Matt Navarra speaks at #StateofSocial19

Digital and Social Media Consultant Matt Navarra told the State of Social ‘19 that Facebook pages are becoming less of a focus.

With groups, communities, messaging apps and bots considered areas of importance for social media users; “stories are everything now,” he said. 

“It gives you more creative opportunities and people like them because they’re a lot more ephemeral in nature… Now you can add stickers, say your location, do slow motion effects. You don’t have to be a super-whizzy creative video editor. It’s giving them more creative opportunities to express themselves.”

Matt Navarra said we’re moving a phase where people are savvier with social media – being aware of the risks but also aware of the importance and benefits of social media.

“We’re in a phase now where people aren’t so comfortable with sharing everything to everyone all of the time. They’re also aware that saying nothing and doing nothing is a wasted opportunity,” he said.

He says Facebook algorithms are still as opaque as ever, with the platform providing hints of the changes and social media managers having to figure out how to best leverage it. He reminded social media managers and marketers to remain focused on understanding the audience, working on better content or driving engagement.

“Depending on what sort of brand you are, that will guide you towards the best platform,” he said.

“If you’ve got a young audience, then you’re going to start thinking about Snapchat and TikTok… If you’re talking about very broad first starting points, then I’d suggest that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the more obvious choices. However, remember groups, messenger and chats are far more important in 2019 and going forward,” Matt Navarra said.