This is an edited version of a section in Econsultancy’s new Social Media Platforms Trends report, authored by Michelle Goodall, and covers changes to social content, from stories to AR and live video.

Content in social media has evolved over the years from the traditional, ‘image+copy+hashtag’ type posts in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to mini websites and rich media. Smart marketers are using data in their social and ad platforms and also from social analytics tools like Brandwatch to inform creative and messaging.

Benjamin Allison, VP, Global Media at VaynerMedia, highlights the fact that content insights and content generation for social often happens in near real time: “Content has gotten smarter, faster, and increased in volume,” Allison says. “The days of extensive focus groups, weeks of brooding over one asset or the other are starting to look archaic, with real-time signals of intent providing feedback that marketers can act upon.”

The major changes to social content explored in this briefing include:

• Stories
• Augmented reality
• Stickers and gifs
• Long-form video
• The growth of ‘live’