by Social Media is constantly evolving and becoming a platform on which some users spend a large part of their day.
It’s no longer just a way to connect with your friends and family. It is a large network that businesses and marketers are now flocking to, to try and connect with their customers. As a marketer, it’s not only imperative to be engaging and establish an active presence online, but also to make sure your work isn’t drowned out by the overload of content on platforms.
Staying on top of all the latest trends will give you a huge edge and boost the implementation of your social media marketing strategy. Let’s look at what you can do to stay ahead in 2020.
1. Ephemeral content continues to rise
Ephemeral content means content that is available for a short duration and disappears after – Snapchat stories are perfect examples of this.
Inspired by Snapchat, Facebook decided to implement the same ‘story’ option on Instagram as well, and just after a year, they were reporting viewer count to be close to 20 million a day.
Why is this thriving over other new updates? People have shorter attention spans and wish to consume content quickly. They are short, engaging, and addictive in a way that people can spend hours scrolling through one Story after another.
Other platforms have also tried to capitalize on this, be it Whatsapp introducing status updates or the newest trials run by Twitter in India for Twitter Fleets. All this indicates that marketers need to leverage this trend and include stories in their marketing plan.
Stories are definitely becoming more marketer-friendly as well. For instance, on Instagram, you can use Poll and Q&A stickers to engage with your audience and even get feedback. A study suggests that most companies now post once in 4 days, again proving that many are already making the right use of the updates.
2. Social Commerce is to Expand
Contrary to the belief that consumers don’t like to see ads, they are actually becoming increasingly comfortable with the concept of social shopping due to the fact that ads are now advanced and the right people are being targeted. Brands are still investing massively in social ads and for good reason.
For example, Facebook’s introduction of personalized ad carousel delivers products by changing the ad format on the basis of who is being targeted. On Instagram, where we had to previously direct users to the shop link in the bio, is directly allowing brands to link the e-commerce site. Even LinkedIn, which is often regarded as the right platform for B2B marketers, has recently introduced measures to help the brands get their product to reach relevant consumers. From shoppable posts to Instagram Storefronts, social networks are continuously evolving to become retail platforms.
3. The New Face of Video Content – TikTok
Despite the popularity of platforms like Instagram and Facebook, niche platforms tend to do exceedingly well. For instance, gaming companies flock to Twitch instead of a larger and wider platform like YouTube because Twitch has a follower base dedicated to gaming.
When you pair the benefits of a niche platform with the most widely consumed content type, i.e, videos, you get a platform perfect for marketers. This, again, is a way to share short 10-second content that can be consumed rapidly and explains its popularity. Apart from the potential for influencer marketing, brands can use TikTok to give an insight into what they do and who they are as a company.
4. Don’t forget about Pinterest
Pinterest is the perfect platform to foster inspiration. Boasting over 320 million active users, with 67 million of them from India, the platform is often not looked into by marketers. While on the surface Pinterest may not seem right for every industry or brand, but if you have a product that would be relevant to its users, then they are ripe for the picking.
Pinterest is actively trying to be a top choice for marketers and constantly introduces new changes. Each year, Pinterest even publishes an annual report, The Pinterest 100, that dives into the top trends across categories including food, home, style, beauty, health, travel, and family. So if you fall into any of the above niches, then try and engage with the socially and wellness-conscious users to build a more loyal following.
The best way to keep up with social media trends is to work with a company that knows all. The best place that serves your purpose would be Clevertize!
Clevertize is one of the Top Creative Agencies in India. It has worked with many national & international clients like eBay, Nando’s, David Lloyd UK, METRO Cash & Carry, Sobha Ltd., TATA Motors, Barbeque Nation to name a few.
Clevertize is an Award Winning Agency, known to marry marketing with technology.
Some of the services that Clevertize provides are:
Creative Services, Performance & Digital Media Marketing, Visual Identity & Branding, Campaign Management & Analysis, UI/UX & Website design, Video creation, Media planning & buying, Chatbot & more.
If Return on Investment is critical for you, talk to Clevertize!
