This document contains – Key learnings from 2016, Where social media is headed and Social trends for 2017

1. Trends
2017

2. This document contains;
• Key learnings from 2016
• Where social media is headed.
• Social trends for 2017.

3. “In 2017, the use of social media by businesses,
employees, consumers, and advocates will grow. That
said, we’ve seen a dramatic spike of malicious content
that can damage brand reputation and defraud
customers. Businesses need to take the steps to protect
themselves.”
Brian Reed, CMO, ZeroFOX
“

4. Key learnings from 2016
Social is the
new front door.
Video dominates
on social.
Work is now
social.

5. Where Social Networks Are Headed
• Content platform.
• Social selling
• Peer-to-peer influence.
• Moments in time.
• Customer
experience and
service
• Driving conversions.
• Social
commerce/marketing
• Brand awareness.
• Community
building
• Discovery
• Content distribution.
• Audience engagement.

6. Social Trends for 2017
Trend 1 Trend 2 Trend 3 Trend 4 Trend 5

7. Trend #1:
Social catches up to search for discovery.

8. Social usage has caught up with search, especially as a
discovery and research tool to find and buy from brands.
Source: Global Web Index
98% of digital
consumers
are using
social
network
Social is slowly becoming the source of authenticity. It works with search for
discovery and opinions.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q2 Q2 Q4
2015 2016
% of internet users who use social network to
research product
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q2 Q2 Q4

9. Social commerce shows new promise.
Trend #2:

10. Buyers are researching and evaluating brands on social
channels. The next logical step for consumers is to skip
traditional websites and buy directly from social channels.
E-commerce + Social Media = Social Commerce

11. Trend #3:
Dark social rising

12. • Dark Social is fuelled by the rise of
messaging.
• Over The Top (OTT) apps like
Snapchat, WhatsApp, Kik, WeChat,
and Facebook Messenger are
heavily used by consumers but
they’re also difficult to track with
traditional web and social analytics.
• Dark social needs to be a
measurement focus for brands that
target mostly younger audience.

13. How brands are solving dark social?
took a really simple
approach. They knew
that people were
copying and pasting
articles and sending
them privately
through email.
They built “share via
email” buttons and
began tagging as
“social email” in their
UTM codes.
is taking a research
approach. The brand
is creating special
micro-communities
on WhatsApp with
brand advocates to
better study how
dark social impacts
their brand.
The goal is to better
align marketing
activities with the
social behaviour of
their customers.
Nigeria recently
launched a
Whatsapp Group for
their customer
service agents and
can take enquiries
complaints from
customers.
This can also serve
as a first hand source
of getting
information
concerning their
network.

14. Trend #4:
Video ignites social advertising

15. 70% Of marketers plan to
use social video
advertising in the next 12
months.
Source: Animoto
65% Of marketers will focus
on Facebook video
advertising in 2017 followed
by YouTube at 39%, Instagram
at 21.7%.
Source: Animoto
41% Of marketers say that
optimizing paid social ads
is a key priority for them.
Source: Altimeter

16. How can Brands utilize this opportunity
on social?

17. Organic reach will continue to
dcline for brands.
Pay-to-play will increase as brands
use social advertising to combat a
decline in organic reach

18. Pay-to-play will increase as brands
use social advertising to combat a
decline in organic reach
Conversational Ads are Promoted Tweets with compelling images or videos that include
call to action buttons with customizable hashtags. They prompt users to spread your
message to their followers, further expanding your reach.

19. Pay-to-play will increase as brands
use social advertising to combat a
decline in organic reach
Instagram’s new 60-second spot is an extension of the 15 and 30-second video ads. With the
introduction of the 60-second spot, brands can now choose to run video ads that are any
length under one minute long on the platform.

20. Trend #5:
Organizations turn to connected workforces

21. Organizations are building trust and connecting with customers through employee and brand
advocates because they are realizing there is a lot of value in the talent, knowledge, and social
reach of their people.
Customers want to speak to employees on social, not brand handles. Prospects want to ask
questions about new products with sales professionals on LinkedIn instead of reading generic
company updates.

22. Three Key Challenges for 2017
Organic reach will continue
to decline for brands. This
means more budget is
needed to boost content.
Pay-to-play will increase as
brands use social advertising to
combat a decline in organic
reach.
With increased investment in
social, marketers need to
shift away from vanity
metrics such as ‘likes’ and
‘comments and focus more
on reach and frequency.

23. Thanks!
Any questions?
marketing@terragonltd.com