When it comes to Social Media Marketing, evolution and innovation are two words that you definitely need to consider.
As the social networks are becoming more relevant and massive every day, the marketing strategies need to improve, according to the latest features and technologies of these tools, the same as the behaviors and needs of users.
Seeing as how 2018 is flying by, you should recognize the kind of social media strategies and trends that will be more relevant during this year.
As a marketer or a brand, you need to change constantly while the marketing is changing in the most popular social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
That’s why we will present you the most popular trends and latest changes you need to consider to connect with an audience in such a changing digital environment.
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Chatbots are leading the customer service field:
Brands are realizing the importance to establish an instant connection with clients, especially when it comes to solve doubts and help them find what they want. Most of these services were actually real people available to answer questions. However, the current chatbots on the internet interact with the audience in a way that feels personal.
As a brand, you have the chance to customize your chatbot with a specific voice and even send personal messages to your clients in Facebook, which is one of the platforms that have incorporated the option to “chat” with an enterprise through a “Messenger Bot” anytime e you enter to a company profile.
If you are considering including chatbots for your business, remember not only adapting them to a millennial audience. Think about an important audience of adults and older people who might take a little longer to get used to this technology, so try to think about more specific and clear instructions for them.
Consider these advices before using a Chatbot:
- Focus on the character of your chatbot, remember that it will represent your brand, so give it a “personality” that goes with you’re the values and principles of your company.
- Make it simple to answer the questions and solve issues in the most effective way.
- Give your clients a reason to use it and prefer it instead of calling or emailing your company. You need to prove them that they are available and prepared for their requests.
- Don’t expect that everything will be perfect, the same as humans, chatbots can also make mistakes.
- Don’t completely lose the human element in your customer service; remind customers that there is a team behind each post and content.
If you want to see what a chatbot looks like in action, check out our Facebook page!
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Pinterest will improve its Ad Targeting:
Companies will need to improve the content they post on Pinterest because the platform is implementing changes, getting smarter and more efficient. This social network will base its ad targeting on the results that be more relevant to the search keyword or term.
In addition, the video content is having more acceptance and importance in this platform, for which the challenge is finding which type of video pins will create more engagement over users of Pinterest.
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Influencer Marketing on a minor scale:
During the lasts years, many brands have practically risked their budgets to what they considered as a very natural and intelligent way of promotion. However, some companies also learned about the negative sides of this strategy. That’s why in this year, the marketers are looking to design Micro Influencer Marketing campaigns by using lesser known influencers to promote their products or services.
For your surprise, this strategy is actually more effective because marketers have realized that it doesn’t matter how known are the influencers, but the quality of the post and review they share. It’s a better way to be more conscious about the budget and still have a powerful impact.
Did you see our article on What Is Influencer Marketing, How To Find Influencers, And How To Be One!
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The Ephemeral Content is at the top to create Engagement:
We all know the “Stories” feature on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat; this ephemeral type of content gives more authenticity to a brand, especially if it’s real-time content.
Many brands are posting their high-quality material on their Instagram profile, leaving posts related with promotions or special codes for their stories because the audience knows that this content won’t be permanent, which makes them taking faster actions.
Using your stories strategically will represent a powerful tool because they are placed at the top of the timeline, which means that they will obtain the highest attention of users. The same happens with the Live Video events, which brings your clients closer to your business with a very close and more personal interaction.
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LinkedIn Ads Projects are getting stronger:
Now you can see videos in the personal accounts because LinkedIn is testing geo filters for this type of multimedia content. This is a great opportunity as companies will be able to improve their engagement with an audience of users over 35 working for larger businesses.
The fact that LinkedIn is considering adding video ads to the platform is definitely a good news for businesses who now will have another option besides Facebook, to place their ads and connect with clients in a different way.
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The Interactive media like Augmented Reality will gain more popularity:
The Augmented Reality (AR) through mobile devices is a very quick, easy and interactive way to share content. We have to say that Snapchat was a pioneer on this topic, incorporating recently a new feature that lets users project their Bitmoji and themselves at the same time into the real world through the app’s camera.
In this manner, the brands could project their products into the common spaces of people’s life. We have the case of IKEA who launched the “Place” app for users to watch how their products would look on their houses before buying them.
If you are planning to involve AR in your business, make sure that it be a shareable content and most important of all, that adds value to the client’s experience.
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You won’t escape from the Social Media Video:
It’s not a secret for anyone that the video content has become the most popular way we consume multimedia. However, the biggest challenge for companies is gaining the attention of users during the first 3 seconds of a video. In this manner, if your brand hasn’t started to use the video as a social media strategy yet, then it’s time to do it because avoiding it is not an option.
The growth of video reflects in the fact that this type of content is leading the ad format in the world. That’s why you need to make sure that your content is high-quality and engaging. As any other strategy, you can test to see what type of videos work best for your audience, following a rule that will make the difference: “Design for sound off, delight for sound on”.
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Take Care of your Ad Investments:
Nowadays, the cost of Ads in social networks like Facebook is still friendly for our budget. However, the Social Media Strategist Loren Bartley expects that the prices will rise considerably over this 2018. In this manner, the fact that you invest in Social Media Ads to build your strategic target audience will be a competitive advantage that not all the business will be able to have.
It’s very important that you make your investments in Social Media Ads as soon as possible before it stops being affordable for a company and becomes no longer viable as a marketing channel for your business.
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CEOs are taking more leadership on Social Media:
The image of CEOs will be no longer a photo on the website of the company giving a motivating message. Now, they will take an active part in the company’s social media activity, becoming the most important marketer for the brand. They will engae customers as well by showing the audience the human side behind the work of a company.
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Trust in the Z generation:
Many businesses are focusing their marketing efforts on calling the attention of millennials. However, the Z Generation is actually the smartest target. It’s more valuable to marketers because their buying power is exactly on its rising point. They are just graduated and becoming the new workforce generation.
In this manner, also B2B companies should be placing efforts and research to make this audience a target for their products or services.
By the time you read this article, we know for sure that the social media field could be thinking about applying new changes and features to their platforms that make marketers think about new and fresher Social Media Marketing strategies. That’s why you need to be constantly updated and see growth opportunities for your business where the rest only see obstacles!
Finepoint Design excels in social media marketing and can help your business improve its online presence. Click here to see how we can help you.