10 Facebook Marketing Trends in 2018

What is the future of Facebook Marketing? Content will be brought to people instead of people searching for content in a form of immersive content to their digital world.  Mark Zuckerberg made some big announcement and reveals at F8, this year's Facebook Developer conference and here is the round up of our top 10 must knows of the year! 

1. 3D, 360, Immersive Content
2. Facebook Analytics
3. Pure AR Messenger Imagination
4. Facebook Groups
5. Watch Party!
6. Education
7. Facebook Live
8. Crisis Response
9. Personas
10. Facebook Spaces

3D, 360, Immersive Content

Just when you thought video was the place to be on Facebook, they opened up more immersive media ways to share. Enter 3D, the shiny new object of Facebook’s ecosystem.

“Content is shifting from content that is 2D flat to content that is 3D, 360, augmented and sometimes holographic,” said VR AR Author and Evangelist, Cathy Hackl.

3D content allows you to take your customer to the place you want without any hardware, all they need is their phone or PC. What does this mean for marketers?

“This means artists and creators can easily share even richer, higher-quality content. Facebook has unlocked the gates to a future where people can bring interesting objects and experiences with them across AR, VR, mobile and web — whether it's your favorite game and movie characters, architectural models, products or museum artifacts, all the way to fully interactive scenes,” said Aykud Gönen Product Manager at Facebook.

The coolest part? Your customer can drag them into their virtual world tomorrow in places like Facebook Spaces or share it in their news feed.  

How have brands jumped on this?

Example #1.

Example #2: Wayfair uses this tool by showcasing their product in an interactive way.

How can you?

3D Posts Demo

Here’s a fun tool you can play with to see how it will look in your personal feed: https://easy3dpost.com/

Facebook Insights

Like the old saying, “numbers don’t lie” -  Facebook Analytics is giving businesses more insights to your customers' paths to conversion across all channels and devices. It’s using data triggered from the Facebook pixel to try and generate valuable information about a website’s user.

New Features for Facebook Analytics that you need to know:

• Journeys: This gives us omni-channel like insights on the customer journey on your owned digital assets.
• FB Analytics App: Since almost 90 percent of brands depend to some extent on their employees to access mobile business apps from their personal devices, Facebook developed an app to manage analytics on the go!.
• Automated Insights: Facebook’s attempt at trying to help us move smarter and faster using machine learning.
• Session Parameters: Dig deeper into your customers sessions and answer questions like:

• What's the most popular landing page for sessions that included a Purchase?
• How many purchase sessions originated with my Facebook Page?
• Which pages drive the most newsletter subscriptions on my website?
• What's the long term value of the people who originate from search?
• How many pages on my website do people typically explore before they take action?
• Which page do the people who spend the least time on my site/don't convert enter on?

Does your brand want to make smarter decisions?

Pure AR Messenger Imagination

Bring your business to life in a Messenger near your customer with augmented reality. Have your customers travel in a world of your creation. Facebook’s AR Studio can help you make that come to life. Remember, when you are an early adopter you get the most from these new tools.

Example #1: Nike

Nike limited-edition sneakers sold out in less than one hour via the Facebook Messenger's beta AR run. Augmented reality is here.

#Social PR Secret

Marketers! If you have a product, get with your product team and developers. There is no silos in the new wave of augmented reality.

In Facebook’s AR Studio you can find tutorials, tips and tricks, and guidelines. Discover everything you need to know about:

• The typical process for building AR Studio effects
• What's available in AR Studio
• Preparing assets for use in AR Studio

Facebook Groups

“People want to be a part of meaningful communities,” that is what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says about why his team is focusing more on Facebook Groups.

According to Facebook, 1.4 billion people on Facebook use Groups every month. Using Facebook Groups can help get insight into your products or services ambassadors, customers, cheerleaders, etc. You can share things with them earlier than you share on your Page.

Facebook Groups also, as of now, work well in the algorithm because users get notifications from posts unless they turn them off. A great way to build a community around your brand and share meaningful content to people who care about your business.

Remember, the  most important thing to do before you create one is finding a reason why your customers would want to join.

