Facebook marketing will undergo a metamorphosis in 2017 and we can’t stop talking about our expectations. Seeing the revolutionary trends in 2016, we are more than hopeful about Facebook as the newest marketing fab. While social media marketing is going to get its share of elixirs, social commerce will surely shoot up in stature— with Facebook at the helm.
In this post, we will be talking about 10 predictions— not necessarily in any given order— pertaining to Facebook marketing and future of the same.
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Extended Features Sets Concerning Customer Service
Facebook, in 2017, will start moving towards customer service— in a huge way. The precursors for this change will be the Reviews and even Facebook messenger.
While Facebook has already provided tools for businesses to grow, connecting with the social customer base will largely improve with Facebook messenger— added into the scheme of things. While the real-time interactions will improve, customers will get instant responses to their queries.
Chatbots have automated certain routine interactions but we might see a more evolved algorithm to handle tricky issues and questions.
While Yelp already has a system of ratings and reviews, Facebook is expected to better things with a more concrete approach. With the growth of local search, the review space on Facebook will be more important than ever. Small businesses are expected to benefit immensely from this marketing move as reviews and ratings will help prospective customers assess the quality of services on offer.
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Arrival of ‘Camera-First’ User Experience
Instead of a text box for a status update, Facebook is expected to bring in a camera slot— targeting user experience in an entirely different manner. Therefore, we might soon see a refurbished news feed with the camera first approach trumping texts, in a big way.
Sharing, up till now, was primarily a textual affair but 2017 is expected to bring in an approach where images and videos take center stage.
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Arrival of Paid Ads
While paid ads sound familiar, Facebook is expected to bring them to groups. With Pages losing their sheen and groups getting more traffic, this social platform is more likely to constrict the reach and push the same with paid adverts.
As people are automatically moving towards Facebook groups, the company will be able to generate an additional revenue out of them.
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Messenger Video Snippets are the New Cool
Snapchat has truly been a tough competitor and it’s time Facebook acknowledges the same. The messenger gets its own version of Snapchat with tools allowing users to add videos, images and even drawings to their texts.
Up till now, the stories can only be sent as direct messages but the video snippets will soon be released over messenger which can then be saved and published to a concerned page.
Facebook Live users will also get hold of certain powerful tools, including the ones related to scheduling and trimming. This way, Facebook content creators will get a huge breathing space. Lastly, the video-centric aura of Facebook Live is expected to show up even on Smart Televisions as Facebook has plans of entering broadcasting— in a big way.
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The New Face of Facebook Chatbots
Chatbots are already playing a pivotal role when it comes to direct answers and query solving. However, Facebook will soon include these bots on a larger scale— targeting sales conversions and customer services. The likes of AIs and Bots have already answered myriad user queries but including the same for sales, conversions will be a newer approach.
Marketers looking to boost their sales funnel should start by learning about these bots and how to incorporate them into the scheme of things.
Lastly, businesses should have a specific CTA on their pages which urge customers or visitors to send messages. This way chatbots can be leveraged perfectly and it will be easier for them to message back as an automated response. Streaming clients like Megabox, Cinemabox, Netflix, Hulu and others can leverage these chatbots for attending to customer issues.
Any problem encountered at the website can be reported and the bots will send out a customized yet automated response.
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Facebook Live and the Influx of ‘Third-Party’ Tools
Facebook Live is expected to get a makeover in 2017 with a wide-array of third-party tools, waiting in the shed. Be it the quality of broadcasted shows, inclusion of better CTAs or improved community engagement— third party tools are expected to get the respect they deserve.
Live video monetization is going to be a new yet refreshing change, offering YouTube like earning options to the marketers.
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Better Ad Targeting
Facebook is expected to be a better place for the advertisers— courtesy the adoption of a more granular approach to ad targeting. In a few days, marketers will be able to interact with visitors who accessed the page— over the past year.
Paid advertisements will now be targeting granular segments, catering only to those who are interested in your page. This approach will reduce costs while offering insights into newer techniques and better optimization.
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Video Analytics to become Important
Lately, there has been a plethora of marketers willing to advertise and channelize videos on Facebook. This calls for transparency and Facebook are gearing up towards providing the essentials— in the form of video analytics.
There will be a lot of data sharing and even the competitors will get a sneak peek into the information offered across multiple platforms.
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Evolution of Influencer Campaigns
In 2017, Facebook will surely change the way we look at influencer marketing. When it comes to brand popularity, things will be more transparent with customers having better choices. Most marketers can select the influencers based on the available information and the preferred niche.
For example, if a select group of customers prefers Megabox as the streaming client, credible sources of information will back its online presence and brand ambassadorship.
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Improved Brand Discoverability
Facebook was always popular for brand discoverability. Quite recently, we witnessed a marketer unveil the true potential of this online platform, during a Live stream. This brings us to the concept of online audio and video— aiding discoverability to a larger extent.
Things will surely improve in 2017 with Facebook shifting gradually towards a more brand-centric approach. The core essentials, however, will still be great content and top-notch video marketing tools— allowing marketers to leverage the true potential of this social channel.
Bottom Line
Facebook has never been an underdog when social media marketing is concerned. However, 2017 seems to be a huge year for the company which is currently on the lookout for better marketing ambiance and enviable brand awareness— courtesy its massive reach and widespread popularity.
