Wondering what the future holds for social media? Apparently, the social media monitoring team at Talkwalker has been wondering the same thing. But rather than gaze into their own crystal ball, they asked leading experts in the field for their thoughts and compiled their answers into the following infographic:
While all of above offer valuable intel, three subjects seem to be particularly relevant to aesthetic medicine:
More video: Engaging and easily shared, online video is only going to become more pervasive and it’s especially useful when explaining complex subjects, such as cosmetic surgery. The key is to create videos that blend good information with great production values, both of which can now be accomplished without a big budget or fancy equipment.
Better metrics: The number of fans, followers or hits on a YouTube video are truly vanity metrics that say little or nothing about the impact your online contributions are having. And while on-site conversions are a better judge, digital strategist Lisa Talia Moretti suggests more sophisticated metrics will emerge that measure trust, authority and advocacy — key parameters aesthetic consumers rely on when conducting their research.
More niche networks: Social media overload is a very real concern and it appears to be taking its toll on major players, including Facebook and Twitter. But most users aren’t giving up on social media entirely; they’re just heading for niche networks where they can interact with like-minded people without having to sift through ad-driven messages and snarky strangers. That’s especially true where the subject matter is personal and private (e.g., cosmetic surgery). Doctors who hope to engage with such people would be advised to follow suit.
