The Future of Social Media Marketing

Considering the adaptability of social media, it is hard to say exactly what will happen with marketing in the coming years, or even months. Social network sites provide brands and organizations with an exceptional opportunity for marketing, and those who stay up-to-date with social media trends are even more likely to benefit from these opportunities. With that said, I think social media marketing will stay popular for the foreseeable future.
In addition to it being popular, however, I think marketing via social media will become more difficult in the future. Referring to the article "The future of social media: why public conversations will go private" (http://waggeneredstrom.com/blog/2014/02/10/the-future-of-social-media-why-public-conversations-will-go-private/), most people are becoming more and more picky about who they share their online information with. Taking into consideration the ability to form customized circles and groups of friends on almost every social networking site, it appears that network users want to see and share information about their lives with select individuals, and there aren't many occasions where brands and their advertisements make the cut. Those who stay in step with how marketing is advancing, such as with video and interactive advertising, stand a better chance at maintaining a presence in the newsfeeds of social network users; therefore, as internet moves forward, so should its users.
Brands like Taco Bell, whose Twitter account is noted for being cleverly entertaining, engage customers and make tweets more fun to read as opposed to boring followers with advertisement after advertisement. In a society where humor has taken a turn for the sarcastic, keeping viewers entertained is a feat in itself. People are more easily bored; with so much to see on the internet, creating an advertisement that viewers find to be both influential and worth watching is becoming more and more difficult. As such, the future of social media marketing will have to be geared toward finding ways to entertain viewers, making a lasting impression on them, and being innovative enough to inspire consumers to seek out the product or brand being advertised.