Meta releases seven major social media trends: generative AI, AR/VR marketing, etc. selected

According to eMarketer’s latest report, nearly half of the world’s population (3.76 billion) use social networks every month. Although the growth rate of new social network users will slow to 2.4% in 2023, the number of new users is still climbing in every region of the world, and nearly 60% of users will come from the Asia-Pacific region. There is huge potential to build brands and connect with customers through online channels such as social networks.

In today’s tightly interconnected world, social networks, creators or experts, friends and family have also become important channels for people to discover and evaluate products and services. At a time when the global economy is significantly slowing down, companies especially need to establish lasting and efficient customer relationships through social media to promote business growth. Facing 2023, Meta sees the following seven social media development trends, which are worthy of enterprises to understand and make good use of.

Cross-border e-commerce has accelerated its development, and social media has become an important platform for providing inspiration

Technology has broken the boundaries of shopping and brought people closer to each other around the world. As the number of overseas shopping users increases year by year, the growth rate of cross-border e-commerce is now 5 points higher than that of local e-commerce. Since 2019, the global cross-border e-commerce market transaction volume has continued to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17%, and is expected to reach US$2.2 trillion by 2026.

Meta teamed up with the research agency YouGov to conduct a survey of more than 16,000 shoppers in eight countries. More than half of the respondents said they had purchased products sold by foreign companies, and 82% of the respondents said they had purchased products sold by foreign companies. Expressing openness to this method of shopping highlights the future potential of the cross-border shopping market. Social media plays a vital role in helping people discover new products and brands. 58% of cross-border shoppers said they discovered their favorite cross-border products with the help of social media.

The willingness to shop online is strong, and social e-commerce is growing the fastest

Consumers are gradually returning to physical shopping channels, but the digital shopping habits formed during the epidemic will continue living. Increasingly, Gen X and baby boomer consumers are turning to mobile devices as a channel for discovering products and brands. A study released by Nielsen shows that 85% of shoppers in the Asia-Pacific region are keen on online shopping, among which Southeast Asian shoppers have the strongest willingness to shop online, with more than 60%. Social e-commerce is the fastest-growing sales channel, with 62% of online shoppers in the Asia-Pacific region naming it as their first choice.

The increasing adoption of business instant messaging is quietly changing the way brands communicate

People increasingly rely on social media to connect with friends and businesses, Kantar conducted a study in 2022 Shows that more than 65% of people prefer to receive and send online messages rather than communicate via email and phone calls. Every week, 1 billion people around the world message businesses through WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct – talking directly to brands, browsing product catalogues, asking for support or interacting. From streamlining customer service to building brand loyalty, companies of all sizes are unlocking new business opportunities through instant messaging services.

In the Asia-Pacific region, business instant messaging volume is growing in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. A recent study released by Meta and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that one-third of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region have conversations with companies at least once a week. While small businesses have been using business messaging, now large enterprises are considering business messaging as a key component of their business models. Among the large enterprises surveyed, 70% believe that business instant messaging is very important or extremely important to their overall business.

Artificial intelligence applications are growing rapidly and becoming a mainstream development trend

Generative AI (GenerativeAI) achieved breakthrough progress at the end of 2022. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of various capabilities, artificial intelligence is becoming a mainstream development trend. More and more products and services are actively integrating artificial intelligence technology, such as smart home devices, self-driving cars, and virtual assistants.

Based on a series of unstructured information, it will become a major trend to use artificial intelligence technology to analyze, organize, obtain and provide relevant consulting services. According to IDC, spending on artificial intelligence systems in the Asia-Pacific region will increase from US$17.6 billion in 2022 to approximately US$32 billion in 2025. Many businesses are trying to improve the customer experience and save time through automation solutions, such as augmenting customer service agents to resolve support issues and simplifying complex and repetitive work tasks with intelligent automation technology so that decisions can be made faster.

Novel VR and AR applications continue to emerge, brands explore AR/VR marketing

In the past year, companies have begun to actively utilize augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) Technology improves customer experience and helps people understand and feel their brands in creative and immersive ways. According to IDC data, AR/VR spending in the Asia-Pacific region will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42.4% (2021-2026), and is expected to reach US$16.6 billion by 2026.

Globally, more than 700 million users use AR filters in Meta technology solutions every month and play with 80 billion special effects. Forward-looking brands have also begun to explore new forms of AR marketing. Through AR filters, people can try on, trial, customize or directly purchase goods and services in virtual scenes, which helps to bring a more interesting and immersive interactive experience, making AR advertising a way to attract interaction and improve effectiveness. Innovative marketing tools.

Short video content continues to increase in volume, bringing a broader creative space

Videos are showing rapid growth whether on the Internet or Meta's own platform, including Reels . Among Meta’s many applications, the volume of video production and broadcasting on Reels continues to grow rapidly. At present, the video content produced by people through Reels has been viewed more than 140 billion times a day on Facebook and Instagram. Especially in the Asia-Pacific region, video is becoming the primary way people use Meta products and express themselves.

The video format also provides a broader space for advertising creativity, which is conducive to telling moving stories. In the future, telling brand stories through video in different formats and lengths will be important to help businesses achieve a range of goals from brand building to product discovery.

Creators are increasingly becoming the link between brands and consumers

More and more creators are joining the entrepreneurial army, cooperating with brands, and promoting the creative field. Developing in the direction of nationalization. This all-inclusive new atmosphere and unlimited development space contain huge potential and are destined to set off an unprecedented economic wave, which is expected to last for a long time in the future.

In the aforementioned YouGov survey, 51% of cross-border shoppers stated that they regard creators as their primary source of information for discovering and evaluating products. Brands can use this as an opportunity to collaborate with creators to co-create brand stories. As the saying goes, traveling alone is fast, but traveling together is far. There’s never been a better time for brands to engage in advertising collaborations and co-creation with different creators and even complementary brands.

With the development of social networks and the Internet, companies have more and more ways to connect with people and shape their brands through various social, online, immersive and conversational experiences. This is an exciting area to explore, and these new business models and marketing methods will also bring new opportunities for the growth of companies and brands.

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