2018 Social Media Trends For Authors
Social media is constantly evolving and it can be hard to keep up with all of the latest developments. Because of this, we have compiled the top four trends of social media in 2018, so you can be ahead of the curve and meet your social media goals this year.
1. Instagram Stories Continue To Grow
When Instagram launched its “Stories” on August 2, 2016, many social media mavens were eager to see how this new platform would compete with the already well-established competitor, Snapchat. The results are in and less than two years later, Instagram has surpassed Snapchat in the key metric of daily users. As of December 2017, Instagram has over 200 million active daily users, while estimates put Snapchats daily user count somewhere in the 178 million range. Instagram’s massive user base continues to grow, making now the perfect time to start using Instagram Stories. Instagram stories are an easy, practical way for authors to share sneak peeks of their book, repost pictures of their book from other influencers, announce giveaways and they are a surefire way to draw more engagement from your followers and capitalize on this growing platform. Follow @booksparks on Instagram to see how we use Instagram stories to draw engagements from our followers.
2. Influencer Marketing is Big Money
Some estimates have calculated that influencer marketing on Instagram is a $1 billion industry. You read that right…ONE BILLION. Just five years ago, Instagram had 100 million monthly active users. As of 2017, Instagram has sextupled that number to 600 million monthly active users. Brands are looking for more ways to strike gold with this exponentially growing user base by partnering with highly-influential Instagrammers to market their products in an authentic way. Every industry is teaming up with influencers, from outdoor brands like Gregory Packs teaming up with hiking influencers, to car companies like Mercedes Benz teaming up with the most followed dog accounts. Develop partnerships with bookish influencers who can market your books authentically and take beautiful snapshots of your cover to help boost sales and interest in 2018. Here is a list of a few of our favorite Instagrammers who participated in our 2017 summer reading challenge.
3. Facebook Organic Reach Continues To Decline
Recent changes to the Facebook app have made organic reach a thing of the past. In order to get an audience for your posts, Facebook advertisers will need to invest more of their digital marketing budgets into boosted posts, clicks ad campaigns, likes campaigns or a combination of the three techniques. This means that having a target audience in mind for all of your social content is essential as well as having a goal with each post, so you can ensure your post is generating the results you need. Want to learn more about running paid campaigns and targeting the right audience? Try Social Media Bootcamp!
4. Expect More Changes for Twitter
Twitter has already adapted some significant changes in the past year including, most controversially, increasing its character limit per tweet from 140 characters to 280 characters. Twitter will likely continue to adapt and evolve as a platform in 2018. Its user base has lagged behind Facebook and Instagram and it has seen its ads become less sought after by digital advertisers. Twitter will have to find new ways to increase its user base or monetize its platform to keep up with its giant competitors. If you’re looking for more hashtags and national holidays for Twitter content in 2018, check out our list of national holidays and hashtags for authors.
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