3 Social Media Predictions in 2017

Just when we thought the dust had settled after a crazy year in social media, Instagram announced an expansion on its Stories feature last week. In the near future, content marketing teams will have the ability to view insights on their Instagram Stories and deliver ads to audiences through this channel. Next January, we may look back on this update and consider it a serious contender for the most influential of 2017. While social media is as unpredictable as it gets, we wanted to take our best guess at the year to come. Here are three social media predictions for 2017. 

Say Hello to Snapchat’s Ad Platform

We mentioned that Instagram is making big moves for businesses using its Stories feature. With the ability to serve ads through this channel and view insights, brands will start to pour more money into Instagram content. This, in turn, will force Snapchat to follow suit and finally allow everyone access to its long-awaited API.

e-Commerce Boom

Over the last few months, we’ve seen several updates to the way companies can market and sell their products through social. Instagram now allows users to save photos from a business page (think: virtual shopping list) and brands to tag their products in a photo. Snapchat revealed last February that its plan is to “morph into an e-commerce platform” at some point. Will these updates translate to industries like real estate? Time will tell, but the idea of signing a lease through social media is pretty terrifying. In the mean time, be prepared to shop through social at some point in 2017.

360-Degree Content Takes Center Stage

While 360-degree content took over our feeds in 2016, some platforms have major plans for this content in 2017. Facebook already announced it will launch live 360-degree videos, paving new ways for users to interact with companies on social. Cameras and devices are only getting cheaper, so expect this content to dominate social media in 2017.