Reflecting on the concept of social media management ten years ago, the term that resonates is strategic. In the early days of social media usage by companies, the focus was primarily on content dissemination and minimal interaction with the audience. For some, it was a trial run. For others, it was a task delegated to the intern who “understood” it.
The initial design of social media platforms was intended for individual users rather than for companies or groups. Our goal was to create a tool that would enable any organization to thrive. Our first version of the product assisted social media teams in creating content schedules, identifying and replying to pertinent comments, effortlessly posting on various platforms, and monitoring indirect measures of achievement (recall Klout scores?).
Over time, social activity ballooned, matured and fractured as new networks, content formats and communities emerged. Consumer usage became mainstream and multi-generational. Brands’ investment in social began to reflect this wider and more committed adoption. Today, more than 4.9 billion people worldwide use social media, and 53% of consumers have increased their social media usage over the past two years. Social ad spending in the US alone is expected to surpass $80 billion by 2025. None of these patterns show signs of reversing course.
Customers now view social media as a way to connect with the businesses and issues they are passionate about, providing a quicker and more engaging experience than traditional email support and toll-free phone numbers. Social media is no longer just a new marketing platform or a specialized communication channel, it is quickly becoming the central hub for customer interactions and the main online representation of brands.
What does that mean for the next generation of social media management solutions? Brands will need more than just the next iteration of tools. Simply responding to more customers, publishing on more networks and sharing raw data across teams, will only go so far.
With the growing trend of consumers using social media as the central point of their digital lives, companies have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their target audience and market. This insight can be shared across the entire organization. Social media management tools will develop into the key link that fortifies the relationship between companies and their customers, integrated into every team, strategy, and interaction with customers.
The next generation of business on social is not particularly about “social” at all. It’s about real digital customer relationships.
Customer intelligence is converging on social
Social customer care has revolutionized the way marketing and customer support teams function. In the past, there may not have been a need for frequent communication and collaboration between these teams, but social media has made it essential for them to work closely together. As social media becomes the main source of detailed consumer insights, consider the potential impact it could have on other departments and their operations.
Consider the speed and richness of customer information you can glean from social compared to channels like email or phone. Social content is immediate, continuous and more fully represents the person. Email, phone and other channels are far more asynchronous—frustratingly for days with email—and are episodic, giving a limited view of the customer. An Instagram Story reply happens in real time whereas an email might go unread for days, or weeks. Who a customer follows on X (formerly Twitter) and interacts with says a lot more about who they are as a person compared to one service representative’s short conversation on a support call.
With people putting more and more of their lives online—including their lives as customers—social data is becoming the core representation of the customer. This impacts and benefits every team, even when they’re not on the front lines of social. We’re seeing departments like recruiting, legal and product asking to get involved in social, a reality I never anticipated seeing when we started Sprout over a decade ago.
Social media is becoming increasingly intricate, and brands must take into account the rapid shifts and diversification occurring on new platforms and changing consumer tastes. With a greater variety of social networks available, consumers are encountering a broader range of viewpoints from other users, influencers, and businesses. This makes it essential for brands to show that they comprehend the desires of their audience in each specific environment.
This growing bounty of intelligence means social media will continue to supplant traditional market and customer research, as well as legacy customer records. But businesses need tools that can aggregate, disseminate and analyze social data at scale and across the organization, before it decays—whether that’s because the opportunity passed, preferences already shifted or a competitor acted first.
To take advantage of the potential that social media offers, brands will need sophisticated and refined technology. Simply allocating more funds and personnel will not suffice. To consistently provide the outstanding experiences that consumers demand, and to fully understand the customer, social media management tools must become more user-friendly, intuitive, and specifically designed for each team.
The future of social media management is…
As newer generations emerge and new platforms are introduced, social media will become increasingly integrated into society and business operations. It plays a crucial role in customer engagement and gathering valuable insights for businesses. Social media is the primary channel for building and maintaining brand reputation and seizing opportunities.
For organizations to be truly customer-centric, the future of social media management solutions must be built with these four pillars in mind:
1. Ubiquitous. With social becoming the kernel of the customer record, social media management solutions will need to become accessible and consumable by every team. That doesn’t mean your sales team is suddenly going to be posting Reels. Rather, democratizing access to your social management platform means upleveling data and insights for specific departments, business processes and decision makers.
