Social media and marketing trends for 2018

For my last Haynet podcast of 2017, Sam asked me about social media and marketing trends for 2018 for equestrian and rural business. This was a fun one to do as it gave me a very good excuse to dig around the internet, to see if other bloggers and experts agreed with my thoughts. And it was very nice to read that they did. Of course, it’s hardly surprising. My personal thoughts and predictions are based on what I’ve seen over the last 12 months. And really that’s all we can do. We don’t know what amazing update Facebook might have planned. Or what Instagram might be plotting. Of course, we can look at the path the platforms have taken and the trends that we’ve seen and make educated guesses based on this. And is that enough? Well yes, I think it is. You see, we can’t predict the future, all we can do is plan the best we can using the information we have. And I hope the social media and marketing trends podcast will do that. For those who have listened and were keen to have my thoughts in written form, here they are. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts too – what do you think we’re going to see more of in the next 12 months? What marketing, social media and PR developments do you think we’ll see? I’d love to know…

Social media and marketing trends for 2018 for equestrian and rural business

The Haynet podcast is aimed at equestrian and rural businesses, and while all of the points below most definitely apply to equestrian and country businesses, I think they’re more generic in nature. Even though our businesses in this sector are niche, the big platforms aren’t. And that’s fine. Actually, it’s more than fine, it’s exciting. When looking at social media, these global platforms allow us to hook up with our niches in different countries and continents. But anyway, my thoughts on social media and marketing trends for 2018 for equestrian and rural business…

• Digital is going to continue to grow. This is not really a crazy prediction based on everything we’ve seen over the years!
• There will always be a place for quality magazines, but due to the online competition, only the best will rise. I think we’ll also see more of the great magazines increasing their digital and online reach.
• Instagram will continue to grow – especially with innovations like Instagram stories, insights for business accounts, ads linked to Facebook, etc.
• Facebook will continue to evolve, change, improve, annoy people and dominate.
• Influencer marketing will continue to grow, but I also believe that influencers will become more professional and take their roles more seriously. And I think that those who don’t will have a much more challenging time working with brands.
• Live Streaming is going to continue to grow. The platforms that support it love it. It’s great for engagement and connection and brings people from all corners of the globe together in one place.
• Virtual reality and augmented reality. I think we’re going to see this become bigger too, but I don’t think it’ll be mainstream this year…
• Video. Yep – video is big and exciting now, and I think it’s going to continue to grow. There are so amazing predictions relating to how much video content we are due to consume in the next few years.
• Silent videos. With the increase in video, we also need to be aware that a lot of videos are enjoyed in silence, so it needs to wow in this way. And this will be more important than ever as video becomes more present on our social media feeds.
• Shoppable social media. To make it easier for people to buy what they’re seeing.
• Messenger platforms are going to become more commercial. 
• Quality content will continue to win. ‘Engagement bait’ is being clamped down on, so real, quality content is the way forward.

However, let’s be honest, would you have predicted that Twitter would have doubled its character limitto 280? I wouldn’t because, to me, Twitter’s concise nature was in its DNA. So what I’m trying to say is that we’re in for an exciting year one way or another. Are you ready?!

Don’t forget to check out the Haynet Podcast where you can listen to the social media and marketing trends for 2018 podcast and a lot more besides.