5G series: how the network upgrade could affect the use of social media

We’ve learnt all we need to know about 5G in our recent blog ‘an introduction‘ but how is this going to impact the social space? Here Bruce Tissington, our Senior Social Strategist, explains more. 

From a user’s point of view, 5G could mean no more waiting to upload those filter-logged Snapchat posts. From an advertiser’s point of view, much faster website load times will mean clicks on adverts across social channels are more likely to convert into full landing page views. There’s no evidence to suggest we’re getting more patient as mobile users, so this will go a long way to reducing the number of people dropping off after they’ve clicked an advert and had to wait X too many seconds for a page to load.  

Idle hands

One thing parents of teenagers may argue is that it’s impossible for their kids to spend any more time on social media. But with a primary function of 5G being its time-saving capabilities, a major knock on effect will be more disposable minutes to spend on our socials. Take driverless cars for example. A twenty–minute commute will turn into an opportunity to digest countless memes on Facebook and tap through vast anthologies of Instagram stories.  

Let’s get personal

A feature of 5G is that is consumes low levels of power, meaning it will have the capacity to super-charge the Internet of Things and connect all manner of devices at lightning speed.    

It’s no secret that current user behaviour across the internet is exploited by advertisers. In the same manner, advertisers will be able to call on information produced by the sensors that transmit information between devices. These could fuel marketing tactics like: 

• Hyper-local targeting: social media ad platforms such as Facebook’s Family of Apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network) already have pretty sophisticated targeting options. But with the speed that 5G could provide, real-time location-based bidding will allow advertisers to reach the right people at the right place, right NOW! 
• Personalisation: with much more data being transmitted across the network, it’s more than likely that advertisers will be able to get a lot more personal with their advertising. GDPR was introduced to protect users’ personal data, but if adverts are more targeted to customers’ wants and needs, we should see this as massive potential for the industry, and a win-win all round.  

Content is…

With users being able to consume much more content at a faster speed, this will have an impact on advertisers’ approach to content creation.  

• Bye-bye buffering! Facebook introduced auto-play videos a while back which proved controversial and arguably disruptive, especially when network speeds couldn’t keep up. With 5G all but eliminating this issue, the appetite for creating and consuming video content will only increase. Advertisers should fall in line accordingly, as large file sizes and complex creatives won’t be as crippling as they may have been in the past. 
• Are you ready? VR. Virtual and augmented reality are not new concepts and are already being used in all manner of ways across industries and in marketing endeavors. With the adoption of 5G these solutions are only going to become more accessible and the speed of transmission will allow us to communicate in ways only limited by our imagination. 

With speeds of over 1Gbps hitting our shores in the next year or so, 5G is undoubtedly going to affect our lives in a number of ways. How we connect with friends and family is certain to be one of these. As far as advertising on social media goes, we’re confident it will have a positive impact and allow for more–engaging content and heightened relevance.  

If you want to explore what your social media campaign can achieve with the use of 5G, our social team are ready to help.  

Next up in our 5G series we’ll hear from Alex Ionescu, our Junior SEO Executive on how 5G could impact SEO.