2018 is here, and there’s no telling what the future has in store. Between the advent of vocal search and AI going mainstream, 2018 should be an interesting year for online marketing.

And there’s nowhere where this is truer than with social media. SEO has already started turning to social signals to gauge the importance of content, and social media will and should play a major role in any businesses marketing plan. Here are 3 ways that you can improve your social media marketing in 2018.

Forget Millennials, it’s All About Gen Z now

While articles about millennials and how to market to them abound these days, not too many people are thinking about the next generation, gen Z. Early millennials are in their thirties now, and gen Z will soon start flexing its buying power very soon.

According to Goldman Sachs, gen Z is poised to surpass millennials both in influence and size. So, if this increasingly important demographic isn’t a central part of your social media marketing strategy, then you’ll miss out on a huge chunk of your potential audience.

If you want to reach gen Z though, you have to re-evaluate your message and how you come across. This generation appreciates genuineness and authenticity more than any other, and have a natural aversion for formulas. So, if you want to make an impact, you’ll have to tone down the selling and try to focus on quality content and information first.

Work on Engagement

But gen Z isn’t the only one that is wary of pre-packaged, obvious marketing messages. They too value authenticity and are looking for a one-on-one connection with the brand. This is why engagement is one of the top metrics to measure as part of your social marketing plan.

Trying to put more emphasis on gaining a wider audience over nurturing the loyal customers you do have and forging a connection with them is a big mistake. Today, visibility on social media is dictated by algorithms that evaluate the level of engagement your viewers have with your content. So if you don’t want to become invisible, you should start focusing on engagement right now.

Your content should be engaging, original and solve real problems instead of being obvious clickbait with the sole purpose of driving clicks and conversions. Start by building rapport, then you can move to selling once you’ve established a solid relationship with your audience

Look at Messaging Platforms

Another mistake people make is focusing on only the main social media platforms for marketing. But messaging apps offer tons of opportunities to market your business as well. Apps like Kik and Whatsapp are growing in popularity right now and offer the kind of personalized audience marketers crave.

As you can see, now is the best time to re-evaluate your current social media strategy and think of adding new ones to your arsenal. Make sure that you follow the few tips in this article if you want to start the year on the right foot.