© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential

10 Social Media Trends That Will Impact Brands in

2017

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

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.

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.

2. Instagram Brand Engagement Continues to Reign SupremeEngagement 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

Implication: Brands striving for engagement should make Instagram a social focus, using visual storytelling to

connect with brand-savvy users.

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.

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.

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

Implication: As social storytelling becomes more informal, brands need to rethink their

guidelines to allow for more flexibility.

© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential 11

5. Social Meets AI to Make More Customized ExperiencesAI’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.

Taco Bell’s Tacobot in Slack Facebook’s AI to identity items in users’ photos to

help deliver relevant content

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.

© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential 14

6. Users Crafting the Social UXSupplementing 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.

Implication: Brands should engage in usability testing to ensure they’re

delivering a user experience that maps to customers’ behaviors.

7. The Rise of the Little GuysWhile 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.

https://www.fishbrain.com/

Implication: Brands have an opportunity to tap into these communities to conduct

ethnographic research.

© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential 19

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.

Source: Econsultancy

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.

© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential 22

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.

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

© Wire Stone : All Rights Reserved : Confidential 24

10. Social Zen and the “Mindfulness” TrendThe 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 tothe YouTube world of ASMR, videos and apps for white noise, and binaural audio streaming for relaxation and sensory experiences.

Implication: Brands have an opportunity to stand out by reducing incessant noise (figuratively speaking) and focusing on

fewer, higher-quality experiences.

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 !