Some features your business should (and will soon) use:

• Groups Tab
• Groups Insight - What works with your Group? This tools bring together member requests, pending posts, Group Insights, settings, and more in one place. Saving your business time to focus on managing the Group. 
• Watch Party (more on that next) Your Group members can watch a video together and then share their insight and start a conversation around it
• Coming soon - A new plugin for Facebook Groups you can add to your website!
• Facebook Group Support: The free service will allow admins to send any issues they have to Facebook, and the company will respond within one business day.

Social PR Secret

Did you know you could use a plugin for your email blasts? The Group Plugin for Email allows email recipients to join your group from an email message. 

Watch Party!

For your sharing and viewing pleasure! Watch Party is exactly what it says it is, watch Facebook’s public videos and have a party with the people you care about.

Watch an ad before you make it Live, share industry news and talk about it, interview an ambassador of your brand or a top industry source, these are just a few of our favorite things companies can do in their Groups.

Facebook wants you to be closer to the people you care about or who care about you, so they are putting a lot of effort into getting businesses on board. First, they added it to your tab.

Example #1: Carlos Gil has interviews with influencers and answers the audience questions real time.

Educate

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

In today’s ever-changing marketing world it is critical to stay relevant in today’s digital revolution. Continue to educate yourself no matter what, here is a conference by Facebook along with some free online courses:

• Facebook + Instagram Blueprint Certification Courses
• Facebook for Journalism: Tips & Courses
• New Resources for Facebook Marketers
• Facebook Group Tools
• Conferences like Facebook F8 Conference
• Join Facebook Groups on topics you are interested in 

For more courses, certifications and conferences, check out this Social PR list.

Facebook Live

Lights, Smartphone, Action. There is no such thing as perfect. In fact, the buzz word of the year is authentic.

Live is one of the best ways to interact with your Facebook business page viewers in real time. Ask Me Anything (AMA) type content to answer questions from followers and see how their Live Reactions are and find out if that content is worth repurposing into a blog or not.

There are a few ways to go live:

• Go Live from your Page with Publishing Tools
• Integrate Live into your broadcast with the Live API
• Go Live from your mobile device
• Go "Live With" and create a two-person broadcast

Social PR Secret: When you are live ask your viewers to follow you and receive notifications when you go live the next time!

Example #1: Oxford Seminars Interviews Previous Grads Abroad

Crisis Response

Facebook describes their “Crisis Response” tools as a place on Facebook where you can find information about recent crises, use Safety Check to connect with friends and loved ones during a crisis, give or find help to people in the affected area, and create or donate to fundraisers to support recovery efforts.

When crisis happens and people receive Safety Check notifications they search for information. Facebook now includes links to articles, photos, and videos from public posts pertaining to the event which will allow people to have access to more information about a crisis in one place.

Facebook has also made it easier for  businesses’ to help their communities during a crisis.

Do you have a crisis communication plan? Here is more information on this.

Creating content to your Persona = Organic Reach

Buyer personas are important because they are the core of your content. Do you know who your content is speaking to? If you are speaking to your specific audience, giving them the content the way they want to receive such as video, live video, polls, etc and they engage - your organic reach will go up.

Check out Xtensio’s tutorial to guide you in creating yours: 

Facebook Spaces

You may not be able to jump in right away but keep your eye on this social VR gem. If you are ready to jump in, you would need to invest in the Oculus Rift, which is priced at $399 and a PC.

Marketers should mentally and strategically prepare themselves to start planning to integrate and do more with this social VR tool.  

“The biggest update for marketers is probably allowing third-party apps to put content into a user’s story.”   

Once Facebook’s avatar features break out of VR world, they just might be our new Facebook profile.

Checklist

• Sign up for Facebook Spaces.
• Join the Facebook Spaces Community to stay in the know.
• Follow Lisa Kotecki, the Community Manager of the Facebook Spaces Community.

“If Facebook really wants mass adoption in Facebook Space, it needs to be compatible with Oculus Go and reduce the barrier to entry,” said F8 attendee and Social AR/VR evangelist Navah Berg.

In the future, Facebook envisions a seamless digital world where people can share immersive content and experiences creating a Facebook News Feed catered to them.

Are you ready to dive into these Facebook Marketing tactics for PR? Contact us today.

Lisa’s link: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/facebook-marketing-future/252571/