To put it lightly, 2016 was interesting. This is especially true in the world of social media. We’ve seen its power demonstrated by spreading the word of movements, charities, and new businesses. Without social media, some companies wouldn’t have been able to make it. Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest “movers and shakers” of this busy year was Facebook. What’s in store for the social media giant’s future?Facebook continued to revolutionize itself and reshape its structure to appease the needs and wants of the users – just like the marketers that use the platform should do. Due to these changes, 2017 will most certainly be an exciting year for the site. These are the biggest changes we will see next year.1. Continued e-commerce integration. Thanks to chatbots and interactive ads, people have the opportunity to begin and complete a transaction entirely inside Facebook. This is ideal for marketers and a company as a whole because it brings a new level of convenience to the site and online shopping. The new and innovative tools will allow people to see a wide catalog of available products and handpicked just for them based on their browsing history and interests. It just got even easier to sell online.

2. Video. As any online market analyst can tell you, social media’s video aspect is booming and is only projected to become even stronger. Facebook Live and Facebook 360 are two ways that the site will continue to develop the medium into their format. However, we may see even more extensive changes such as timeline shifts towards video and added editing tools. In 2016, we saw Snapchat dominate on the mobile side of social media. Facebook took notice and already copied a few features from their competitor via Instagram and Facebook Live. Get ready for a video war!

3. Marketplace. Recently, Facebook released the Marketplace, which is meant to compete with eBay, Craigslist, and LetGo. Users have been widely receptive, and we predict further developments of this new side of Facebook.

4. Facebook-native content. It’s no secret to anyone who is involved in the social media marketing industry that Facebook likes for its users to stay inside its walls. That’s why uploaded videos take precedence over YouTube links and Instant Articles appear more prominently over links to news articles and blogs. We will certainly see more of this, and a smart marketer knows his or her way around this.

For a long time, Facebook was the undisputed king of social media. Now, they have quite a bit of competition. Regardless, they aren’t going down anytime soon, and these updates prove they are willing to go the extra mile for their users.

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