In this sense, we can think of social media as the major platforms and their features, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In a practical sense, it is a collection of software-based digital technologies-usually presented as apps and websites-that provide users with digital environments in which they can send and receive digital content or information over some type of online social network. This is due to constant innovation taking place on both the technology side (e.g., by the major platforms constantly adding new features and services) and the user/consumer side (e.g., people finding new uses for social media) of social media.ĭefinitionally, social media can be thought of in a few different ways. Social media as we know it today is different than even a year ago (let alone a decade ago), and social media a year from now will likely be different than now. Vitally, social media is always changing. Moreover, social media is culturally significant since it has become, for many, the primary domain in which they receive vast amounts of information, share content and aspects of their lives with others, and receive information about the world around them (even though that information might be of questionable accuracy). It is important to consider the future of social media in the context of consumer behavior and marketing, since social media has become a vital marketing and communications channel for businesses, organizations and institutions alike, including those in the political sphere. Therefore, we ask a pertinent question, what is the future of social media in marketing?Īddressing this question is the goal of this article.
Despite what academics and practitioners have studied and learned over the last 15–20 years on this topic, due to the fast-paced and ever-changing nature of social media-and how consumers use it-the future of social media in marketing might not be merely a continuation of what we have already seen. Academically, social media has also been embraced, and an extensive body of research on social media marketing and related topics, such as online word of mouth (WOM) and online networks, has been developed.
Given the massive potential audience available who are spending many hours a day using social media across the various platforms, it is not surprising that marketers have embraced social media as a marketing channel. Globally, the total number of social media users is estimated to grow to 3.29 billion users in 2022, which will be 42.3% of the world’s population (eMarketer 2018). Facebook, for example, reported having 2.38 billion monthly active users and 1.56 billion daily active users as of Ma(Facebook 2019). Social media is used by billions of people around the world and has fast become one of the defining technologies of our time.
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