The Future of Facebook and Global Perspectives with Mari Smith

B!Social with Mari Smith, the world's top Facebook expert at Social Media Marketing World! Why do we need to look at global trends in Social Media Marketing? How is WeChat, a Chinese App massively impacting the evolution of Facebook? What's the future of the Facebook product family (including Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp)?

Which direction are we heading, what's coming next? How can marketers adapt - quick - to stay ahead of the game? Check out the full interview here.

Loved hearing Mari Smith's insights at Social Media Marketing World #SMMW19. Mari was the only speaker who talked about the international perspective, something we simply cannot ignore as social media marketers in this global, digitally more and more interconnected world. ​

Listen to her insights in the video. You can also read the full interview below.

Bea / B!Social:
Mari, why is it so important to put things into a global perspective? You mentioned in your keynote that we need to look at other global trends, China, the places to watch, WeChat. Why is it so important these days?

Mari Smith:
Well, China has really figured out, they have mass adoptions of WeChat. There's over a billion users on that platform. It's integrated all in one app and for the longest time, Facebook has been keeping a very close eye on what WeChat is doing and they have attempting, they would love to be able to be that all in one app like WeChat is, but they can't do it with one app. But they can certainly do it with their family of apps. 

China is actually light years, light years ahead of the Western World when it comes to messaging apps. Integration payments, all healthcare systems use it, and so we’re actually behind, we're way behind in the U.S. So if we want to know what the future of the Internet is, look to Chinese apps.

Facebook Business Briefing with Mari Smith

​Bea / B!Social:
How is Facebook changing? You mentioned Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, what else is coming into this big family group?

Mari Smith:
Definitely more encryptions. Right now WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted but Messenger is not, Instagram Direct is not. So we're introducing this whole, they call it interoperability so that you can match these different apps inside the apps.

And then the encryption part is coming. They really wanted to push that and more disappearing content, more ephemeral like the stories concept will be also coming to other aspects of Facebook, possibly like disappearing messages or disappearing posts even, you could do an expiration date on.

Bea / B!Social:
And why are stories, messaging, private groups more important than ever? You mentioned engagement is the important part here.

Mari Smith:
Indeed, indeed. So it's really about having niche communities and then the News Feed as we know it today is going to be evolving and changing quite rapidly. We might not even recognize it this time next year.

So smart marketers, business owners really need to keep an eye on what is Facebook pushing the most and it’s definitely the messaging, and private sharing and private groups. Instead of putting everything out to the masses and being more public, they're looking to be more private.

Bea / B!Social:
Conversations. Relationship building...

Mari Smith:
Yes, exactly, meaningful communities.

Bea / B!Social:
Thank you so much, marketers, be savvy and pivot fast. Thank you so much Mari for your insights today. 

Bea Pole-Bokor of B!Social with Mari Smith

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The world of social media is changing faster than ever. I think we are living in the most exciting times!

​​What do you think? Is it a new opportunity? Are you moving with the new trends already? What challenges will come along? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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About Bea Pole-Bokor

A professional diplomat by training, Bea has been successfully branding and promoting a country at top level on the international scene before going digital and establishing B!Social. 

Today, as a digital diplomat, she helps businesses raise their profile, share their stories & promote their brand through Social Media.
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More about B!Social here.

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Want to hear more takeaways and interviews from Social Media Marketing World 2019? 

What the future of Social Media looks like?

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