What We Learned In 2017

by Rianna Neal | Rianna@PancakeDigitalSolutions.com

As we get started on a new year, it is important to reflect back on the previous year. A lot can be learned in a Social Media 2017 Wrap-Up. What predictions came true? What big changes were made, will need to be made? Take some time to reflect back on what worked and what did not for your 2017 social media marketing.

Social Media 2017 Wrap-Up

This past year, 2017, saw a lot of changes in social media. Which overall, not much changed for the user, businesses had to adapt to some new strategies. Here are some predictions of 2017 from Forbes let’s see how they played out:

“1. Social messaging” Yes, there was an increase in business interacting with customers on messaging platforms. The areas we saw this on Facebook were ads that prompt the user to send a message, an increase in bot chats, and posts that could have an added button to send a message.

“2. The fight against fake news” Well, they tried! People are more and more aware of fake news, and some new Facebook algorithms went into place to try to prevent fake news. Overall, this seems like an ongoing battle without much progress.

“3. Authentic content (a.k.a. live video)” if you were on Facebook for more then 5 minutes in 2017 you know this is true. Newsfeeds are increasingly becoming more and more about videos. Business pages are posting more video because Facebook encourages it, and rewards videos over static posts for more reach. The increase in Live video, especially for business use, really helps to personalize the online business and makes people be authentic and accountable for what they say and do. While overall this tool has been great, there were a few notable instances where people needed to stay off live!

Hootsuite’s prediction for 2017 was pretty spot on:

Several more placements for Facebook advertisements were added in 2017, including Facebook Messanger for ads placement. While first viewed as an annoyance, this has proven (so far) to have some really helpful ads and information. Of course- these extra placements mean people need to work harder to advertise with intent and purpose.

While overall a lot of finite changes occurred in 2017, one thing still holds true. Post good quality, authentic, and useful content to your business page and you will be fine.

Want to learn more about Social Media for Business? Start Here.