In the ever-changing world of digital marketing, social media is a major player for companies of all sizes. With 2019 halfway over, there’s no better time than now to examine what’s in and what’s out when it comes to this year’s social media trends.
Audiences Love Stories
Facebook and Instagram are two of the biggest names in social media marketing, and both have one feature in common—stories. These images and videos only exist for 24 hours, and at 10 seconds max, they have to be short, sweet, and to-the-point. The benefit of using a story is that it appears at the top of a social media page or app, so even if your relevant post is buried, you can use your story to draw in viewers.
Twitter is Huge
While almost 94% of businesses use Facebook, making it the biggest social media platform for businesses, a whopping 84.4% use Twitter. This statistic means the “it’s what’s happening” app, launched in 2006, is the second most popular for businesses. With an audience of mainly educated and affluent millennials, as well as a huge population of international users, Twitter is a great digital marketing option for any worldwide business or trendy startup.
Audiences Want Trust
In the age of data leaks and bots, followers want authentic human experiences via their computer screens. However, public opinion of social media platforms can affect the success of business social media profiles. Because of this, it’s important to take steps to prove that your business is worth a follow on a given platform. One way to do this is by responding to consumer complaints and thoughts in a timely manner—as Social Media Today reports, 78% of people who complain to brands on Twitter expect a response in less than an hour. Similarly, personalize the experience to make it more authentic. Create a voice for your brand, and make sure your tweets, posts, and pics all emulate this.
Influencers are Marketers
If you haven’t yet heard the term “social media influencer” get thrown around, you’ll likely hear it soon. Influencer marketing means a social media influencer—usually a celebrity or personality—endorses a product through a digital marketing campaign. Typically, this campaign comes in the form of a sponsored post, be it a picture on Instagram or a video on YouTube. Brands have used film stars and YouTube celebrities to market products, usually ones aimed at a younger and more tech-savvy audience. If this fits your brand and you can nab a celeb with a big enough audience, influencer marketing can be highly successful.