If there is one thing that business owners should know for certain, it’s that there’s no certainty in today’s world. Technological advances, shorter product life cycles, and shifting consumer demands create changes and surprises that business owners need to be ready for.

A key part to growing and sustaining businesses today is social media. These platforms allow owners to connect with millions of possible customers worldwide. As this field is constantly being innovated, it’s advantageous for companies to prepare for social media trends in 2019 to stay innovative and relevant in their niches.

Messaging will grow even more
Messaging apps have already passed social media apps in usage and it seems to be a trend that will dominate 2019. People are moving beyond public posts on social media to private messaging, whether it’s simply about reaching their friends or even to stay in touch with their favorite brands.

What makes messaging interesting is that brands can find the much-desired engagement that they’re seeking by understanding how people use messaging apps.

Back from 2017, marketers believed that messaging is the first trend that will affect their social strategies.
WhatsApp, Messenger, Viber, WeChat hold a large percentage of the messaging market and they already introduced additional features to go beyond messaging, from Stories and news updates to automated bots for customer service and e-commerce functions.

More Video
The way businesses connect with users on social media is shifting from written to video content. Over half of all social media users watch videos, with that number climbing consistently.

Video is beneficial because it allows businesses to showcase their products and services, provide how-to guides and reviews. Social media users can form an emotional connection with the brand through video when they feel like the content is valuable to them.
Live video, especially, is becoming an important feature for marketing. Businesses can use this opportunity to share events, sales and new product announcements in real time.

Customized Marketing
In 2019, companies will finetune their marketing with customized strategies. Not only does content need to differ across channels to offer exclusive deals and stories, but business owners should focus on creating custom personas to cater to different demographics.

Whether you own a restaurant, a hair salon or an auto repair shop, customizing your outreach to target different audiences is key. Using insights from social media analytics, you can create customer personas depending on demographics such as age, gender, shopping patterns, income, etc., and create content tailored to those interests and needs.

Chatbots
Customers are demanding instant communication from the companies they shop with, and social media is no exception. While you may not have the budget to offer 24/7 customer service representatives for social media, you can invest in chatbots to solve this problem.

Chatbots are computer programs that mimic actual conversations. Companies can use them to answer questions, troubleshoot and even allow customers to book services and make purchases. With one estimate that 25% of the world will use messaging apps by the end of 2019, integrating chatbots into social media’s direct messaging services should be a priority.

Source:

https://searchenginewatch.com/2018/12/17/social-media-trends-2019/
https://medium.com/swlh/12-social-media-marketing-trends-to-follow-in-2019-af2749d8019e
https://www.growthmanifesto.com/5-social-media-predictions-that-will-change-the-game-in-2019/