Currently, only the most innovative companies widely distribute social media insights throughout their organizations. In the future, this will be a standard practice. The next era will be marked by all teams recognizing the importance of social data in effectively responding to customer, product, and business opportunities.
2. Personalized. While brands aren’t rushing to remove traditional channels like phone and email from their communication strategies, social is raising the bar for how and when they engage with their audience. Consumers don’t just want brands to respond to them on social; 70% of them expect companies to solve their problem in a personalized manner. But “personalization” has to mean more than populating dynamic fields with standard name or location inputs.
Younger generations, in particular, bring any and all issues to brands on social, assuming they’ll be met with swift and authentic interactions. They expect the people behind the brand account to treat them the way they’d be treated walking into a local, independently owned shop: with empathy and acknowledgement of their individual preferences. With powerful social media management tools that intuitively surface the context they brands need to truly know each customer on this level, they can engage accordingly.
3. Intelligent. Expecting teams to manually collate massive amounts of social listening data and transform it into actionable recommendations takes time away from their core work. Departments need answers, not more chores. With AI innovation, expect to see social media management solutions to automate and elevate how social data is used across teams. AI and automation can, for example, present recommendations that empower brands to create highly personalized experiences in no time at all. Beyond saving time and resources, AI advancements in social media management solutions will enable teams to build relationships that influence revenue and loyalty at scale.
4. Interoperable. Customer relationships start, grow and expand on social. So it’s unsurprising that 96% of business leaders expect social data to be integrated into their organization’s CRM capabilities over the next three years. But integration is just the beginning.
It’s not enough to simply grant every department access to social data. Social media management solutions should process, package and seamlessly integrate data with the entirety of your organization’s tech stack. Social media management tools will become the go-to source that every team uses for immediate, in-depth market insights and customer intelligence.
The social media management solutions of tomorrow will be designed with every team in mind
Thirteen years ago, we began our journey at Sprout with the goal of assisting social media teams in streamlining the tedious tasks that were overwhelming their daily routines. Our aim was to provide support to social media marketers, many of whom were operating solo, by equipping them with the necessary resources to manage the demands of content creation and audience interaction inherent in their roles.
But consumers expect more from brands now as social increasingly becomes the digital hub of their lives. The future of customer experience and understanding starts and ends with social. And social media management solutions must evolve to be more than an island, but a primary source purpose-built for every team to harness consumer insights and build deeper relationships.
For more perspective into how consumers’ social media behaviors and expectations are evolving, download The Sprout Social Index™ today.
The post What to expect from social media management in 2028 appeared first on Sprout Social.
The world of social media management is ever-changing, and the landscape of the industry is expected to look drastically different by 2028. As technology continues to evolve, so too will the way businesses manage their social media presence. Here are some of the ways that social media management will likely evolve by 2028.
First, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in social media management will become more widespread. AI-driven tools will be used to automate mundane tasks such as scheduling posts, responding to comments, and analyzing data. This will free up time for social media managers to focus on more creative aspects of their job. AI will also be used to create more personalized content for users, as well as to identify potential customers and target them with relevant ads.
Second, the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in social media management will become more common. VR and AR can be used to create immersive experiences for users, such as virtual tours of a business’s location or AR-enabled product demonstrations. This will allow businesses to engage with their customers in a more interactive way and provide a unique experience that sets them apart from their competitors.
Third, the use of chatbots in social media management will become increasingly popular. Chatbots can be used to respond to customer inquiries quickly and accurately, as well as to provide personalized customer service. This will help businesses save time and money while providing customers with a better overall experience.
Finally, the use of analytics in social media management will become even more important. Analytics tools will be used to track user engagement, measure the effectiveness of campaigns, and identify trends in customer behavior. This data can then be used to inform decisions about content creation, advertising strategies, and customer service initiatives.
Overall, social media management is expected to look drastically different by 2028. Businesses will need to embrace new technologies such as AI, VR, AR, and chatbots in order to stay competitive in an ever-changing landscape. Additionally, analytics will become increasingly important for measuring the success of campaigns and identifying trends in customer behavior. By taking advantage of these new technologies and strategies, businesses can ensure that their social media presence remains successful in the years to come.
Source: sproutsocial.com
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