percent since 2014.

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Why?
• LinkedIn video.
o Again, the algorithm may be prioritizing these
videos in an attempt to promote usage of
LinkedIn’s new video feature. Opportunity for
brands!

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Trend #5: More organizations will move
into social issue and political activism via
social media

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One brand is leading the way.

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Consider this research:
• 67 percent will buy your brand for the first time
solely based on your position on a political issue
• 57 percent of consumers buy or boycott brands
based on a brand’s position on a social issue or
political issue

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Trend #6: The proliferation of executives
and leaders using LinkedIn Publishing +
new native video

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Benefits include:
• Access to the largest professional network on the
web (500 million users)
• Not the widest reach, but the RIGHT reach
(employees, vendors, customers)
• Perceived as more personal than other executive
comms platforms
• Ease of publishing—essentially the easiest
WYSIWYG in history

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Plus, LinkedIn video may explode
• Videos from the limited release for individuals are
getting shared 20+ times more than any other
content.
• LinkedIn is rolling out native video for brands in early
2018
• Video > text on other platforms—will LinkedIn be
any different?

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For now:
• Start by updating executive LinkedIn profiles (you
might be surprised how many aren’t—or how many
aren’t even ON LinkedIn!)
• Consider a pilot publishing program with one key
executive
• Consider possible use cases for native video on
LinkedIn in the meantime:
o Executives expounding on their LinkedIn
Published Posts?
o Employees sharing personal perspectives from
brand events or milestone moments?
o Q&A fireside chats with key executives?

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Trend #7: Twitter becomes
completely irrelevant to brands from
an engagement perspective

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4 big reasons
• It’s increasingly not a safe place for users.
o See slew of events and backlash in 2017.
• It’s not an easy place for new users.
o Twitter growth has stagnated in recent years.
Instagram’s numbers now dwarf it.
• It’s not why people are going to Twitter
o News, politics, sports--these are the reasons
people are spending time on Twitter in 2017.
• It’s not a traffic driver
o A 2014 Shareaholic survey claimed that Twitter
drove just 1/15 the amount of referrals to
publishers as Facebook

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For now:
• Revisit your approach—maybe Twitter isn’t a part
of your social media strategy AT ALL in 2018.
• Twitter is still an EXCELLENT research tool
(think media and influencers)
• Twitter is still a great way to connect with, and
keep tabs on, media.
• Twitter is still a great way to serve customers
(and watch and observe behaviors).

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Trend #8: “Bad bots” have taken over
social platforms

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• By some calculations, as many as 48 million of
Twitter’s reported active users — nearly 15 percent
— are automated accounts designed to simulate
real people.
• In November, Facebook disclosed to investors that
it had at least twice as many fake users as it
previously estimated, indicating that up to 60 million
automated accounts may roam the world’s largest
social media platform.
Consider the facts:

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What can companies do?
• Review social audience insights/profiles
• Spot check social ad campaigns—are real people
interacting with your content?
• Do your due diligence when it comes to influencer
marketing contracts
• Consider spending more time in areas where fake
accounts aren’t as big (hint: It begins with a “L” and
ends with a “d”.

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8 Social Media Trends
• #1: Organizational blogging resumes role as hub
• #2: Increased scrutiny on social video metrics
• #3: Organizational podcasting primed to explode
• #4: The organic reach comeback
• #5: More political/social issues activism via social media
• #6: More executives will use LinkedIn Publishing + native
video
• #7: Twitter will cease to be an awareness/engagement
tool for brands
• #8: The rise of ”bat bots”

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@arikhanson
arik@arikhanson.com
arikhanson.com (sign up for Talking Points)