With the emergence of social media, a new marketing strategy was born. This type of targeted content marketing allows businesses to engage more with their customers and create user-driven content to grow the company.
Social media is constantly evolving and new platforms arrive on the market on a regular basis, so it is vital for companies to harness the marketing power of this medium and develop a comprehensive campaign that stretches across all platforms.
Here are six social media trends that have changed the way companies advertise and increase sales.
1- Influencers
Influencers are people on social media who are paid by different brands to promote products and services. Micro influencers are everyday people who have anywhere from 1,000-90,000 followers. Macro influencers have more than 100,000 followers.
Typically, micro influencers result in a higher conversion rate because they are loyal and trusted by customers. Unlike celebrity influencers, micro influencers often promote practical and convenient products that appeal to a crowd of regular people.
2- Ephemeral Content
This type of content is short-lived and typically lasts for 24 hours or less. Consumers enjoy this form of advertising because their social media accounts are not spammed with numerous posts each day. From a company standpoint, ephemeral content is more engaging than blogs and other types of content, which results in a better conversion rate.
Because customers know they only have a short amount of time to react to special deals and promotions or limited time offers, they are more likely to act immediately when they see an ephemeral ad.
3- User-Generated Content
Consumers love to be featured on the social media sites of brands they enjoy. By giving them the opportunity to do so through ad campaigns, hashtags, and pictures, you can vastly increase the audience of your campaign. This strategy works because people are more likely to use hashtags or post promotional pictures if they have a chance to get the company’s attention and be recognized.
Every time a customer uses one of your hashtags in a social media post, your company becomes easily accessible to their followers. The customer then acts as an influencer because friends and family are more likely to buy from your company if someone they know and trust recommends the business. Including user-generated content in your marketing strategy is a cost-efficient way to spread awareness of your brand and promote special deals and advertisements.
4- Live Streaming
Many social media platforms have adopted live streaming features that
allow people to share experiences with friends and family in real time.
Thousands of brands have started taking advantage of this popular function and
use it to promote their products. A recent study confirmed that 82% of people prefer watching live streams to
reading blogs. This is because video content is more engaging. Consumers are
less like to have their attention wander while watching streaming videos. This
strategy also provides companies with the opportunity to show customers how
their products work. When people understand the products, they are more likely
to buy them.
5- Paid Advertisements
Because social media is so popular, there is enormous advertising potential on every platform. You have the freedom to create broad ads that share your brand’s message or develop niche ads that appeal to your target audience. You can also determine how often you want your ad shown to consumers so you can avoid spamming their timelines.
Many entrepreneurs and investors such as Nicole Junkermann understand the value of this type of cost-efficient advertising. By targeting a specific audience, your company can increase its conversion rate and lead to increased sales. With a broader campaign, you can spread awareness of your brand so more people know it exists.
A combination of these two strategies through the use of paid advertisements is a wonderful way to grow your business.
6- Chatbots
As artificial intelligence technology expands, chatbots are becoming
more popular. Implementing this technology into your business is one of the
newest, most effective way to secure sales. Many companies use chatbots to
speak with customers online. The technology is designed to formulate a response
to customer inquiries based on keywords used in the questions. By popping up
when potential customers visit your company’s website, chatbots are able to
answer many questions and increase the likelihood that people with make a
purchase.
Social media has become so popular that it is now a vital component of successful marketing. Your business must stay on top of current trends and customize its marketing campaign to include these strategies. The six trends above are relatively new but have proven to be successful for sharing advertisements and brand awareness.
It is not enough to focus on one or two current trends. To reap the full benefits of social media marketing, you must create a strategy that uses all of these trends to appeal to a wider audience.
