Alice Oh — June 29, 2018 — June 29, 2018
Unless you’ve been hiding out in the dark ages, you know social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. Everything from the degree of personal information we share to the way we communicate with others has completely evolved.
Whether this shift has been for better or for worse, is your personal judgment. However, no one can deny the significant impact it’s had on how we live and function on a daily basis.
The impact of social media is no different in the business world. Companies who strive to be innovative trailblazers in their respective industries must leverage social to set themselves apart. Social media isn’t something that can be mastered overnight, nor something that you can mindlessly manage.
When it comes to a successful social strategy that delivers an ROI, you must keep a close eye on rising trends that elevate your marketing efforts to a new level.
Video
Video is perhaps one of the most effective forms of content on social media. If you haven’t integrated video into your strategy yet, now’s the time to start.
The consumption of video is only going to increase, meaning brands must create a strategy that produces high-quality, relevant content that serves real value and catches attention.
This highlights ephemeral video content that’s short-lived, up to 24 hours, which is increasingly becoming popular. And social platforms are catching on to it, with Facebook and Instagram housing their Stories features, which are very similar to the pioneer of ephemeral video – Snapchat. This type of short-lived content drives the best engagement if it’s done right.
Other forms of video like live streaming is an incredibly effective way to capture the attention of your audience. In fact, users comment 10x more on live videos than they do on regular videos on Facebook.
Chatbots
Social media has become an unprecedented channel for customer service. Brands are continuously uncovering the true power of bots when it comes to communicating with their audience.
Chatbots are able to answer your customers’ questions or concerns in real-time when they land on your site. If it’s done correctly, your customer won’t be able to detect whether they’re talking to a human or robot.
These bots are an incredibly powerful way to instantly connect with and deliver a personalized experience for your users. If you haven’t already implemented chatbots on your website or on Facebook, use this time wisely to take advantage of it before it’s too late.
Mobile
You probably find yourself bumping into someone far too often from being distracted on your phone. Seeing how consumed we are with our phones, there’s no surprise to hear that mobile devices account for nearly 80% of internet usage.
Mobile marketing should continue to be a main priority in brands’ strategies. We are in a constantly on-the-go society where people expect quick and timely responses to any of their concerns. Your website should be optimized for mobile, meaning it must have a responsive design and must quickly load on mobile devices.
According to Google, if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you will likely see your search rankings suffer. By neglecting the impact of mobile, you additionally interfere with improving conversion rates and overall brand engagement.
Social Listening Tools
You must focus on your customers’ needs first and foremost. Brands who recognize the importance of doing so are relying more on social listening tools.
Social listening is the process of monitoring conversations on social channels to better understand what customers are saying about your brand. You track these conversations by focusing on specific keywords or phrases that are relevant to your brand, and then use those to create more effective content for your audience.
It’s an incredibly insightful way to not only gather data and metrics on your performance on social, but to gauge how people truly feel about your brand on an emotional level. These help you further gain actionable insights that improve your social strategy and customer care and experiences.
Social listening tools help you actively engage in conversations about your brand. Some of these tools include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buzzsumo, and Mention.
Micro-Influencers
There’s no longer a need to dish out major budget spend on celebrity influencers. Influencers who have smaller followings will be just as much – if not more – worth the investment. These influencers have a close-knit following of people who are connected with them and who strongly value their opinion.
Reach out to micro-influencers and ask them to share their personal story in connection with your brand. Ensure that your brand’s values are closely aligned with their’s, and build meaningful relationships with them. If your influencer marketing isn’t done as authentic as possible, people will easily weed you out as ingenuine and overly salesly.
The biggest community of influencers lives on YouTube. In fact, according to Think with Google, YouTube stars are more influential than traditional celebrities. According to the study, 70% of Millennial consumers relate better to their YouTube influencers than major celebrities.
Conclusion
With more brands trying to reach customers across various social platforms, each will have to actively fight to win the attention of their audience.
With a carefully planned social strategy, you’ll certainly see your efforts deliver improvement across all metrics. Remember that content that’s personalized, compelling and relevant will make the best impressions with your audience.
At the end of the day, effective marketing today revolves around what your customers want and the value they’ll take away from your brand. Prioritizing the experience and the quality of connections you deliver and build will significantly determine your success in the competitive social landscape.
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