Every now and then there’s a shift in gears, redefining ‘success’ for social media marketing. Because of its dynamic nature, it’s hard to predict the outcome these trends could bring.
But what exactly are social media trends?
Social media trends are dynamic, it’s the propelling energy that’s taken every industry by a storm. Without social media trends, everyone would have a tough time picking the right technique for business growth.
Now seems like the ideal time for companies to reflect and reconsider their approach to social media marketing. Especially amidst the pandemic in the picture, corporations are already tasked with finding an equilibrium between discovering new and innovative ways to appeal their customers and analyzing their fluctuating social data to understand what step to take next.
Therefore, refocusing your perspective on social media might just be the right thing to do. But, before we start let’s talk facts.
On a daily basis, how much time do people spend on social media?
Research shows that an individual spends about 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on social media networking sites and messaging platforms.
Particularly ages between 16-24 allocate most of their time every day on social media, especially while watching TV 72% of them are using social media!
Additionally, social media is an essential tool for most users, and marketers who have successfully realized its importance are now bridging themselves via these platforms to build successful relationships with their clients.
Simple right? Not really, the market is slowly saturating. But don’t worry, we’re going to share some tips that will help to stand out!
1. Stories Are Only Getting More Popular
There’s no better method than using stories to capture the attention of your audience. These few second clips are highly engaging, addictive, and catchy. They’re short enough to keep people interested hooked on them for hours and hours!
Plus, over 500 million people use the story feature on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messanger, and Facebook every day. While over 4 million advertisers utilize stories every month for advertisement purposes.
This is a great feature to utilize if you want to increase your brand awareness, drive connection, or even network with people!
2. Shop From Home Through Social Commerce
Who needs a mall, when you have social commerce. Shop from the comfort of your own home! Social commerce continuously helps to connect social media and commerce.
Nowadays, social platforms are operating vigorously to meet the demands of clients who prefer shopping through their social media platforms. For instance, Instagram launched shoppable posts so individuals can look through products without leaving the app.
While Facebook has Marketplace which lets users sell and list products on the platform. Additionally, Pinterest offers users Buyable Pins so they can shop for products and discover new ones!
How can you use this?
Well, first of all, you should use one or most of these emerging trends of social commerce efficiently. Look into different ways to show your clients how well the product you’re offering fits into their lives. A few techniques to try would be product unboxing and demonstration videos, use interactive visuals, video testimonials, etc.
Furthermore, most of these social media tools let you in on some insight about trending content schemes, popular hashtag ideas, how your followers are reacting and engaging with your content.
3. Think Out of The Box
CREATIVITY is key! You don’t want your social media accounts to be bland and the same as everyone. Be creative, think out of the box! Find other ways to approach your target audience engagingly. This will surely increase your brand name and also keep your audience engaged.
Some ways you could incorporate creativity is by using interactive infographics also referred to as ‘gifographics’, which is a combination of GIF and infographics. Furthermore, you could also find influencers who would advertise your content on their social media accounts. This would increase your brand value!
As well as diversify your social distribution channels, use apps such as Snapchat and Reddit while using mainstream platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
4. Video Content Is Rising
Don’t sleep on video content! It makes up half of the creative content, nothing captures attention faster than visual representation. However, personalized videos gain more popularity, especially if you customize your content to cater to the needs of your audience. That’s why most brands focus on using short and engaging videos to connect with their target audience.
Additionally, research shows that 86% of people expect to see videos from brands in 2020. While 36% of them prefer education or explainer videos. Although, 14% prefer product demonstration videos.
On the last note, there are so many platforms to chose from, YouTube wins second place to Facebook in the context of active users. We also have IGTV by Instagram and of course the oh-so-famous TikTok!
It is surely important to consider webinars as the new digital marketing initiatives that help build brand equity.
5. Are You An Influencer?! Let’s Collaborate.
Influencers are the hot topic right now, working with an influencer is the most authentic way to market your brand and product. Every day you see more and more labels collaborate with influencers, which is a smart idea because it helps the brand and influencer gain recognition.
Moreover, once you understand what the influencer brings to the table you can base your decision on collaboration on that, does your product target their audience, do you share the same/similar values? Will your product make a difference in their lives. How will this collaboration affect your current audience?
Therefore, try to pick an influencer who has similar values and ideals as your company that way you can target a large audience, your and their’s combined!
6. Which Platform Is The Right Fit For You
Despite popular belief, every social platform available right now is advantageous to use. There’s no such platform that is "dead".
For instance, Snapchat saw an increase in its daily active users during 2019 even after TikTok was launched and to this day LinkedIn is seeing insane growth for its B2B marketers.
On that note, brands should really think about which platform they want to spend most of their time promoting.
Although, let me give you a hint; you want to choose a platform where your audience is constantly active. That way you know where to nurture your brand image. There’s so much to choose from! But make sure that you choose a platform that will help you reach your target audience. After all, you need to be appealing to the right audience.
So these are a few of the social media marketing trends you need to be aware of! Make sure to keep a lookout for more!
