Social media isn’t just for showing off your latest selfie or posting videos of your adorable children.
If you have a business, social media needs to be part of your marketing program.
Social media marketing is a rising way to drive customers to action with your business. It’s an excellent tool for increasing revenue.
It’s also critical for managing your brand identity. As of December 2016, 44 percent of local businesses depended on social media to build brand awareness.
How do you make social media work for your business? Here are nine new social media trends in 2019 to help you leverage these platforms and grow your business.
1. Tell Stories
You’ve probably noticed the “stories” feature for Instagram and Facebook.
Social media platforms have realized how powerful stories are. These platforms took that idea and created a specific way to tell stories that catch people’s attention using the “stories” feature.
You probably use Facebook to share insight into your life. You post pictures about your day, a special event, or something that excites you.
The same concept holds true for your business. Use social media to tell stories. It’s not just about selling products. Social media helps you connect with your audience and customers on a human level.
Use the “stories” features to tell your company’s story and gain visibility.
2. Videos Win
If you feel like you’re constantly competing with Facebook algorithms, you’re not alone.
One of the best ways to break through the algorithm is to use videos in your social media content.
Pre-recorded videos work well. Live videos on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms work even better.
Make sure your content is engaging. As we shared in #1 above, tell stories. A video is an excellent way to connect your story to your audience.
3. Quality vs. Quantity
Are your followers dropping like flies? You might be posting too much, too often.
The earlier days of social media were a time of posting anything and everything that popped into your head.
Social media users have become smarter. They’re overwhelmed with too much info. They’ve blocked, removed, and streamlined their social media feeds to allow only the information they want to see.
To effectively use social media as a marketing strategy, you need a strategic plan. Posting less often is better than posting more. Posts should reflect quality rather than “all the things” just to generate content.
4. Any Industry Can Benefit
Do you think your insurance business can’t benefit from social media marketing? It’s not true.
Just about any industry can benefit from a good social media marketing plan. From small businesses and direct marketers to financial services, these benefits can be yours with successful social media marketing.
5. Influencers and Micro-Influencers
You’ve heard of influencers. You probably think of celebrities when you think of social media influencers.
But you don’t have to be famous to be an influencer. Micro-influencers are social media personalities or businesses with less than 50,000 followers–but they still have a big impact.
You’ll find micro-influencers have more of a niche influence. They work to engage more with followers, creating a community that supports the micro-influencer and the brands they love.
Use micro-influencers to increase your social media brand awareness. You don’t need a celebrity. You just need a captive audience.
6. More Insights Drive Strategy
How often do you check your business page insights? If you’re not studying your insights, you’re missing an opportunity to capitalize on your social media audience behavior.
Social media platforms provide more detailed insights than ever before. Take advantage of when your viewers are most responsive during the day, which days of the week and what kinds of posts get the most engagement.
Develop your strategy around those metrics to increase your brand awareness.
7. Visuals Before Text
Your social media posts are more likely to gain visibility if they have a visual.
This is one of the best digital media trends to follow because it’s simple and easy to execute.
It’s too easy for platform users to scroll past text. Stop the scroll with an engaging graphic.
It doesn’t have to be elaborate or overly designed. Focus on something eye-catching to grab attention. Then be sure the text that goes with the post is short, to the point, and supports the graphic.
8. Market Specifically for Your Platforms
The same image and text that works well for Facebook might not work well for Snapchat or Twitter. Social media marketing is not one-size-fits-all platforms.
Each platform has its own set of rules, trends, and best practices.
Develop your overall campaign. Then create copy, visuals, and calls-to-action specific to each platform for best success.
Track engagement for each specific platform to know what’s working and what’s not working.
9. Give Yourself a Face
Your brand is more than your logo or the services you provide.
Social media is a relationship platform. Your brand presence online needs a human face to best connect with your target audience.
You don’t need a celebrity or hired spokesperson. Of course, you can go that route. But be sure your hired face matches the brand of the company.
Look within. Whether it’s your company’s owner, a marketing person, or even the company’s mascot dog, choose a face to help connect with your social media audience.
Your followers will connect better with a human than they will connect with a faceless entity.
New Social Media Trends Help Boost Your Brand
It’s the perfect time to take advantage of new social media trends to boost your brand.
Using these strategies can help grow your audience and your business.
Your online reputation can make or break your business’s success–both on and offline. Managing your online reputation is a critical part of building your presence on social media.
Good online reviews help support your brand. Make sure your company has a strategy to cultivate and manage your online reviews.
We can help! Improving your company’s online reputation can help increase your sales volume. If you think you have an online reputation, contact us for a free reputation audit.