5 Communication Trends for 2018 and Beyond

Can you hear me now?

We believe that, at heart, we’re all storytellers. Whether we choose to tell those stories through live experiences or through narrative-driven content, it doesn’t change the fact that in almost everything we do we are either telling or hearing a story. This fundamental idea is important to reflect on when we look at communication trends and how our world is rapidly changing, and remember that while the way people want to be communicated with may be changing, that desire to be communicated with stays the same.

With this in mind, we’ve spent some time trawling the web to see what you can expect from communication trends for 2018 and beyond. Hint? You’re probably going to need to up your data plan.

 

1. Visualize Your Data

Information is power- but how do you get people to care about your information in the first place? Organizations are increasingly turning from charts and spreadsheets to infographics in an attempt to translate raw data into engaging content. You just need to look at interactive visualizations created by big media companies, like the one below from The Wall Street Journal, to understand how data can be presented in an appealing way.

2. Prioritize Video

Not much new here; video is still the dominant content trend. Not convinced? The average person watches 32 videos per month, and there’s a 74 per cent increase in understanding when someone watches a video. If it isn’t already, video should absolutely top your communication docket for 2018.

3. 5G Mobile Internet

5G is the 5th generation of mobile communication, which is capable of providing a data transfer rate of up to 100 Mbit/s in cities. Real talk? Mobile users will be able to interact seamlessly with each other through video communication while choosing the maximum resolution possible. No glitching, freezing, or lagging.

4. Influencer Marketing Evolution

“Influencer marketing will undergo a period of normalization in the next 12-18 months. It’s grown wildly the last few years, but it has brought with it and unhealthy blurring of money and influence that unfortunately rewards checkbooks over the merits of an idea. From FTC enforcement to the ratcheting down of algorithms in the social media pursuit of revenue, there’s an emerging imperative for brands to get back to the fundamentals of relationship building, trust and transparency in communications. They should look no further than to their existing PR professionals who, I might add, have in essence been doing influencer marketing before influencer marketing was cool and on shoe-string budget. The fundamental problem with advertising is credibility; it’s a paid placement. That’s what influencer marketing has become as well.”

5. Voice Search

We’d be willing to bet money that you or someone you know has a virtual assistant, like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home. With the growth of these voice-activated AI’s, research indicates that voice search is on the rise. In fact, by 2020 it’s estimated that voice search will make up 50 percent of all search engine queries. What does this mean for you?  Including more conversational “long tail” content will help keep you in Googles good books; long-tail terms mimic spoken speech and work better with voice search. #NowYouKnow

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