The idea that social media needs to be part of your company’s marketing plan isn’t anything new. However, understanding how businesses use social media and actually developing a social media strategy is where it gets challenging. This is particularly challenging because of the pace at which things continue to change. So what are some social media benefits for business and how can you incorporate them in 2018? Follow along and read this blog to find out how your company can incorporate social media into your 2018 marketing strategy.

First, let's walk through a couple key parts of social media strategy.

What is a social media marketing strategy?

Simply put, it is a working document that outlines how social media fits into what your organization is doing on a daily basis. It should address questions such as the following:

• What social platforms will your company be engaging with in 2018?
• Who will be contributing to the social media effort?
• How do you anticipate measuring your efforts?
• What activities will you undertake to help you reach your goals?

How do you want to measure your efforts in 2018?

Focus on Key Performance Indicators. Depending on what you are hoping to achieve, it might be Instagram Followers, Facebook Likes or Social Shares. Remember to focus on what is most meaningful to your organization in 2018. Maybe that is branding efforts or maybe it is conversion, the KPI for each of these is likely different.

Last, don’t forget what activities will you undertake to reach your goals.

While the overall strategy will have a focus, each platform should have a particular focus. Pay attention to the percent of time allocated to each platform. If your social strategy allows, plan your budget for each platform. Your budget on Facebook might be more important than your budget on Yelp depending on your goals.

Now, let's walk through some trends that will offer additional social media benefits for business in 2018.

Temporary content

Stories across platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook that only last for 24 hours have to lead to the rise of ephemeral content. This type of content allows brands to be more authentic. The nature of the story content only being active for 24 hours drives followers to take action quickly. Try it out, a lot of the benefit for this comes with a couple test runs and training your audience that there is value in watching your temporary content. Maybe it tells a story or maybe it offers them a special discount.

Influencer marketing continues

I still believe there are issues with trustworthy influencers, but that doesn’t mean the trend is going away. Consumers want authenticity, so targeting an industry export or maybe a well-known person in your community could drive higher engagement across social platforms. The benefit here is ultimately creating referral network across social media my having targeted people share your brand.

And, you guessed it, video

More video content than ever is being consumed and a lot of social platforms favor for it in their algorithms. This means it is a must in 2018. Things to focus on are capturing viewer’s attention immediately and being sure the video has value with or without sound. The benefit here is that some video content can be evergreen. Re-sharing an older video can sometimes result in a farther reach than the first share.

Moving into 2018 there is a lot going on and the truth is it is never going to slow down. That’s why a strategy is important. Implementing trends like Instagram stories, finding influencers and sharing video as much as possible can provide social media benefits for business. So the moral of the story is it is time to start incorporating social media into your company’s 2018 marketing strategy.